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In May 2000, after the U.N. Security Council had decided to send thousands of troops to keep a band of psychotic killers known as the RUF from toppling the government of Sierra Leone, a delegation of 25 officials from the Clinton administration descended on his office, Hédi Annabi said:
- “And one of them just looked at me and said, ‘What are you going to do about this mess?'” “And I said, ‘Are you coming to tell me how I’m going to fix it with the troops you’re not giving me, or are you coming to help me figure out how to fix it? Because if it’s the first, this is going to be a short meeting.'”
Hedi Annabi, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General
and Head of UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti.
Annabi was no more known to the public than any other U.N. lifer, and could scarcely have borne less resemblance to Sergio Vieira de Mello, the dashing and impossibly handsome U.N. envoy who was killed in a truck bombing in Baghdad in 2003. George Clooney would have played de Mello in the movie; Annabi, an extra-dry and sometimes cryptic Tunisian, was more the Peter Sellers of Being There.
Hédi Annabi: Country Has ‘Unique Moment of Opportunity’ to Break with Destructive Cycles of Past
BOSTON (Christian Science Monitor) — The United Nation’s is used to confronting disasters. Whether in the aftermath of civil wars or the wake of natural disasters, its employees and the military personnel seconded to the UN are frequently among the first to enter the hostile environments.
Danger comes with that territory, and UN workers have lost their lives in a dozen countries around the world as a consequence. But the Haiti earthquake that devastated the capital Port-au-Prince and killed tens of thousands of Haitians, is shaping up to be the deadliest for the UN’s own employees in the organization’s 65-year history.
The earthquake quickly demolished much of the Christopher Hotel, the UN’s Haiti headquarters, as it did to hundreds of buildings across the city. Speaking in New York on Thursday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that roughly 150 of his staff remained unaccounted for.
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With the Christmas tsunami of 2004, Bush sought to form a coalition where the U.S. would have a leading role and avoid the United Nations as a political statement. He wasted time and lives …
Bush, speaking following a briefing on the situation at his home in Crawford, Texas, said the United States is “committed to helping the affected countries in the difficult weeks and months that lie ahead.”
“We’re a very generous, kindhearted nation, and what you’re beginning to see is a typical response from America.”
The president said the immediate questions are determining what must be done immediately, and what must be done for the long-term health of the region. “We’re still at the stage of immediate help.”
Secretary of State Colin Powell has forged a coalition to deal with the unprecedented humanitarian crisis, Bush said. “Based on these discussions, we’ve established a regional core group with India, Japan and Australia to help coordinate relief efforts.”
Powell, Jeb Bush to lead U.S. team
(CNN) Dec. 31, 2004 — The United States will increase its aid pledge from $35 million to $350 million to help victims of the tsunamis in south Asia.
Sen. Patrick Leahy said the initial U.S. offer “gave the wrong impression to the rest of the world, that’s about half of what the little country of Spain is spending,” the Vermont Democrat said.
Bush meets Christian Charity leaders in tsunami relief effort
Bush told the private group that an intended consequence of the American tsunami relief effort is “breaking down some rifts between Muslims, Christians and Jews.”
To help that along, Bush suggested to Messinger that her organization place its name on the side of the donated fishing boats, so the recipients, likely to be Muslims, will know where the help came from.
The bulk of total pledges are comprised of private donors with 34%, followed by the world’s traditional leading bilateral donors – Japan (18%) and the US (5%). Note, however, that while Japan has already committed or contributed all of its original pledge (US$502.6 million), the US still has 59% of its original pledge (US$352.5 million) uncommitted.
Pledged amounts as percentages of GDP
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."