..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 1 May 2006
Note to Editor: N/20/2006

UN DEPUTY TSUNAMI ENVOY IN BANGKOK TO LAUNCH NEW INITIATIVE ON ACCOUNTABILITY TO TSUNAMI SURVIVORS

Bangkok (United Nations Information Services) – The UN Deputy Tsunami Envoy, Mr. Eric Schwartz, will be in Bangkok to launch an important new initiative aiming to further improve accountability to the thousands of tsunami survivors in the region.

From 3-5 May representatives of Government reconstruction and recovery agencies, Ministries, civil society, the Red Cross and UN agencies will meet to reach agreement on ways to further assess the impact of the ongoing tsunami response and measure the recovery of affected populations.

The initiative – TRIAMS: Tsunami Recovery Impact Assessment and Monitory System – is an innovative attempt to further improve accountability to beneficiaries and donors alike in addition to promoting improved use of resources through better data management.

Organizers expect that by the end of the meeting participants will have agreed on common measuring systems that can be used across all five countries: India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Such a multi-country initiative following a large-scale disaster, which enables governments and implementing partners to commonly measure, monitor and report on recovery across multiple sectors, has never been done before.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Mr. Schwartz will be available for a limited number of interviews while in Bangkok. Please contact Margaret Hanley or Amanda Pitt (details below) to schedule an interview. The TRIAMS meeting is closed to the media.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Margaret Hanley,
UN Information Services Bangkok
Tel: +(66-2) 288-1862/67
Fax: +(66-2) 288-1052
E-mail: hanley@un.org

Amanda Pitt,
OCHA ROAP
Tel: +(66-2) 288-1195
Mob. +(66-1) 374-1035
Fax: +(66-2) 288-1043
E-mail: pitta@un.org

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