Tsunami pledges in, now the world must pay up

JAKARTA, Indonesia - The outpouring of pledges for victims of the Asian tsunami has been huge. But some donors have failed to make good on their promises after past disasters, and aid groups say they will keep the pressure on to make sure the help recently announced with great fanfare doesn't evaporate.

World leaders who gathered in the Indonesian capital this week vowed they'd stand by survivors for the long haul. Nearly $4 billion has been promised so far.

It's reminiscent, on a larger scale, of donors' promises of more than $1 billion after an earthquake killed 26,000 people in Bam, Iran, in December 2003. A year later now, Iran says it's gotten only $17.5 million.

In Central America, the story was the same after Hurricane Mitch roared through in 1998. The aid group Oxfam says payments fell $2 billion short of promises.

And critics chide President Bush for failing to win full funding for his Millennium Challenge Account program to help poor countries trying to open markets, promote democracy and abide by human rights standards. He promised $4 billion for 2005, then asked Congress for $2.5 billion and got $1.5 billion.

"There are grounds for concern because of what's happened in the past," said Oxfam Australia director Andrew Hewett.

But he and others were optimistic that things might be different this time because of the deeply felt public sympathy for victims of the huge Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that killed an estimated 150,000 across southern Asia and as far as Africa.

"Save the Children has been incredibly impressed, the goodness that has been shown all over the world," said Mike Novell, the group's deputy Asia director. "That public interest is going to put a lot of pressure on everybody to meet their commitments."

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged leaders to act immediately, saying the world's focus on the tsunami victims wouldn't last.

"Before long, some other event elsewhere in the world, such as terrorism in Iraq during the election later in January, will grab the world's attention," he said. "But people living in ... (tsunami-hit) regions will have to live with the hard problems for a long time to come."

Hewett said Oxfam would try to track money pledged by governments. He also urged citizens of donor countries to hold their leaders accountable.

"Ordinary people around the world have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to assist the tsunami survivors," said James Ensor, Oxfam's policy director.