"Core Group" To Disband, U.N. Taking Over Tsunami Relief

CNN reports that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told donors that the United Nations will take over coordination of tsunami relief and reconstruction efforts from the core group of nations.

Powell announced that the "core group" launched to coordinate tsunami relief efforts was being disbanded:

The group would instead be folded under the United Nations' oversight of the daunting relief and reconstruction effort, Powell told a conference of tsunami relief donors in the Indonesian capital on Thursday.

U.S. officials had insisted the group -- consisting of the United States, Australia, Japan and India -- would be complimentary to U.N. efforts.

But those officials now say given the urgent need to improve coordination and reduce confusion in the relief and reconstruction effort, that it was decided the "core group" was no longer necessary.

"The core group helped to catalyze the international response," Powell said, according to a prepared text released by the State Department.

"Having served its purpose, it will ... now fold itself into the broader coordination efforts of the United Nations."

U.S. President Bush formed the international coalition on December 29 to respond to the massive tsunami that wreaked havoc along the coastlines of the Indian Ocean.

This doesn't make any sense to me. What really made the difference in the tsunami relief efforts were the efforts of the Core Group. The U.N., like the devastated region, seemed overwhelmed.

The posts at The Diplomad, a blog written by American foreign service officers, makes it clear that so far the U.N. contributions the relief effort have been less than adequate. So far the U.N. has asked for money and conducted meetings. In the meantime the core group put military assets to great use making a huge humanitarian difference.

At the Belmont Club, Wretchard posts that the U.N. can't even respond as well as the Red Cross

I don't understand why the core group would disband and let the U.N. bureaucracy take over.

Comments

[Nitin]

What made it even worse was Powell's rationale for disbanding it --- he said that the purpose of the core group was to attract attention from other countries. I would think that a disaster of that scale is good enough to attract international attention.

[Darleen]

ARGH!! WTF?? I'm speechless (strange, but true).

Thanks for the links!