United Nations Thailand

THE ROLE AND THE SUPPORT OF THE UN

Working closely together, the UN Country Team plays a very strategic role in supporting Thailand's longer-term recovery efforts in the following priority areas:

(i) Social protection and support to vulnerable groups, including migrant workers

(ii) Health, water, and sanitation in the more remote areas

(iii) Livelihood recovery in fishing and tourism sectors

(iv) Environmental rehabilitation (land subsidence, coral reef clean-up, improved coastal zone management)

(v) Disaster preparedness and early warning system development

(vi) Support to the coordination of international assistance

Although Thailand did not officially appeal for financial support, the Government has welcomed support from the UN Country Team in providing strategic technical assistance and support directly to local governments and local NGOs working in the affected areas. For 2005, the UN Country Team mobilized USD 30 million through the regional component of the flash appeal, and an additional USD 10 million through other channels or from agencies' core resources.

 

UN Appeal

The Royal Thai Government decided not to appeal for international financial assistance after the disaster; however, the Government has been accepting foreign technical assistance such as equipment, tools, training, as well as offers to rebuild schools or hospitals. To this end, UN agencies in Thailand participated in the regional section of the United Nations Flash Appeal to facilitate technical assistance activities.

The Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami Flash Appeal was launched on 06 January 2005. Since large general pledges had already been made by that time in a swift and generous reaction from individuals, organizations and governments around the world, this Appeal served not so much as a request for funds, but rather as an action plan and a specific set of proposed projects to which donors could commit their pledges. Major revisions were done in a Mid-Term Review of the Appeal, published in April 2005, which extended the implementation period of Appeal projects till the end of 2005. Minor revisions are made constantly, and shown on the Financial Tracking Service website, managed by UN OCHA, as soon as the agencies communicate them.

The regional section of the Flash Appeal focused on planning for the transition from emergency relief to longer-term recovery and reconstruction needs. In Thailand, which had already moved into the transition phase within two months of the tsunami, the UN System mobilized nearly forty million US dollars worth of mid- to long-term recovery programming.

UN support to donor coordination                                                               

Coordination of international assistance has been a concern for the Thai Government and other partners in the recovery effort. Relief and recovery agencies in the field have recommended that more leadership in coordination is needed at provincial and district level, to avoid duplication and ensure civil society participation.

Recent positive developments have included the installation of the Development Assistance Database (known as DAD) in the offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 'Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency' (TICA), to aid tracking of tsunami assistance to Thailand.

The DAD provides project-level information on commitments, disbursements, expenditure, donor, implementer, sector, location, as well as key outputs and progress towards these outputs related to tsunami relief and recovery. This information is accessible to all parties - central Government, local Government, NGO, UN, donor, Thai citizens and others. The data in DAD has been provided by national and international partners of the Thai Government. Training has been organized to ensure that the data is updated regularly and the tool is an effective resource.

The key goals of DAD Thailand are to:

provide clear information on all Tsunami-related technical assistance projects - their      location, the sector, the funders and the implementers;

provide information on the results of these projects, as well as the level of financial resources;

help actors at the local level coordinate assistance as effectively as possible, avoid overlaps and fill in gaps;

promote accountability and transparency of all assistance provided.

DAD Thailand is managed and maintained by TICA - the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency - and is part of a package of support provided by UNDP Thailand.

Training has been organized for Government and donors to ensure that the data is updated regularly and the tool is an effective resource.

 

Emergency Response                                                                                 

 

Within 48 hours of the disaster, agencies in the UN team in Thailand had transferred funds to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for emergency relief assistance, coordination and logistics, and an UNDAC (UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination) mission had been dispatched to the affected provinces, headed by the UN Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator.

Other agencies then provided emergency assistance in various forms, including rapid assessments conducted with Government partners, and assistance to specific groups such as vulnerable children, families in shelters and communities who had suddenly lost their means of livelihood.

Although in Thailand the relief phase was largely considered over after approximately two months, some UN emergency phase interventions have continued, since they were oriented towards mid-term recovery.

Achievements

Since the tsunami, UN programmes have helped families and communities receive counselling and other health care, recover their livelihoods, and look ahead to more sustainable planning and management of their country's resources.

These reports provide specific information on the technical assistance delivered by UN agencies in Thailand in support of the Government's emergency response and recovery activity up to the end of June 2005.

As well as an overview of the projects set up as a result of the UN flash appeal, there is also a financial tracking matrix showing the implementation status of those projects, and agency by agency updates.

 

UN Thailand Tsunami Response: Six Months On (138Kb)

UN Thailand Tsunami Response: Funding / Delivery (218Kb)

UN response by agency - Six Months On