fact
sheet On December 26, 2004, an earthquake
measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale hit off the coast of Indonesia
triggered a massive tsunami that resulted in widespread death
and destruction across South Asia. Presently, there are over 150,000
dead across 11 countries with Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and
Thailand being among the hardest hit. Over 5 million people are
homeless.
In response to this crisis, on December 28,
2004 the San Diego, California-based International Community Foundation
(www.icfdn.org) partnered
with the United Nations Foundation (www.unfoundation.org)
to establish the UN Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund at ICF. The UN
Foundation has agreed to match ICF contributions on a 1:2 matching
basis. Since the establishment of the UN Tsunami Fund, a number
of community foundations and one regional grantmaker have joined
forces to promote the UN Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund at ICF in
their respective communities, including the San Diego Foundation,
San Diego Grantmakers, the Orange County Community Foundation,
The Community Foundation for Riverside & San Bernardino, the
Central Minnesota Community Foundation, the Dallas Foundation,
The Community Foundation serving Boulder County, the Kansas City
Community Foundation and Fundación Internacional de la
Comunidad in Baja California, Mexico.
Initially established with a matching cap of
$50,000, thanks to the success of the current fund raising efforts,
the UN Foundation has increased the cap to $200,000 with a new
fundraising goal of $600,000. Once this goal is reached, the UN
Foundation has indicated that they are willing to consider an
additional increase. .
Where Monies Will
Go:
100% of all monies raised from the UN Tsunami Disaster Relief
Fund at ICF will go to support the following UN agencies directly
involved in the relief efforts including: the UN Refugee agency
(UNHCR), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN Population Fund (focusing
on women's health needs), the World Health Organization and the
UN Development Program. As noted above, every dollar contributed
to the ICF’s Fund will be matched on 1:2 basis by the UN
Foundation.
Current Needs:
The needs across South Asia are tremendous as hundreds of thousands
of lives have been impacted and the losses are in the billions
of dollars. Across South Asia there is an immediate need for food,
safe drinking water, body bags, water purification equipment,
proper sanitation, shelter, clothing, transport vehicle, drugs
and medical supplies, generator sets, mobile medical clinics,
blankets, shrouding cloth, tents, mosquito nets, water buckets,
mattresses, emergency lights, kitchen sets, gloves, and masks.
In Banda Aceh, Indonesia, all public hospitals were demolished
by the disaster.
Why Support the
United Nations?:
In every major natural disaster there are three critical phases
in disaster relief, the first responder phase with immediate relief,
the recovery or rehabilitation phase and then reconstruction While
heavily weighing relief as the short-term priority, the UN Foundation
believes that people and governments needs will change, will continue
well beyond the relief stage, and that the capacity of the UN
and the entire humanitarian response system will be tested to
the absolute limit with this unprecedented regional disaster.
While there are several national governments and many worthwhile
nonprofits now working to address the needs of victims and communities,
the UN is leading the first responder phase and will be heavily
involved in the recovery and re-building phases for many years
to come. So, supporting the UN’s disaster relief mission
in South Asia is now extremely critical.
By supporting the UN agencies leading the disaster
relief effort, ICF is not in any way minimizing the importance
of the other humanitarian assistance of nonprofits involved in
the disaster relief efforts, such as the International Red Cross,
Oxfam, Project Concern International, and CARE, which work in
close collaboration with UN agencies. Donors wishing to support
these organizations are encouraged to do so. While this is so,
the experience of the San Diego Foundation (TSDF) during the recent
fires in San Diego County has taught us that among the most important
investments that can be made early on in a major natural disaster
is to support the first responder. In this instance, this is the
UN. For more information on lessons learned from the San Diego
fire, please refer to the report published by TSDF entitled “After
the Fires.” http://www.sdfoundation.org/atfreport.pdf
As South Asia moves into the recovery and re-building
phases of this humanitarian crisis, ICF looks forward to more
actively supporting grassroots nonprofits working on the ground
in the communities most directly impacted by the tsunami.
The ICF/UN Foundation
Relationship:
ICF and the UN Foundation have been working together as strategic
partners since 2002 to expand the level of charitable giving in
priority funding areas of mutual interest and where the UN can
play a catalytic role in affecting change. ICF and UN Foundation
were successful in jointly committing $500,000 to support an innovative
conservation management initiative for Isla Espíritu Santo
in Mexico’s Gulf of California that had led to UNESCO’s
active consideration of this area as a World Heritage Site. ICF
and UN Foundation are now beginning to collaborate in promoting
the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
) for the U.S.-Mexico border region by expanding funding in the
areas of heath and education.
About the International
Community Foundation (ICF):
ICF is a 501(c)(3) public charity committed to providing leadership
and strategically focused guidance to U.S. donors who want to
contribute to worthwhile non-profit groups and other charitable
organizations throughout the Americas and Asia in the areas of
education, health, human services, community development, the
environment and arts and culture. Established in 1990 through
the vision of the San Diego Foundation (TSDF), ICF is now an independent
entity, which maintains a strong relationship to its founder.
For more information visit: www.icfdn.org
About the UN Foundation:
The UN Foundation promotes a more peaceful, prosperous, and just
world through the support of the UN. Through grantmaking and advocacy,
and by building innovative public-private partnerships, we act
to meet the most pressing health, humanitarian, socioeconomic,
and environmental challenges of the 21st century. The UN Foundation
is a an independent U.S. public charity, established with a $1
billion gift by businessman and philanthropist Ted Turner in support
of United Nations related causes. The UN Foundation is a philanthropic
institution that is independent of the UN, the foundation’s
primary mission is to support the work of the UN and its various
agencies in fulfilling its Charter to encourage greater understanding
of the promise and purpose of international cooperation. For more
information visit http://www.unfoundation.org/index.asp
For more information:
Richard Kiy
President & CEO
International Community Foundation
2505 N Avenue, National City, CA 91950 USA
Telephone: (619) 336-2250
Fax: (619) 336-2249
Email: rkiy@icfdn.org
