Some Tsunami Agencies 'not Up to Job'

Inexperienced aid agencies are hampering the tsunami relief effort, the charity Oxfam warned in a report published this morning.

Some relief workers lack the competency to cope with the demands in the disaster area, particularly in southern India where poor coordination between agencies is causing significant problems, it said.

Some aid agencies have failed to consult local communities to ensure the help they are offering is what they need, according to the report, Learning the Lessons of the Tsunami: One Month On. Failure to address local needs has led to inappropriate new housing being built in Sri Lanka, for example.

Launching the report, Barbara Stocking, the director of Oxfam Great Britain, said: "The amount of money raised means that governments and aid agencies must address the issues of the quality, and not just quantity, of aid."

Oxfam has called on governments in the tsunami-hit region to work with the UN to introduce immediately a system of accreditation for international agencies to ensure the work they are doing matches their experience.

It has also urged governments to deliver the aid they have promised and to address the wider issues of conflict, debt and trade, which have mired the region in poverty.

The Oxfam report coincides with the announcement by the governmental Disasters Emergency Committee that the UK public have so far donated £250m to Indian Ocean tsunami relief.