Plenary, 12 Jan 2005

Meeting date: Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Official Report 463KB pdf

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South Asia Earthquake and Tsunami

The final item of business today is a members' business debate on motion S2M-2216, in the name of Rosie Kane, on the earthquake and tsunami that hit the coasts of south Asia on boxing day, 2004.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament is horrified by the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami which hit southern Asia and parts of Africa on Boxing Day, 2004; mourns the enormous loss of lives from Malaysia to Somalia, particularly in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, more than half of whom are expected to be children; congratulates NGOs like Oxfam, the Red Cross, the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund and others for their instant and courageous response; is concerned that this region did not have the benefit of an early warning system, despite the fact that it sits on a known fault line; is concerned at the initial level of aid offered by the UK Government and believes that the current promised aid is inadequate and should be increased to meet the needs of the entire region; encourages everyone in Scotland to help in any way they can, commensurate with their means, and considers that the Scottish Executive and those in power should set an example above and beyond the support of the Scottish people to ensure that Scotland sends a clear message of support in both words and deeds.

As we all know, on boxing day 2004, the world shook. A magnitude 9 earthquake occurred deep underground off the west coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia. That generated a tsunami, which, within hours, swept across the Indian ocean. We are now all aware of what happened next and of the far-reaching devastation in the tsunami zone.

Almost immediately, the non-governmental organisations and aid agencies were on the ground, supporting, caring and giving in the massive area that was affected. I take this opportunity to name and thank some of the agencies concerned: Oxfam, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development—CAFOD—Action Aid, Christian Aid, World Vision, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Concern, Edinburgh Direct Aid and, of course, Glasgow The Caring City. All of them have worked around the clock both here and in the tsunami zone. Our respect for and gratitude to them is enormous and I know that we are united in that.

The terrible images of agony and devastation that we see on our television screens and in our newspapers give us a little insight into the horror for those hit by the tsunami so suddenly and so badly. The response of the people of Scotland has been phenomenal and we are all humbled by it—from the child who gave his pocket money, to the pensioner who gave her life savings, to the homeless man who went into a charity shop and emptied his pockets of what little he had. All that shows a caring society of which I, for one, am proud to be part.

The tsunami zone now has a death count of something in the region of 150,000, which is likely to rise. Entire communities have been destroyed, some beyond repair, and it is clear that the support that is being given so generously must be sustained in the long term. Sadly, history tells us that too often when the world's focus switches from a disaster the support switches with it. Aid pledges are not always honoured. It is unfortunate that although Afghanistan was promised $1.8 billion in reconstruction aid in 2002, which was applauded at the time, only $80 million to $90 million arrived. After the earthquake in Iran in 2003, which left at least 40,000 people dead, $1.1 billion was promised in aid, but so far just $17.5 million has materialised.

Yes, we are concerned. Can members imagine what it is like to be part of an aid organisation or NGO on the ground, awaiting that support? Worse still, imagine being homeless, starving and traumatised and awaiting aid. We must be mindful and vigilant so that when the tsunami zone leaves our screens it does not leave our consciousness. Government pledges must be made swiftly and they must be honoured. We must all do everything that we can to ensure that pledges become a reality.

Many issues have been thrown up over the past couple of weeks. The huge poverty gap in the region has meant that many folk in the area, which is often viewed in the west as a tourist beauty spot, live hand to mouth. Many countries in the region were already in terrible poverty and in need of NGO attention and aid programmes. The disaster has exacerbated the problem, as Nora Radcliffe said earlier.

We cannot ignore the vulnerability of people in those areas. There is a fear that sinister characters hang around such situations and they are not always the obvious ones. For instance, big business must not be allowed to step in and exploit the situation by offering conditional support; nor should Governments for that matter. Support must be unconditional. Let no one offer aid on the condition that water be privatised, which, sadly, the United Kingdom Government did in relation to the aid given to Tanzania. If this is to be an opportunity, it is an opportunity to unite and support, not exploit and make a fast buck.

Children in the region are under threat of illness, but there are other threats, especially to those who are lost, separated or orphaned. Predators such as traffickers who will abduct children are hanging around the periphery and children have been taken. Networks are well established in these areas and in some countries the trauma of the removal of children to other parts of the world is well documented. Abducted children are often sold into bonded labour or sex slavery. Child protection must be at the top of the agenda, short term and long term, if we are to bust those hideous activities and protect those vulnerable children and young people now and in future. Organisations on the ground are doing their best, but it is against the odds and reports are now coming in of lost children.

As elected representatives we must keep our eye on the ball a long time after it leaves our TV screens and our newspapers. We must thank and support the people of Scotland who have opened heart, mind and purse to this terrible situation. We must campaign to cancel all debt repayments, which serve to keep poor countries poor and rich countries rich. We must bear it in mind that, for every pound that we give at the moment, it is likely that £3 will be paid back to us unless we cancel debt.

The tsunami has hit, the waves have gone, but the devastation goes on and on and on. The Executive must do all that it can to assist the rebuild. We must react as the general public has reacted. This Parliament must give unconditionally and until it hurts. I believe that that is the wish of the Scottish people.

We will all agree that although the loss of a single person diminishes us all, the loss of hundreds of thousands diminishes our whole world. Although the death of one person is a disaster for the people who are intimately touched by that loss, the deaths of so many so quickly, and by a natural disaster, tugs at a world that arrogantly defines itself as civilised. Some comparisons will illustrate that point.

We remember the blitz during the last world war, but it killed only a quarter of the number of people who have died in the tsunami. We shiver at the recollection of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the bombs there killed only half the number who were killed three weeks ago. If our response to this natural event is not at least of a scale that is similar to that of the remembrance and continuing sorrow that is associated with those man-made events, we will demean all humanity.

The measure of our humanity rests in the scale and appropriateness of our response now. Impressive deliveries of food and water have tackled short-term need. Deliveries of generators, hospital infrastructure and water-purification plants have started to rebuild vital infrastructure. When money—that engine of change and support—is spent directly in the affected areas whenever possible, it can start the economic recovery that must follow such disasters. Fundamentally, however, we must equip the people who will continue to live on Asian shores with the tools, the skills and the capital that will sustain their long-term future.

Over the past 30 years, I have visited many of the affected countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, Thailand, India and Kenya. Based on that experience, I will make one extremely important point: we must not imagine in our response that one size will fit all. Even before the tsunami impacted in different ways on each of those countries and on others that I have not visited, thereby creating differing support needs, those countries were extremely different in terms of their cultures, peoples, languages, beliefs and development. The best people to judge the need of people in those countries are the ordinary people who live in those countries and who can work together to decide what their needs are in relation to their local circumstances.

Some countries in the area have bureaucracies and institutions that are able to identify and articulate their people's needs. Others, however, are not so fortunate. Indonesia has particular issues—it is a country that is in many ways an accidental relic of an imperial past. It has diverse geography and peoples who have diverse aspirations, many of whom feel justified antipathy towards their Government, which oppresses rather than supports them. In 1978, I visited Burma. Then, I could fly only into Rangoon because the Government controlled none of the border regions. I was allowed only 48 hours there alone. The Government was oppressing all of its peoples and I had to stay in the only working hotel in the country, behind outward-facing tanks. Little has changed; if anything, the situation has become worse.

We must hope that the door that has been opened by this natural disaster not only lets in immediate aid but leads to the empowerment of people. From this tragedy must come long-term progress.

The fact that we still do not know, and indeed will never know accurately, the full extent of the damage that has been done by the subsea earthquake and subsequent tsunamis in south-east Asia, India and Sri Lanka is a graphic measure of the awesome and awful size of the disaster. The human reaction to sudden death and destruction on such a massive scale has united people around the globe. As I said earlier, people's thoughts and prayers have been for the victims—those who perished and those who survived—and their almost immediate reaction has been to do what they can to help.

I hope that the emotional shock wave of this event will galvanise the global community to think about running the world more fairly and inclusively. If the developed world actually met the United Nations target of allocating 0.7 per cent of national income to aid, that would be a good start. If that aid was delivered in ways that were truly effective in helping underdeveloped countries to help themselves rather than in ways that almost constitute indirect support for economic development of the donor country, that would really begin to make a difference. As a last general point, it is salutary to remember that the loss of life to the tsunami is matched weekly by preventable deaths in Africa.

Earlier this afternoon, when we focused on the tsunami disaster, important points were made about what constitutes helpful help and what does not. The most useful commodity that ordinary people can give in the immediate aftermath is money to buy relevant supplies and expertise—locally if possible, as Stewart Stevenson said. People have given swiftly and generously. Later, different kinds of help are needed, but donors must be sensitive to recipients' needs. For example, a decommissioned modern deep-sea trawler is probably of little use as a fishing boat in the context of the Indian ocean and how people fish there, although it crosses my mind that if such a boat was moored or run on to a beach it could provide valuable living accommodation or be used as a hospital ship or a school.

The motion mentions the lack of an early-warning system. Again, that is not as straightforward as one might think. Experts tell us that it is difficult to predict whether an earthquake will trigger a tsunami; some large earthquakes do not, but some quite minor ones do. Also, a warning is useful only if it is backed by a response system. Who is told, and who tells who to do what? Careful and objective thought needs to be given to what is required and what will be effective.

Last week, Menzies Campbell wrote to Jack Straw to urge the United Kingdom Government to help to set up a well-resourced UN rapid-reaction disaster relief force. I believe that such a force would be effective. In such situations, it is crucial to get aid in fast. We have seen from news coverage how essential air support is in getting water, food, temporary shelter and heavy lifting gear to where it is needed, but it took four or five days to get it organised. Five days is a long time to wait for the basic necessities if one is in a state of shock, bereaved, bereft of every possession and existing in a desert of sand, mud, debris and the rotting remains of family, friends and neighbours. The United Nations is the appropriate body to put together a rapid-reaction capability that can reach any part of the world within hours. I hope that the suggestion is acted on.

Devastation on the scale that we saw on boxing day also creates a need for long-term support. I think that community-to-community support will have a longer shelf life than less specific giving which, sadly, tends to wane along with coverage as a disaster becomes old news. I also believe that more personal connections can provide a healing power for people who have lost so much of their own human networks.

I close by saying that I am proud of the way the people and institutions of Scotland have responded and have done what they can to help.

I think that it is true to say that on boxing day a new word entered our vocabulary. The word "tsunami" will, for everyone, be associated with the terrible pictures that we saw on television from the affected areas. Those who saw those pictures will not forget them. For those who lived the reality, the experience must be seared into their souls.

My goddaughter's young sister was in Phuket in Thailand when the tsunami struck. We had a very anxious two or three hours until we found out that she was safe. Some of the images that she projected from 6,000 miles away were distressing, to say the least.

However, we must move on. All that we should be thinking about at the moment is how we can assist constructively. As Nora Radcliffe said, we can give money. The tremendous generosity of everyone has been heartwarming and, in particular, the generosity of the Scottish public has been fantastic, to be frank. We are entitled to take great pride in that, but we must also provide services and support. We listened to the First Minister's statement this afternoon, and the Executive is to be congratulated on the steps that it has taken thus far. It has moved in the appropriate direction expeditiously and constructively and there is a basis for moving on from what has already been provided to provide more.

As has been said, what is really necessary is long-term support, but that support must be targeted. When there is a tremendous influx of money into a region that needs it, it is sometimes difficult for that money to be spent in a manner that maximises its effectiveness. Nevertheless, that is what will have to be done, and that is where a lot of the expertise that we have gathered here in Scotland can be used. We must rebuild communities, not only in respect of bricks and mortar—bricks and mortar are not necessary in that part of the world, which makes matters a bit easier—but in respect of communications, for example. Some areas remain effectively cut off; we must consider whether we can improve the roads.

We must also consider the many ways in which we could improve employment possibilities in the region. We must look at the textile industry and ask seriously whether the tariffs that are proposed by the European Union are appropriate. If we believe in free trade, we must recognise that the principle of free trade will sometimes prejudice us to an extent. At certain times, we must make the point that we will, if necessary, be prejudiced in a short-term situation.

Where I perhaps part company with Rosie Kane—whom I congratulate on bringing the matter to Parliament so quickly—is in my belief that cancelling debt could, in itself, create a longer-term difficulty. The countries that need the money might not get the money if there was no prospect of its being repaid. However, that is perhaps an argument and a discussion for another day.

We must look at all the particular situations. The urgency with which everybody has responded has been praiseworthy, but once the images begin to leave the mind, we cannot have a situation in which these people are denied the help that they need in the much longer term.

I thank Rosie Kane for bringing the motion to the Scottish Parliament. I share the sentiments and concerns that she and others have expressed about the scale of the disaster and I join in congratulating the Scottish people on their overwhelming generosity.

Some years ago, I visited the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Along with others, I have been appalled to see the devastation that has been wreaked on the people in that corner of the Indian ocean—a devastation that has extended across the entire area. We must ask the fundamental question why this natural disaster—this act of God—was so deadly. Why was the death toll so high? Acts of God and natural disasters happen, whether they are earthquakes, volcanoes, mudslides, tsunamis, hurricanes or floods. However, this disaster had a huge toll of human lives, and that must be a result of the poverty of the communities that were hit by it.

As I travelled in a bus along the roads of Tamil Nadu, I saw fishing village after fishing village with thin wood or mud-walled shacks and palm-roofed buildings—the kind of buildings that would be devastated by a tsunami. The countries that suffered the most were those that did not have the health systems or the transport and other basic infrastructure that would be required to deal with such a disaster. They lacked any early warning system and, as has been mentioned, even if they had such a system, how would the warning have been spread throughout those countries where communication is so poor?

To my mind, it is poverty that has caused the unimaginably huge scale of the disaster, and tackling that poverty will make sure that when such acts of God happen, they do not kill people in their hundreds of thousands. During the past year, Florida was hit by four massive hurricanes that caused $20 billion-worth of damage, but only 117 people died. Obviously that is 117 people too many, but the United States was able to mobilise and get its citizens out of the way of the hurricanes in a way that the countries that were most affected by the tsunami were not able to do.

A major cause of poverty in those countries is the overwhelming burden of debt that many of them face. Indonesia owes 73 per cent of its gross domestic product as debt and 105 per cent of Sri Lanka's GDP is owed as debt. Until we tackle those debt mountains, we will always face huge numbers of deaths when such disasters strike.

I was concerned to read of the rejection of the initiative calling for debt relief and the end of the debt burden faced by such countries that Gordon Brown took to the Paris Club. According to Oxfam, that rejection was led by Japan. We need to avoid such short-sighted thinking and join together as a global community to support the millennium development goals to which almost every country in the world signed up. We in Scotland need to support campaigns such as the make poverty history campaign and other campaigns for debt relief because that is the only way in which tragedies of this kind will have a minimised impact on the communities that face such acts of God.

I share the concern at the scale of this tragedy. We must act collectively to make sure that such tragedies are never allowed to happen again.

I congratulate Rosie Kane on securing the debate at such an early opportunity for Parliament.

If the expressions that have been passed to me by members of the public are anything to go by, there is much about the tsunami and its aftermath that has taken our breath away. The physical power of the tsunami was breathtaking for all of us to observe. However, other parts of the events of the past few weeks are similarly breathtaking. The fundraising efforts in all of the communities that we have the privilege to represent have been equally breathtaking, as has the intensity of the effort that has been put into supporting the people who have been afflicted by the tsunami. I have been overwhelmed by the tremendous amount of public activity by all sorts of local organisations in my constituency that have swiftly gone out, raised money and sent it off. That in no way takes into account the enormous personal contributions that have been made.

There are other sides to the tsunami that take our breath away in a much more unfortunate way—Rosie Kane mentioned them. I was horrified to see on television that, amid all the awful tragedy in south-east Asia and Africa, children were made ever more vulnerable by the intervention of some totally awful individuals. Those individuals are trying to take children already in an utterly vulnerable situation to make them more vulnerable as part of the sex tourism industry and the trade in children and other people that goes on in our society. It is almost beyond imagination that anyone in all that tragedy could begin to turn their mind to inflicting more tragedy on those afflicted young people. The tsunami has been an utterly breathtaking event, but we must gather ourselves to ensure that we take every step possible to support the effort to improve people's lives. At the height of that effort must be the protection of children, which should be a paramount concern for us all.

Among all the froth of recent days about divisions between the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, one important point that has been missed is the chancellor's attempts over many years to place much higher up the global political agenda the issues of debt relief and the imbalance of wealth between rich nations and poorer nations. He has faced an upward struggle in doing that, so I commend the way in which he has seized the opportunity presented by the worldwide attention on the tsunami crisis to try to highlight the importance of debt relief. He has tried to ensure that the issue does not slip away when the news coverage moves on but remains for all time as part of the political agenda that we all buy into. The efforts of the chancellor, like those to which Tom Hunter has now committed himself under the make poverty history campaign, are about the long term.

Does the member share Oxfam's concern at Japan's resistance to the debt-relief measures that Gordon Brown has proposed?

Of course I share that concern. That development points up the need for every part of the world to reflect on how the enormity of the tsunami illustrates the burden of poverty that so many parts of our world face.

If any good is to come out of what has been an awful natural disaster for the people of south-east Asia, it must be that the tsunami acts as an illustration of how we can no longer ignore the problem of poverty. If we do, we will continue to have the instability that wrecks the world. Such disparities create the instability and uncertainty that weakens countries and our whole civilisation. The disaster may be far away, but it affects our way of life. We must act, and do so wisely, to protect those who have been affected by this tragedy and by the other tragedies that take place every day. We must do that by getting the issue of poverty to the top of the political agenda.

I welcome today's debate, which is just the beginning of a much longer debate that will take place both in the Parliament and in the media.

We have all been struck by the enormous generosity of the people of Scotland in donating to the disaster fund. The facts and figures show that the less well-off—those who earn less than £20,000—give a much greater percentage of their income to disaster appeals and to charity. In acknowledging that, we in the Parliament should recognise that such generosity says something about the type of society to which people want to belong. People want to be part of a society that shows and feels humanity and compassion. That is certainly the type of society of which I want to be a member, both in Scotland and worldwide.

Much of today's and tomorrow morning's debates will be about aid and restructuring, because the biggest priority must be to save lives and to provide the basic necessities. However, it is also incumbent on us as politicians to ponder, to consider and to provide answers to the wider questions, which I want to raise now. The debt cancellation issue is about to arrive on the political agenda in Scotland with what could be 100,000 or 200,000 people marching behind it. We could see the biggest demonstration ever in Scotland when the make poverty history campaign comes to Edinburgh on 2 July. We need to take part in that. The question must be why we should not cancel the debt; the debate will be long, but we need to take part and provide an answer to that question. What is the problem with cancelling the debt?

Another wider question that I want to raise echoes the point that Mark Ballard made. Earthquakes and natural disasters affect countries in many parts of the world, but the question that we must consider is why Japan and America are much more able to resist—to rescue and rebuild—when they suffer natural disasters and earthquakes. That is about infrastructure and the issues that the make poverty history coalition is raising—globalisation and the resulting inequality of wealth. Why were there those levels of devastation? Why is there such inequality? We must challenge those issues head on.

The inequality is not limited to infrastructure—there is also an inequality in protection. The big question—which has already been debated in parts of the press—is, why was there no warning? If there had been a warning, it could have made a huge difference. The rich countries have a warning system, and some people, including the US State Department, received a warning. The US base of Diego Garcia, which is on a tiny island slap bang in the middle of the Indian ocean and houses the B52 and stealth bombers, received a warning. There was no damage whatever on the island, which is hard to believe. I want to know what happened there that made all the difference. We need to raise that issue. Some other countries received information and a warning, but not Sri Lanka or Thailand. Why not? Is that another inequality?

We need to ask about the morality of what happened. What is the difference between our response to an act of God and our response to an act of man? I do not have time to read out a quote that appeared in The Guardian from a doctor who went into Fallujah, which is transferable to the situation in Sri Lanka, Thailand, the coast of Indonesia and the other countries affected by the tsunami. However, there was not the same outpouring of compassion or humanity in response to what happened in Fallujah.

The dissident Asian writer Harsha Walia made the point this week:

"Compassion has become morally and politically appropriate, as it should be. What is inappropriate is the ability to decide which images are worthy of those emotions."

The Parliament must face up to and answer that question. It is on the conscience of everyone who takes part in this debate.

I, too, congratulate Rosie Kane on bringing this debate to the Parliament and triggering the speeches that we have heard this evening.

The nature of this tragedy and the deaths and injuries that have resulted from it are on a scale that we can hardly comprehend. The tsunami was far more sudden than, and as cruel as, plagues or wars have been in the past. However, we must now turn our attention to the biggest concern, which is the state of the survivors. Millions were left without food or shelter. Thousands have broken bones and appalling injuries from waves, debris and immovable objects. Many are ill due to long stints in cold water and lack of food, shelter and fresh water. Fears remain that the unsanitary conditions will be exacerbated among the ruins and that the lack of clean drinking water, in particular, could lead to outbreaks of disease.

Lack of money does not seem to be an insurmountable problem, if all the international pledges are honoured—which they must be. International donors have pledged billions of dollars and have indicated a willingness to do more, if need be. International Government grants have been materially augmented by weighty sums donated by private citizens around the world. The people of Scotland have already magnificently contributed more than £20 million.

Logistics is left as the main challenge facing the relief effort. Infrastructure in the most ravaged areas, including Aceh and the southern and eastern coasts of Sri Lanka, was not great in the first place, but the tsunami has made matters much worse. Although roads have been hastily repaired and ports and airstrips have been cleared to ease delivery, bridges and other key elements of transport infrastructure remain shattered, which inhibits the distribution of aid.

We need to provide comprehensive, long-term help so that those problems can be overcome and we can put these otherwise self-sufficient people back on their very capable feet, offering them a new beginning. That means a continuation of the lifeline support that has been provided to date, a long-term commitment to infrastructure reconstruction and the rebuilding of areas' economic capability. It also means installing warning systems that need not be that expensive—indeed, I think that even sophisticated systems are not too expensive—and are a blend of high-tech computer systems that tell us when such events are happening and low-tech equipment that, for example, activates radios in the hands of more and more people. It might even come down to the simple measure of wardens being able to cycle round villages, sounding their bells. We must ensure that when something like this happens again we do not have anything like the fatalities, injuries and devastation that we have had this time around.

I am very grateful for this opportunity to join other members in expressing a shared sense of shock and sadness at the magnitude of this terrible disaster. Indeed, I echo the condolences and sympathy that the First Minister and others offered earlier today and which Rosie Kane and other members have offered during this particularly good and consensual debate. Given the topic under discussion, such an approach is entirely appropriate.

Our condolences must go particularly to those communities that were hit by the tsunami, whose people have lost not just their homes and livelihoods but, in so many cases, their friends and families. More than our thoughts and condolences should be with those people as they struggle to rebuild their shattered communities. Scotland is rich in talent, skills and knowledge. We have much to offer the relief effort—and offer it we have. Through their immense generosity, the people of Scotland have clearly demonstrated their commitment to help their fellow human beings at this time of desperate need. As the First Minister mentioned, it is expected that the sum donated in Scotland will shortly be in excess of £20 million.

I am pleased to note the commendable efforts of Scottish businesses in responding to the disaster, both through donations and offers of help. In particular, Scottish Water is to be commended for acting so quickly to get water and other vital equipment out to the region immediately after the disaster struck. A number of its staff are working in the region to provide much-needed expert assistance in the struggle against time to get vital sanitation services up and running again.

In my visits this week to some of the Scottish charities that are contributing to the relief effort, I have been struck by the very real energy at work and by the shared desire in Scotland to reach out to and help the people who have been most affected by this disaster.

As colleagues know, the UK Government has already pledged £75 million and is poised to contribute more money as it is needed. Chancellor Gordon Brown's proposals for a moratorium on debt for the worst affected countries are also welcome. At this point, I want to mention the froth to which John Swinney referred. I am amazed to find that, in all of this, people have overlooked the fact that the chancellor and the Prime Minister said exactly the same thing in separate speeches in different parts of the country. We need to get that message across.

Our task now must be to turn that money into practical help on the ground and it is by supporting the efforts of Scottish-based charities that ministers and the Executive are best placed to help. To ensure that this happened, I met those organisations in the days following the disaster, and with my officials I have remained in touch with them to ensure that we can continue to offer them the most relevant support.

In the short term, we have been able to provide timely administrative help through the secondment of Scottish Executive staff, which has helped to free up the aid agencies' experienced staff to concentrate on disaster relief work in Asia and has ensured that they can continue their vital work in other parts of the world. In the coming weeks, we will continue to support them with specialist secondees, who will provide the administrative and information technology expertise that they can make best use of.

The minister will appreciate that many people in Scotland want to contribute not just cash but services and materials to the appeals. Most people know how to contribute cash, but not many know how to contribute the other elements. Has the minister turned her attention to that matter? Is there any solution that will allow people to get such help to the right places?

In fact, the giving in kind that people in Scotland have already committed themselves to has been immense. For example, I visited a Save the Children charity shop where people could not open quickly enough the bags of items that had been donated. We must also be careful that we provide the help that is needed on the ground and that, where possible, we support local industry to ensure that money goes back into those companies. I am certainly happy to look further into the area that Richard Lochhead has specified. Rosie Kane was absolutely right to say that our support has to be long term. It is not a short-term thing.

Over the longer term, we will be looking across the skills and talent bank of Scotland to find ways in which we can play to our strengths in helping the reconstruction effort. The Executive is engaged in identifying specialist health professionals who have the skills to help to stem the spread of diseases that so endanger the recovery of these devastated regions. Likewise, as the First Minister mentioned, my colleagues are in discussion with the Scottish fishing community, to assess whether Scottish expertise might help to rebuild the fishing communities that were so affected by the disaster. Representatives of that industry and of the Scottish Executive are in discussions with the Department for International Development to develop an appropriate and co-ordinated response for the long-term reconstruction, and I look forward to hearing more from the joint tsunami fisheries task force once it has met.

Rosie Kane was absolutely right to mention the plight of children. Save the Children estimates that, in Sri Lanka alone, there are at least 745 children who have lost at least one parent, 371 children who have been separated from their families and friends and another 46 children who are just unaccompanied and for whom there does not seem to be any support. That is an area to which we will turn our attention in more detail in the days ahead.

There are many challenges to which I hope Scotland will contribute as the relief effort progresses, but I want to conclude by reminding the chamber that there is yet another pressing challenge to consider; it is a challenge that has been referred to by some members this evening. I hope that we can build upon the very real spirit of generosity, of human compassion and of concern that has arisen from those terrible events, and take strength from it.

In 2004, many poor and vulnerable people died as a result of the tsunami disaster but also because of the poverty that was endemic in those countries to begin with and because they did not have the infrastructure to cope with the result of the disaster. People have also died in those countries, and in other countries throughout the world, from hunger and disease. In 2005—the year when the G8 summit will consider how the wealthiest countries might assist the poorest—I am sure that all of us in this chamber are committed to making poverty history. I believe that we have a real opportunity to make that vision a reality, and the Executive is prepared to play its part in that.

Meeting closed at 18:02.