WASHINGTON — Former US president Bill Clinton, who helped raise millions of dollars in aid for tsunami-hit Asian nations, said the hard-hit region "built back better" in the five years since the disaster.
"We will never forget the stories of those who lost their loved ones and all their worldly possessions in one of the worst natural disasters of our time," Clinton, who was dispatched by then-president George W. Bush to raise funds for the massive recovery effort, said Saturday in marking the fifth anniversary of the tsunami.
"Nor will we forget the tremendous international response from governments, businesses, NGOs, and private citizens who sent money, aid, and prayers in unprecedented volume to the affected regions," he said in a statement.
"We did more than just build back; we built back better."
Clinton's remarks came as people across Asia paused to remember the day five years ago when an undersea earthquake unleashed devastating waves that killed more than 220,000 people.
Shortly after the disaster, Clinton teamed up with Bush's father, former president George H.W. Bush, to establish the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Fund, which Clinton said raised 10 million dollars for recovery efforts.
He said that due to the "magnitude of the devastation" and the complex challenge posed by recovery, the UN's chief at the time, Kofi Annan, asked him to serve as UN special envoy for tsunami recovery to help ensure the money was spent appropriately.
Clinton, whose wife Hillary Clinton is today US President Barack Obama's secretary of state, visited the region as envoy five times "to survey the damage and observe the progress being made.
"While we faced immediate and pressing challenges of rebuilding homes, schools, and hospitals, we also had opportunities to reverse historic patterns of inequality and marginalization and better prepare governmental infrastructure for future natural disasters."
He cited the "great progress (that) has been made," including the burying of a longstanding conflict in Aceh, Indonesia, and new opportunities for women in India to improve their economic and social status.
"Though some tsunami-affected areas have not fully recovered, the recovery process continues, and governments, communities and people around the region are better prepared for the future," he added.
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