Caritas Internationalis presskonferens inför årsdagen av Tsunamin:

• Caritas arbetar långsiktigt och satsar på återuppbyggnad med helhetssyn.
• De redan från början resurssvaga behöver få förbättrade livsvillkor efter återuppbyggnaden.
• Viktigt att tillvarata de svaga gruppernas rättigheter mot tex turistnäringens expansion.
• Caritas  tar ansvar för att inte hotad regnskog används till husbyggen- det får hellre gå lite långsammare.

Ett år efter de förödande vågorna i Indiska Oceanen är Caritas Internationalis fortfarande på plats för att hjälpa till i återuppbyggnaden. Mer än 450 miljoner USD har öronmärkts för för arbetet med återhämtning och fokus ligger på att förbättra människors livssituation till att bli bättre än den var före Tsunamin.
- För Caritas,handlar det inte bara om att bygga upp hus utan det handlar om att återuppbygga samhället, hem och människors tillvaro,sa Mary Healy,Caritas Ireland på en presskonferens som hölls den 21 december inför årsdagen. Hon poängterade att värst drabbade av Tsunamin blev de människor som redan före katastrofen var marginaliserade och resurssvaga. 
Byggen av anständiga och säkrare hus, fiskebåtar,motorer och redskap med kvalitet, erbjudande av  utbildning och lån för att starta ny verksamhet för folk i kustområdena är några av de projekt Caritas driver.
Presidenten i Caritas Internationalis, Denis Vienot, sade att satsningen på att få fiskare att satsa på fler inkomstkällor och på marknadsföring av deras produkter har redan givit resultat i form av ökade inkomster för hushållen. Vienot sade också att Caritas ser det som viktigt att hjälpa till att skydda den fattiga fiskarbefolkningens rättigheter mot turistnäringen som nu söker nya områden längs kusten att kunna expandera på.
(Läs mer om Caritas Sveriges arbete efter Tsunamin)

Pressmeddelandet i sin helhet:

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- One year after a series of deadly tsunamis devastated Indian Ocean nations, Caritas Internationalis is still on the ground helping local communities rebuild and improve their quality of life.
While Caritas offered immediate emergency relief in the wake of the Dec. 26, 2004, disaster, it has more than $450 million earmarked for post-tsunami relief and recovery aimed at leaving people in a better situation than they were in before the tsunamis struck, said Mary Healy of Caritas Ireland.
-For us as Caritas, it's not just about rebuilding houses, it's about rebuilding communities, homes and people's lives, she said at a Dec. 21 press conference held at the Vatican headquarters of Caritas Internationalis, an umbrella Catholic international aid organization.

The tsunamis killed more than 170,000 people and destroyed the homes and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of survivors from South Asian nations. Many of those hit by the seaquakes were already poor and living in substandard housing.
Building more decent, safer homes, providing quality fishing vessels and boat engines, and offering training in new skills and loans for new start-up businesses for people in coastal communities are some of the projects Caritas has been funding.

Denis Vienot, president of Caritas Internationalis, said helping fishermen diversify their source of income and helping them market their products better has already started to improve household incomes and prospects.
Vienot, who also spoke at the press conference, said local Caritas members were also helping protect the rights of poor fishermen who risk being overrun by the tourist industry as it seeks to rebuild and expand along the recovering coastlines.
- In a town north of Phuket, Thailand, local fishermen risk being expelled from their coastal huts because a hotel wants to extend its beachfront to attract more tourists, he said.
Vienot said one Caritas member, a young, local priest, has been accompanying fishermen to the Phuket courthouse to defend the rights of these people to live on public land and have close access to their boats, he said.
Vienot said the judge was impressed that a priest who was not a lawyer would be advocating on behalf of the people and stand up to the pressure of the hotels.
Local fishermen have nothing against tourists, he said, because they can sell fish for double the price when tourists are in town. But there needs to be a balance between helping revive tourism and protecting small, local industries, he added.
- Defending the rights (of the poor fishermen) is as important as giving them boats and building them homes, Vienot said.
Healy said Caritas has worked to make sure aid for tsunami victims is also extended to other families and communities in need.
For example, some survivors from Sri Lanka's coastal areas relocated further inland to communities that were not flooded by tsunami waves, but have been devastated by fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels.
Tsunami victims were getting more attention and money, Healy said, than these victims of warfare.
-We don't want to cause tension between the two groups so we help them both, she said.
Healy said some had criticized Caritas and other international nongovernmental organizations for their slow pace in rebuilding and providing long-term assistance.
The Caritas approach is not haphazard and seeks to take many things into consideration, she said.
Local Caritas members get local communities involved in deciding what they need most. Then they buy supplies that will not cause problems in the future.
-For example, we ensure we are not building houses with illegally logged wood, said Healy. Illegal logging is destroying rainforests in Indonesia, leading researchers to predict that at the current rate of cutting most of the country's tropical forests will disappear by the end of this decade.
- Checking where wood for reconstruction is coming from slows down our response in building, but it is good for the long term, she said.