Eric Schwartz, U.N. Deputy Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, addressed reporters Wednesday saying that recovery and reconstruction will be a "multiyear process."

Among the tough issues to be tackled are the establishments of permanent housing and local governance as well as providing equitable relief to both victims of the tsunami and of domestic conflict.

Schwartz said Wednesday that constructing permanent housing in the region will require both patience and a great deal of planning. "It is a multiyear process. It will be two to three years before we can say the majority of people will be in permanent housing."

Schwartz said that people must reflect on the fact that over 200,000 homes were either partially or totally destroyed in the Aceh region of Indonesia. He also said that in Sri Lanka, only 10,000 homes are built in a year under the best economic circumstances.

While the majority of tsunami victims have moved out of tents into more durable temporary housing, "tens of thousands" still reside in tents, according to Schwartz. "These people must be moved out of tents as quickly as possible."

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton agreed on insisting patience in the recovery effort. "I understand the frustration of the people of Aceh and saw for myself the difficult living conditions in my visit to the region earlier this year," Clinton said to the members of the Global Consortium on Tsunami Recovery at a Sept. 22 meeting in Washington D.C. "It will take some time to overcome existing bottlenecks, but I am committed to improving the immediate living conditions of all displaced tsunami victims as we pursue longer term reconstruction and development."

Clinton, who is also the U.N. Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, added, "While much of the attention of the world is focused elsewhere, the affected Asian governments are really only beginning a long and complex reconstruction process. We will continue to stand by them. We must tackle the tough issues with the same determination and drive that characterized the immediate aftermath to the crisis."

Members of the Global Consortium have endorsed a plan of action that would not only improve transitional shelters and increase the governmental presence at local and regional levels of reconstruction, but also include people displaced by conflict in Aceh and Sri Lanka within the definition of beneficiaries for tsunami relief.

Schwartz warned that the recovery process must "insure against exacerbation of inequities," insisting that victims of conflicts living in the northern and eastern regions of Sri Lanka receive the same relief-based benefits as those in the south who were directly impacted by the tsunami.

"The Global Consortium made governments very much aware that equity concern was important to the international community," Schwartz said. He added many donors have agreed to expand the definition of eligible beneficiaries of relief aid.

Sri Lanka has taken steps to equalize victims of disaster and conflict, however the effectiveness of those steps remains to be seen. In June, the Tamil Tigers, the Sri Lankan government, and the country's Muslim population agreed to the Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure plan, which addresses tsunami reconstruction within the context of a ceasefire. The P-TOMS agreement has been suspended by the Sri Lankan Supreme Court until November.

Another major roadblock to an equitable recovery is the tenuous links that national governments have with local communities. These links were worsened with the deaths of thousands of civil servants during the tsunami.

Though he looked favorably on Sri Lanka's recent efforts to put more civil servants into local offices with the help of the U.N. Development Program, Schwartz said that national governments need to take the lead in forging civil connections within their own countries.

A ten-year plan known as the Hyogo Framework for Action was adopted at the January World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan. The document was an international recognition of a need to reduce vulnerability against natural disasters especially in less developed countries. On the heels of Hurricane Katrina which devastated the southeastern United States, additional steps were taken toward establishing a worldwide early warning system for natural disasters at the U.N. 2005 World Summit.

"The recent tragedy that has befallen the Gulf Coast of the United States of America has only driven home once more the vulnerability of all human societies to natural disasters, and the need to reduce that vulnerability by action at all levels," Annan said in a statement Tuesday.

Schwartz said a permanent disaster warning system will be in place in the tsunami-affected region as early as July 2006.

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