An international work meeting will be held in Hong Kong in early March to discuss the strategy and framework for recovery and rehabilitation plans for the tsunami-affected countries, according to the Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC).
Representatives from affected countries and about 50 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies will participate in the meeting.
The International Red Cross will announce an overall rehabilitation framework in mid-February. The framework will be discussed and finalized in the international work meeting, to be held in Hong Kong on March 3-5, HKRC said.
The meeting will enable the local community to understand how their donations will be used for the victims in the longer-term.
So far, the accumulated donation to HKRC tsunami relief fund has reached 500 million Hong Kong dollars (US$64.1 million).
The HKRC has made a donation allocation plan according to the assessments made by the International Red Cross and the Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies in affected countries, and the reports by HKRC relief workers after visiting disaster-hit areas.
This plan encompasses aid efforts from emergency relief to long-term reconstruction and disaster preparedness projects of five or more years.
Experts from HKRC told Hong Kong media that the rehabilitation work is estimated to take three to five years, or a longer time.
(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2005)
