Tens of thousands of people’s lives are at stake and they could die if we don’t get to them in time.

This year has really been the year of natural disasters, with nature at its worst and humanity at its best.

I think we have to make some progress and I think we will before he visits.

Finally, I also come in recognition of the great work that has been undertaken by the NGOs and UN agencies that have been active for many years here, especially through the local staff and international...

We’re still racing against the clock and we need to get more helicopters, more water, more tents and more money.

All together, we need a massive amount of investment from the international donor community and from the region itself to avert a massive loss of lives.

If we had had this fund, we would have been able to do more earlier.

The United Nations is grateful for the additional pledges so far of 525 million dollars to the assistance efforts in northern Pakistan.

This is a good start but it is not enough. We need more money from more nations,

Our assistance in Somalia has been remarkably effective and successful, and we have helped with very small resources – a large group of people and we can now do even more.

It could end tomorrow. It’s as serious as that.

behave responsibly and not be utterly irresponsible as they are today.

I did say this was one of the world’s neglected emergencies. The victims of the terror are still neglected to a high degree and the situation unabated. We need to do more.

We have seen 2004 and 2005 as the years of disaster,

It’s no good saving people today just to see them killed tomorrow. They need help to escape the vicious cycle they find themselves in.

We are humanitarians, we don’t know how to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people in the Himalayas. But the most efficient military alliance in the world should be able to.

This is one of the most destructive natural disasters ever measured in the amount of homes destroyed, people affected, people displaced,

They are in a desperate situation. We need more helicopters to reach them. We need more helicopters soon. Those who have given helicopters, thank you. Others, give us more.

We have to date received no pledges.

If we don’t work together we will become a disaster within a disaster.

It’s really been a terrible year in terms of suffering and in terms of challenges. But it ends with a glimmer of hope.

the largest, most destructive natural disasters ever.

Finally, I am encouraged to note that the Security Council issued a statement today expressing its concern about the massive humanitarian crisis in Darfur and calling on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians...

People are dying as we speak because we’re not there in all of these villages where there are wounded people.

I am very worried about it, … Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer.

It is not right to sit with the money for reconstruction for one year from now if it is a question of whether people will still be alive.

The government must stop further evictions and be more flexible in allowing shelter and other programs for those affected. It must ensure that beneficiaries are assisted solely on the basis of need.

First there is the search and rescue phase that is now ending. It is a cruel reality.

Secondly, the Government of Sudan should commit to the disarmament and control of the Janjaweed militia and ensure that the targeting of civilians ceases immediately.

We have not heard of any tsunami hitting anywhere.

This is a very major earthquake but it’s really aggravated a thousand times by the topography. An earthquake is bad anywhere, in the Himalayas it becomes much worse,

We are working to move from lottery to predictability so that all those who suffer receive aid.

It’s like nature strikes back on people who have treated nature badly and we see hundreds of thousands dead after these last two years and hundreds of millions of livelihoods lost.

Past agricultural policies have not been good. Governments understand they must be providing long-term solutions.

What we need is something like no other emergency relief effort,

Although we have do not have adequate access to all parts of Darfur we do fortunately have humanitarian personnel, including staff from my own office, in each of the three provincial capitals of Darfur.

I am again appealing for the eviction campaign to stop, there is not enough shelter ready to house those who have been evicted.

One of the possibilities we could have is international helicopters operating across the border.

We need more resources to save 2 million to 3 million lives and we need much more resources in the next few days.

We must be acutely aware that all that has been built up by the thousands of relief workers and hundreds of millions of dollars in donor contributions could be destroyed, and we could be on...

The world wakes up when we see images on the TV and when we see children dying,

I had, in my capacity as a state secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 1990s, many contacts with the Somaliland authorities.

I think it would be a massive undertaking to actually have a full-fledged tsunami warning system that would really be effective in many of these places,

The people of Zimbabwe are suffering under several big problems. I am hopeful that we will have a more positive partnership in 2006 than we have had in the past.

All humanitarian organizations are acutely aware that our window of opportunity for action is closing with the onset of the severe winter.

I have received assurances from the government that this will never be repeated and that the government has taken a number of actions to prevent such an event in future. This is good new for...

But certainly the Pakistani army is continuing to look for people.

Somaliland and Somalia at large have been receiving now hundreds of thousands of returnees that they had to accommodate with very small resources.

Too often, aid resembles a lottery, in which a few win, but most lose, based on considerations other than need.

The important thing is that we give and that we as citizens also demand that our countries give generously to those who have been so hard hit.