[After the tsunami,] we had about 1000 helicopters active from the countries concerned, and from the whole international community … We have about one-10th of this in this emergency, and we need helicopters just as...

Conditions here are totally unacceptable. It has to change because people have to live a better life and have a better future.

It’s by far the biggest humanitarian catastrophe of the Western hemisphere, and yet the plight of these people remains a largely untold story.

We need better coordination on the international side, just as they need better and more effective efforts on the Somali side. We have too many reconstruction and development assistance plans.

It will be a marathon sprint throughout the winter where we have to do lifesaving assistance until the snow melts sometime in April.

many billions of dollars.

We’re sending around a hat now, we don’t know how much is in the hat when it’s coming back – in an emergency situation,

That had been one of our fears. I think it has not been the case.

The backdrop is a dramatic one in Zimbabwe, one of the most dramatic in the world. Life expectancy has plummeted from around 63 years in the late 1980s and early 1990s to 33.9 years in...

Based on numerous accounts, including reports from our own staff, the Janjaweed militia are primarily responsible for carrying out the attacks.

We are losing a race against the clock in the small villages,

Over the last few days, the world has finally woken up, but it took graphic images of dying children for this to happen,

The good news is that we have very good pledges. The bad news is that we still have too few concrete commitments to the U.N. flash appeal.

What is particularly difficult in Kashmir is that people (will) freeze to death if they don’t get assistance in weeks, … It’s even more urgent than it was in these other hurricanes or tsunamis.

It will take billions of dollars to rebuild … To reconstruct this will take five to 10 years,

No amount of humanitarian assistance can protect people from being attacked.

This has never ever happened before, that two weeks after a disaster that we have $717 million that we can spend on the immediate emergency effort.

one of the world’s most neglected crises.

This is one of the biggest challenges of our time and age, we need to make vulnerable people living in developing nations more resilient to natural hazards.

In the Horn of Africa now, there are tens of thousands dying from the extreme vulnerability they are living in.

The world is not doing enough. We should be able to do this.

We receive reports now on a daily basis from our own people on the ground in Darfur on widespread atrocities and grave violations of human rights against the civilian population.

So it’s a nightmare trying to reach community after community which are homeless, roofless, without food, without water. It is this race against time I fear we are now losing for many of these outlying...

They will now have their sixth, seventh night out in the cold. Perhaps even without a tent. They will also not have water because their spring is gone,

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.