The scale of the humanitarian crisis

There are currently 5 mm people displaced across the region that was affected by the tsunami. Assuming a fully loaded cost of $5 per day per person this means that $25 million will be required each day to keep everyone alive. This is the cost of basic needs only including emergency shelter, sanitation, food, water, health care and clothing as well as distribution costs and is therefore a conservative estimate.

At $25 million dollars per day this means the $2 billion currently pledged for relief services will last 80 days or 2.5 months. If private donors matched the current level of aid with a futher $2 billion this would enable the camps to be operational for a further 2.5 months. As a benchmark, the victims of last years earthquake in Bam are still living in tents 12 months later.

In this five month period the entire affected area would need to be cleaned up, infrastructure restored and houses built to enable people to return home. The above calculation does not leave a single penny for this operation. On a very conservative estimate of $3000 per home and associated infrastructure accommodating six persons this would require a further $2.5 billion.

Even if aid were perfectly distributed, the probability that demand will exceed supply is greater than zero within five months. The probability that one might survive the tsunami only to die in the refugee camps is therefore greater than zero. This probability increases significantly over time when things like poor sanitiation and the onslaught of disease are considered. And yet, as the size and complexity of the immediate humanitarian crisis consumes all available resources, the only real way to escape this carnage is to get people out of the camps, back into their re-built homes and able to get on with their lives.

These are the issues that have shaped the Amenti Relief strategy. One person out of the camp and back in their home is one life saved.