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Charity targets 10 million pounds for tsunami victims
From Neville de Silva in London
Within two hours a London-based international charity raised over one-third of its targeted £10 million for victims of last month's tsunami, including those in Sri Lanka. At a charity dinner held last week at the Park Lane Sheraton Hotel, Islamic Relief collected a whopping £3.7 million, part of which will go to help affected families in the Ampara district and elsewhere.

One donor, stuck in traffic in London's busy M4 motorway, telephoned the organisers at the dinner to contribute £2.2 million saying he wished to remain anonymous. Another donor called from Davos, Switzerland where he was attending the World Economic Forum to contribute £1 million while the rest of the money was raised on the floor.

The fundraiser was addressed by the Indonesian Charge d' Affaires and Sri Lanka's High Commissioner Faisz Musthapha. Mr. Musthapha said that in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, Sri Lanka was overwhelmed by the assistance received.

"The Islamic Relief organisation, UK was amongst those that responded swiftly and effectively to the urgent humanitarian needs by providing assistance in the form of food, clothing, temporary shelter material, medication and purification kits for the provision of clean water," he said.

The High Commissioner said that Sri Lanka was now moving forward from rescue and relief operations to addressing the medium and long term needs such as the reconstruction of buildings and the restoration of infrastructure.

Immediately after the tsunami struck Islamic Relief released £1 million in emergency funds and launched an appeal for £10 million to provide further assistance. Sri Lanka is one of nearly two dozen countries in which Islamic Relief has aid projects.

Meanwhile following discussions High Commissioner Musthapha had, eight companies across the UK and Ireland contributed £1.5 million worth of essential medicines that were shipped out to Sri Lanka and the Maldives one week ago.

The shipment was put together by International Health Partners on behalf of the UK government, the pharmaceutical industry, the local emergency teams of the WHO and the ministries of health of the two countries.

The shipment is the first time that a coordinated programme of donated medical supplies was organised in the UK and illustrates a real partnership between governments, industry, NGOs and the WHO.

While the medical supplies came from companies across the UK and Ireland, the shipping and handling costs were met by contributions from two charitable foundations and funding support promised by the UK Government's Department for International Development.

The medicines and medical supplies are sufficient to treat over 50,000 men, women and children in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, according to InternationalHealth Partners.

Speaking on behalf of the Sri Lanka Government, High Commissioner Musthapha said: "We are most appreciative of the help that has been so generously given by the UK pharmaceutical industry."

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