As the world marks the first anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, millions of people who dug into their pockets in an unprecedented outpouring of generosity will be wondering how the money has been spent. Some may be surprised to discover that 12 months on the vast majority of the 1.8 million people who lost their homes are still in temporary accommodation. But if the pace of reconstruction has been disappointing, the initial relief effort went far better. Basic needs were met promptly, helping prevent an epidemic that could have killed thousands.

?The world's response to the tsunami was the best ever,? UN emergency co-ordinator Jan Egeland said. ?Governments, the private sector, and individuals around the world opened their hearts and their wallets. Private donations for the tsunami eclipsed anything seen before.? By comparison, Egeland said disasters like Hurricane Mitch which ravaged Central America in 1998 and the Bam earthquake in Iran in 2003 had only received half the money promised.

Dozens of governments, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank pledged more than $7 billion. They have allocated over $6 billion, according to Reuters research, and the public $5 billion plus.

The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontières, which did not even launch a tsunami appeal, received so much money in the first few days it took the unprecedented decision to stop accepting funds and asked people who had already given donations if they could be diverted to other crises. More than 99 % agreed. ?We had people insisting on giving money and they were very angry when we said we did not need it. Our Hong Kong office had to close the door ? people were coming with envelopes of money,? MSF Holland's head of emergencies, Marcel Langenbach said.

Of the $110 million MSF received, about $25 million was spent on the tsunami. The rest has gone to the Pakistan quake and emergencies including Niger and Darfur. Although the massive volume of aid helped overcome severe logistical problems after the tsunami, which killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries and smashed up towns, ports and roads, it also contributed to a lack of co-ordination. Flush with funds, aid agencies made individual assessments and distribution arrangements rather than co-ordinating through the United Nations. This led to a fragmented picture of what was needed and where. Some communities were overwhelmed with aid, others overlooked. Nearly 500 groups set up shop in Aceh alone. ?The big non-governmental organisations, the ones with which we work all over the world, understood the value of co-ordination,? the UN's Egeland said. ?The same cannot be said about all the newer players on the ground.? Turf wars between competing agencies also discouraged co-operation. ?It's like the Wild West out there,? said one consultant for the International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Aceh. ?The aid groups all have plenty of money and they're racing to stake out their ground.?

Bad co-ordination did not just waste cash but in some cases endangered the very communities agencies were trying to help. Langenbach told how MSF doctors turned up to vaccinate children only to discover other groups had been there before them, but had failed to leave any records. ?In the end no one knew any more who had been vaccinated so there was a risk that some people were getting vaccinated two or three times and others not at all,? he said.

??Recovery is far more difficult than relief?, the UN's Deputy Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, Eric Schwartz said.

CEREMONY

Free trip draws 1,200 to mark anniversary

■ About 1,200 visitors from 40 countries who were either injured or lost family members in the 2004 tsunami will take a Thai government-sponsored trip to the country to mark the first anniversary, Thailand said. The number of visitors will be eight times lower than the number Bangkok had said it hoped to accommodate during its $6.5 million three-day ceremony to be held in four of the six southern provinces along the Andaman Sea hit by the deadly waves on December 26 last year.

"We want to say thank you to people who have helped us," Suranand Vejjajiva, a cabinet minister charged with organising the anniversary, told a briefing for foreign journalists. "It is a gesture we put out to say we have been very grateful for that help," he said, referring to the flow of donations Thailand received from the international community in the aftermath of the tsunami.

The waves killed 5,395 people in Thailand, 1,953 of whom were foreigners. There were 2,940 people reported missing, 917 of them foreigners, according to government data. Immediate family members of those killed or survivors would receive a free return flight to Phuket island, airport pick-up and two nights accommodation, officials said. Despite hundreds of invitations extended to heads of states and other dignitaries, including former US Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, only 60 Bangkok-based diplomats from 40 embassies had agreed to take part in the ceremony, said Vitavas Srivihok, a Thai official responsible for inviting foreigners. "They said they would be tied up with Christmas celebrations at home," he said about those who had declined the offer.