In the US, Oxfam received over $4 million US in online donations alone, and Oxfam in the UK has already more than three million pounds ($5,752,000 dollars) in just five days.

And in Australia, the city of Sydney is supporting Oxfam's Tsunami Emergency Appeal, through donations and fundraising opportunities during its New Year's Eve celebrations.

Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America said:

"People and corporations around the world have reacted incredibly quickly to the devastation and given very generously. We have never seen such a response. It is now vital that the aid gets through quickly and that the world does not forget survivors faced with the long-term task of rebuilding their lives."

Oxfam also urged donor governments to give long-term aid to the millions who will be faced with the mammoth task of rebuilding their homes, businesses and communities. The International agency warned that massive attention for a short time does not necessarily produce generous support from donor governments.

"Governments must not only pledge immediate aid for the millions of victims of the tsunami. They must deliver it before it is too late," said Oxfam's Offenheiser. "And they must support people rebuilding their lives after the cameras have gone. Like all the people in the humanitarian crises that never hit our TV screens, they need the continued, not just fleeting, generosity, of rich governments."

Donor governments' short attention span:

• The Flash Appeal in response to Iran's earthquake 12 months ago was only 54 percent funded ($32m requested, only $17 million given). The Flash Appeal for the series of disasters that hit Haiti from March to September 2004 was only 36 percent funded (only $13m received of the $37m requested).
• Similarly, relative generosity in one year does not guarantee that donor governments will remain interested. Afghanistan's 2002 appeal was 67 percent funded, immediately after the Taliban was overthrown. Two years later, its Drought Appeal for 2004 was only 36 percent funded ($26m of the $73m requested).

Donor governments' generosity to the politically important crises:

• Iraq and Chechnya's 2003 appeals were both 91 percent funded, while Cote D'Ivoire only received 54 percent, Liberia 45 percent in 2003, and Mozambique 15 percent. This added up to $40 in aid for each beneficiary in Chechnya, and 40 cents in Mozambique.

To donate, please visit http://www.oxfamamerica.org

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