Washington, DC — Because natural disasters, such as the recent flooding in southern Africa and Madagascar pose a "continuous threat," African ambassadors to the United States have formed a permanent tax exempt relief fund to be administered by CARE USA, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

In a memorandum of understanding, still in draft form, the Ambassadors say they "have decided to collectively seek assistance from various individuals and organizations in the United States and have, to that end, established the African Disaster Relief Fund registered as a philanthropic organization."

CARE has agreed to a proposal of partnership and will collect, distribute, and account for money collected by the new relief fund. Immediately, funds collected by the new group will be for Southern Africa relief. Forty percent of this money will go to Mozambique, 30 percent to Madagascar and the balance will be shared by Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. The criteria used for determining disbursement are "damage suffered and the capacity to restore."

In February, as the extent of the flooding in Mozambique became clear, Djibouti Ambassador Roble Olhaye, dean of the African diplomatic corps in Washington, began telephoning his colleagues. An "ad hoc" group of African Ambassadors started meeting to discuss assistance. "All of our countries have been helping out but you don't see that on CNN," said one Ambassador during a recent meeting of the African diplomats

Mozambique's disaster brought the need for some longer-term strategy of mobilizing assistance into sharp focus, said an Ambassador speaking to the group when it met Wednesday to discuss building support and to review the memorandum. "We need to have an arrangement where people do not have to be drowning for two weeks before the first helicopter comes."

Explaining why CARE is being used as a conduit for the assistance money, the Ambassador pointed to "the psychology of the donor" saying that corporations the group has approached seemed "uncomfortable" with sending money directly to African countries in need. CARE is the largest private relief and development organization in the United States. The diplomats plan to broaden their appeal, reaching into the arts and entertainment community and local community groups.

"No effort will be regarded as too small," the Ambassadors say. "Periodically," African Ambassadors will "handover any amount collected and lodged in the Africa Disaster Relief Fund to CARE."