Friday, December 23 2005 15:12 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: Majority of children, who went through the tragedy of killer tsunami last year in India and Sri Lanka, believe that future is full of promises but Indonesians have no such high hopes, a UN survey has found.

Nearly 80 per cent of the children who were interviewed in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand used words like 'hopeful, happy, confident' to describe future, the survey conducted by United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.

Indonesian children were seen least optimistic as one third of them believing that there life will never improve, possibly because a staggering 69 per cent of those surveyed there had lost a family member, it said.

More than one-third of those polled in Indonesia said they often feel alone.

The survey found that two-thirds of 1633 children interviewed in four countries feel optimistic about future and say that their situation has improved and they are better off now compared to weeks after the tsunami.

The natural disaster has had its effect on the psyche of children with majority of them fearing another calamity of such magnitude.

More than half those surveyed in India and Sri Lanka fear another earthquake or tsunami and 76 per cent in Thailand fear the loss of a loved one, the survey said.

Children were also aware that they benefited from relief assistance, but also felt that additional aid was needed. The children identified several key needs, most often mentioning support to stay in school.

UNICEF commissioned the survey to study how the tragedy has affected children and to improve programmes that meet the needs of the tsunami generation.