"This is a problem that is nowhere near solved and we can't lose our concentration on it," said Clinton, who has promised to spend at least two years on the UN effort.

"We have a moral obligation to build these areas back better than they were before the crisis began," he said told a news conference at UN headquarters with Secretary-General Kofi Annan at his side. "The human price these people have paid alone argues for a commitment."

Specifically, the former president said his job was to make sure governments lived up to their pledges and in turn account for how the billions of dollars were spent. The affected nations are to draw up recovery plans within 6-9 months.

"Now we are in a period where we're finished sending water and water pills and emergency food," Clinton said. "But the homes haven't been rebuilt, the jobs haven't all been restored, not all of the fishing boats have been replaced, the sanitation facilities have not all been reconstructed, the wells haven't all been dug."

Some 227,989 people were killed or are missing after the Dec. 26 underwater earthquake sent deadly waves into a dozen Indian Ocean nations.

More than $8 billion has been pledged or spent in the relief effort from governments, private organizations and individuals from around the world.

REBUILDING TOURIST INDUSTRY

Clinton, recovering from heart surgery, was appointed to his new $1-a-year UN job on Feb. 1 but did not meet Annan until Wednesday.

Asked if he wanted to succeed Annan, Clinton said, "I support the secretary-general we have. I like him, I admire him. I think he is doing a good job. And I like the job I have. which includes now a job for him."

"And the pay is good too," he quipped.

Clinton said the tourist industry had to be rebuilt in tsunami-affected countries. He said the Maldives lost 62 percent of their annual income because tourists had not returned there "or to Sri Lanka for that matter or fully to Thailand ... even though many places are open for business."

Americans donated between $750 million and $1 billion, much of it through the Internet, and Clinton said this was the first international crisis where technology had helped ordinary people make a difference, and he hoped this model could be used in future crises and to combat poverty.

Annan said the tragedy had largely faded from nightly news and front pages "as we knew it would."