UN, Thailand Expand Scope Of Disaster Fund

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UN, Thailand expand scope of disaster fund

By The Nation

A new agreement, signed by the United Nation's under secretarygeneral Dr Noeleen Heyzer and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, will expand the scope of the tsunami trust fund to cover other kinds of coastal hazards in disasterprone regions.

Dr Heyzer is also executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap).

The agreement increases the reach of the regional fund to also help states in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean that are vulnerable to flooding, storm surges, cyclones and other coastal hazards.

"The initial tsunami trust fund served its purpose well, especially with the establishment of an early warning service," Heyzer said during the signing ceremony. "It is now time to step forward in expanding this fund to target disaster preparedness to counter all coastal disasters threatening our communities."

Recognising the critical role Thailand has played as the fund's founding donor state, Kasit said the country's "contribution to the fund is part of our comprehensive effort to enhance regional and international disaster management".

Sweden, another significant donor, strongly supported the agreement. "Sweden welcomes the decision to broaden the scope of the fund to include overall disaster and climate preparedness," Swedish Ambassador to Bangkok Lennart Linner said. "We look forward to continued fruitful cooperation with partners of the fund."

One major result of the fund is the establishment of the Regional Integrated MultiHazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES), which provides early warnings for tsunamis and extremeweather events to 26 countries. With an initial investment of US$4.5 million (Bt136.57 million) and annual costs of around $2.5 million, RIMES has already enabled significant savings.

The fund was established in 2005, with generous support from Thailand and Sweden, following the devastating tsunami on December 26, 2004, which killed up to 200,000 people.

Since 2005, the fund has supported projects resulting in improved risk knowledge, monitoring and warning services, communication and community preparedness. Escap, Thailand and Sweden recently agreed to expand the core areas of support to include climate and disaster preparedness owing to the increased number of extreme weather events, as well as the continuing need to strengthen early warning systems. The fund is now called the Escap MultiDonor Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian Countries.

-- The Nation 2011-03-11