United Nations Regional Trust Fund Set Up

[Jai Dee]

The UN's regional trust fund is set up for tsunami Early Warning System.

A regional trust fund to support tsunami early warning arrangements in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia was launched on Monday in Bangkok with a US$ 10 million (or 400 million baht) contribution by the Thai Government. The fund will be managed by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN/ESCAP), which is the regional arm of the United Nations for Asia and the Pacific. The Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Kantathi Suphamongkhon, and Dr. Kim Hak-Su, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of UN/ESCAP, signed the trust fund agreement at a ceremony at the Ministry. The trust fund will contribute to the broader United Nations response to the tsunami by supporting development of a regional early warning System that would take the form of a network of national and regional centres. The fund will assist these centres to build capacity in terms of technologies, organizational arrangements and expertise.

Andaman News TV11 PHUKET FOR 3 ANDAMAN PROVINCES & FM90.5 Phuket 8.30am Wednesday 28 September 2005