A six-month old UN emergency relief fund is ensuring timely assistance for those in need, and proves the global body can reform as demanded by many of its members, the UN humanitarian chief, Norwegian national Jan Egeland said Thursday.
The fund – to be used for fast relief operations, such as the recent conflict in Lebanon or the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami – was approved by the UN General Assembly in December and received 274 million US dollar from 52 states, one local government and one private organization in 2006.
So far this year, 173,5 million dollar from the fund has been distributed to UN relief agencies. A key benefit of the fund is the opportunity it gives aid agencies to help countries where long-running emergencies have received comparatively little attention, Jan Egeland said in Geneva.
The UN spends some 5 billion US dollar per year on aid raised through its regular humanitarian appeals, but not all appeals are equally well financed, leading to so-called ‘forgotten’ emergencies which the new fund set out to tackle.
In the DR Congo, the fund has spent 38 million dollar and is helping control malaria and cholera, according to Jan Egeland, who was recently in the former Zaire. The fund stepped in last month to provide 4,5 million dollar for helicopters to ferry food in Darfur, large parts of which were cut off from aid convoys because of carjackings and looting, he said.
In Lebanon, which Israel bombed and invaded last July after Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers, it gave 5 million dollar for trucks, telecommunications equipment and other aid.
The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (Nordkorea) could benefit from the UN emergency fund that is aimed at speeding up international response to disasters and crises, Egeland further said.
Egeland noted that any possible sanctions should not affect humanitarian activities in North Korea. He also expressed hope that that donors would fill a UN World Food Program appeal for 102 million dollar to feed 1,9 million Northkoreans over two years.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
