Madam, - Your Editorial of May 30th on the Indonesian earthquake concluded by noting the need for a UN disaster relief standing fund to deal with emergencies.
In fact, such a fund has just been established - the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). The fund has a target of $500 million and is administered by the UN Emergency Co-ordinator, Mr Jan Egeland. Some $300 million has already been committed to the fund with Ireland contributing almost $12 million.
The UN has appointed an advisory committee to oversee the operation of the fund.
At its first meeting last week in New York, Mr Egeland reported that some $70 million has already been earmarked, with significant amounts going to the Horn of Africa, Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo and smaller amounts going to forgotten or under-funded emergencies.
This initiative is welcome. It is part of the wider UN reform process which envisages better co-ordination among UN organisations and the main aid agencies in responding to emergencies. But the world also needs to invest more in preparing for emergencies and reducing the risk of disasters.
This needs to be built into national budgets, particularly in the most disaster-prone countries, and into aid programmes. More resources for disaster risk reduction should have a big payoff - prevention is better, and a lot cheaper, than cure. Most importantly, it would protect the poorest people, who are always the big losers in emergencies. - Yours, etc,
TOM ARNOLD, Chief Executive, Concern, Alternate Member, Central Emergency Response Fund, Dublin 2.