Annan Appoints Advisory Group

Tapping emergency relief experts from Governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) around the world, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today announced the appointment of a group that will advise him on the use of a new fund designed to bring immediate relief to victims of disaster.

"We are working to move from lottery to predictability so that all those who suffer receive aid," Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in welcoming the announcement of the twelve members of the Advisory Group for the new Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

"With every step we take to put these new CERF mechanisms in place, we are contributing to that overall effort," he added.

CERF grants have already been used to provide emergency health services in Cote d'Ivoire and to put in place programmes to stem suffering and death as drought overwhelms the Horn of Africa.

Towards the goal of $450 million of quickly accessible funds, the UN has received $254 million from 40 countries and two private sector donors to date.

The task of the CERF Advisory Group, required by the General Assembly resolution that created the initiative this past December, is "to provide periodic policy guidance and expert advice on the use and impact of the fund," according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The appointees range from directors of the disaster management units of the Jamaican and Indian Governments, to officials from international assistance units of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the Netherlands to the head of the NGO Concern Worldwide, one of four alternate advisors.

"The high quality of nominations received meant that there was an outstanding pool of candidates from which to choose," noted Robert A. Enholm, Chief of the CERF Secretariat within OCHA. "The Secretary-General was able to appoint members with
technical expertise from around the globe," he said.

The CERF Advisory Group will hold its first meeting in New York on 23 May 2006.

Source: United Nations

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