Global: New UN fund to speed global disaster response

The United Nations next week (March 6) launches a new global emergency fund to provide swifter relief to victims of natural disasters, but with far less money on hand than the $500 million it had hoped to raise. The Central Emergency Response Fund will have just $188 million when it opens for business, which is nonetheless a significant improvement over an existing UN standby loan facility of $50 million. Donations to the new fund, which will be able to make grants as well as loan money, have come from 19 of the 191 U.N. member-states.