NEW YORK (Kyodo) Hyogo Prefecture, which suffered a devastating earthquake in 1995, will donate some $850,000 to a new U.N. global emergency fund aimed at dealing with disasters, U.N. officials said Thursday.
Hyogo is among the more than 30 governments, corporations and organizations that have pledged nearly $216 million to the new Central Emergency Response Fund, which was launched Thursday, officials said. The fund, approved by the U.N. General Assembly in December, was set up in response to calls for a swifter response to humanitarian emergencies.
"Too often, aid resembles a lottery in which a few win but most lose based on considerations other than need," said Jan Egeland, U.N. emergency relief coordinator. "We must move from lottery to predictability so all those who suffer receive aid."