ESCAP Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness
The ESCAP Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness was established in 2005, originally to support tsunami early warning through a multi-hazard approach. The destructive Indian Ocean Tsunami that occurred in December 2004 stressed the need for an effective regional disaster preparedness mechanism in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. In 2010, the scope of the Fund was broadened to include overall disaster and climate preparedness within the Fund’s core areas of support. The Fund contributes to narrowing the capacity gaps in the region and ensures the development of an integrated regional early warning system. Please click on the link below to access the Strategic Plan of the Trust Fund.
End-to-end early warning, defined broadly, is the overall framework for the Fund. In line with the Fund’s objectives and geographic scope, the Fund will focus on early warning of coastal hazards such as tsunamis, coastal zone flooding, storm surges and cyclones, while adopting a multi-hazard approach.
Gaps and Unmet Needs
To determine which capacity building measures are necessary the Trust Fund periodically commissions a mapping study on gaps and unmet needs in regional early warning systems for coastal hazards. Please click on the link below to access the most recent mapping study.
As the only UN Asia-Pacific fund in this area of work, and to avoid spreading resources too thinly, the Fund gives priority to strategic initiatives at the regional level, including regional resource sharing arrangements, South-South cooperation approaches, and initiatives that can have value region-wide (e.g., model or pilot approaches). Support to national and sub-national initiatives should also be considered for countries that are a priority because of high levels of disaster risk and vulnerability and/or significant capacity gaps.
At present, the Trust Fund has received contributions from the Governments of Thailand, Sweden, Turkey, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Nepal. The Trust Fund is open-ended.
