1. The objective of the Voluntary Trust Fund on Tsunami Early Warning Arrangements in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia is to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated approach to resource mobilization for building and enhancing tsunami early warning capacities at various levels in accordance with the needs of the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian countries. The Trust Fund will contribute to narrowing the capacity gaps in the region and ensure development of an integrated regional early warning system based on adequate resources, and comprising a network of collaborative centres connected to sub-regional, regional, and national centres and linked to other existing centres outside the region, such as those in the Pacific Ocean.

2. The Trust Fund will be utilized to support the following:

1. A series of activities to be developed in the course of establishing a comprehensive end-to-end tsunami early warning system for the region.
2. The work of sub-regional and regional centres.
3. National centres, taking into account paragraph 3 below.

3. Primary responsibility for establishing and maintaining effective national early warning arrangements rests with the respective national governments in the region. Subject to availability of funding, the Tsunami Regional Trust Fund may be drawn upon to supplement national resources in areas in which national organizations do not have adequate capacity. It is envisaged that designated regional, sub-regional and national centres would serve as focal points for establishing, enhancing and maintaining the necessary capacities, whether in terms of technologies, organizations and expertise.