Faster response

Gordon Brown proposes an international fund to respond to natural disasters and other shocks:

Gordon Brown is pushing for a shake-up of the international response to natural disasters amid growing concern about the plight of earthquake victims in Pakistan.

As the first snowstorms of what has been predicted will be a particularly hard winter were forecast for the region this weekend, the Chancellor and Hilary Benn, the international development secretary, are concerned that while charities can deploy at a moment's notice to get emergency aid to a crisis, international institutions such as the UN are much slower at grinding into action...

Brown flew to Saudi Arabia this month for talks on his plan for a new 'shocks facility' at the International Monetary Fund, which would allow countries to borrow money quickly for reconstruction after natural disasters which demand rebuilding on a massive scale - as well as to cushion themselves against other kinds of shock, such as a sharp rise in oil prices...

The Chancellor has also been discussing plans for a new UN humanitarian fund to kick into action immediately in a crisis. The existing emergency response fund is worth only $50 million and can only be used to loan money to UN agencies which have received pledges from donors - designed to fill in the gap between donors offering help and actually transferring cash.

While anti-UN commentators are always quick to try to blame the institution for responding slowly when it's needed, Brown's call highlights the reason why immediate response isn't even possible under the current funding model. And the problem is a policy which can be easily redesigned, rather than a fundamental disagreement among the member states or an inherent flaw in the institution.

But then, it will take some effort to change the policy, especially if the U.S. once again insists on forcing concessions on unrelated issues before signing onto common-sense reforms. Hopefully the memory of this past year's disasters will push the U.S. and the rest of the world to ensure that both the UN and the IMF are better able to react next time the need arises.