US Pledges $2 Bln for UN Aid, With Warning

With its pledge, announced at the U.S. mission in Geneva alongside U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher, the United States is pursuing a dramatic overhaul of how it funds U.N. humanitarian work.

Instead of handing funds to individual agencies, the United States will funnel its contributions through the U.N. aid agency OCHA, headed by Fletcher, which earlier this year launched a so-called Humanitarian Reset to improve efficiency and accountability.

The U.S. funds, welcomed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, will then be distributed to 17 selected countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine.

The U.N.'s Central Emergency Response Fund, which provides swift aid as new emergencies erupt or when existing crises rapidly deteriorate, will also receive a tranche of money.

"It is an initial anchor commitment," Jeremy Lewin, the senior U.S. official for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom, told reporters. 

With its pledge, announced at the U.S. mission in Geneva alongside U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher, the United States is pursuing a dramatic overhaul of how it funds U.N. humanitarian work.

Instead of handing funds to individual agencies, the United States will funnel its contributions through the U.N. aid agency OCHA, headed by Fletcher, which earlier this year launched a so-called Humanitarian Reset to improve efficiency and accountability.

The U.S. funds, welcomed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, will then be distributed to 17 selected countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine.

The U.N.'s Central Emergency Response Fund, which provides swift aid as new emergencies erupt or when existing crises rapidly deteriorate, will also receive a tranche of money.

"It is an initial anchor commitment," Jeremy Lewin, the senior U.S. official for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom, told reporters. 

With its pledge, announced at the U.S. mission in Geneva alongside U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher, the United States is pursuing a dramatic overhaul of how it funds U.N. humanitarian work.

Instead of handing funds to individual agencies, the United States will funnel its contributions through the U.N. aid agency OCHA, headed by Fletcher, which earlier this year launched a so-called Humanitarian Reset to improve efficiency and accountability.

The U.S. funds, welcomed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, will then be distributed to 17 selected countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine.

The U.N.'s Central Emergency Response Fund, which provides swift aid as new emergencies erupt or when existing crises rapidly deteriorate, will also receive a tranche of money.

"It is an initial anchor commitment," Jeremy Lewin, the senior U.S. official for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom, told reporters. 

That only allowed it to help 98 million people, 25 million fewer than the year before.