day meeting ended with the participants agreeing that the warning systems should be addressed within the framework of the United Nations. "We agree that the role of the United Nations is the most important in ensuring that all aspects in building an early warning are coordinated effective and timely," Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai told a news conference. "We agree to advance the establishment of such an arrangement through organisation of expert meetings and needs assessments, to be undertaken with the support of relevant regional and international institutions and governments," Surakiart said. The toll of dead and missing from the tsunami, triggered by a massive undersea earthquake off Sumatra, has risen above 298,000, according to collated figures from government and health officials. Thailand had wanted the system to be built on the existing structure of the U.N.-backed Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), which has around 30 member countries in Asia and is located in Bangkok. The meeting only recognised ADPC's readiness to serve as a regional centre and to work together with national and international institutions. "This arrangement shall be developed within the UN's international strategy coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO," said a statement at the end of two-day meeting. The meeting also agreed on the establishment of a Voluntary Trust Fund, which will be administored by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), headquartered in Bangkok.
