18 November 2008: The Second Committee (Economic and
Financial) of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), at its 63rd session, approved by
consensus a draft resolution calling on the international community to step up
assistance to countries affected by the El Niño phenomenon.

According to the
draft text, the Assembly would call upon the international community, the
Secretary-General and relevant UN organs, funds and programmes, particularly
those involved in the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, to adopt
measures to strengthen the International Research Centre on El Niño in
Guayaquil, Ecuador. Further, the Assembly would recognize the efforts of the
Ecuadorean Government, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the
Inter-Agency Secretariat for the International Strategy that led to the
creation of the Research Centre. The text further provides that UNGA would ask
the international community to provide scientific, technical and financial
assistance and cooperation for strengthening the Research Centre in Ecuador and
others centers devoted to studying El Niño.
The Assembly would underscore the
importance of: maintaining the El Niño/Southern Oscillation observation system;
continuing research on extreme weather events; improving forecasting skills;
developing appropriate policies for reducing El Nino’s impact; and further
enhancing and strengthening those institutional capacities in all countries,
particularly developing ones. Finally, UNGA would encourage the WMO to
strengthen collaboration as well as the exchange of data and information with
relevant institutions. [UN Press Release]