in recent years -- warning UN agencies to "adapt, shrink or die". With its pledge, announced at the US mission in Geneva alongside UN aid chief Tom Fletcher, the United States is pursuing a dramatic overhaul of how it funds UN humanitarian work. Instead of handing funds to individual agencies, the United States will funnel its contributions through the UN aid agency OCHA, headed by Fletcher, which earlier this year launched a so-called Humanitarian Reset to improve efficiency and accountability. The US funds -- welcomed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres -- will then be distributed to 17 selected countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine.

The UN'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 US official for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom, told reporters. "There are other countries that we will add, as we continue to get more funding into this mechanism." Among the crises not listed were Yemen and Afghanistan, where Lewin stressed the need to "prevent diversion to the Taliban and other US-designated foreign terrorist organisations". Gaza was also absent, but Lewin said there would be more focus on aid for the war-ravaged Palestinian territory as US President Donald Trump's truce plan with Israel moves forward. (Bssews)