UK wants more UN impact in crises

Mr Brown is to attend a meeting of the UN reform panel in Oslo

UK Chancellor Gordon Brown is to call for the international community to give more money and energy to emergencies such as the crisis in Lebanon.

He will demand faster, more effective humanitarian operations, claiming "reform is the only way that we can build a UN fit for the 21st Century".

And the UN's relief fund must rise to US$1bn (£525m) to make "a real impact", Mr Brown will tell a meeting in Norway.

Lebanon is currently appealing for half of that sum to aid its recovery.

It has put the cost of damage from the recent conflict with Israel at $3.6bn (£1.9bn).

It said 15,000 Lebanese homes had been wrecked and needs money to provide temporary accommodation, as well as to repair major roads and bridges.

'Global challenges'

The Chancellor will propose that a single UN body is established to improve the co-ordination of relief funds and to make the donating process more accountable.

He will also call for the UN to work in partnership with the World Bank more effectively so there can be a greater degree of flexibility when disasters occur.

DAMAGE TO LEBANON Infrastructure 15,000 homes, 78 bridges and 630km of roads damaged Agriculture Up to $185m (£97m) of crops, 1m poultry, 25,000 goats and sheep lost Economy 6% growth (forecast) set to plunge, unemployment up Crisis facts and figures Annan's Mid-East challenge

"The international community needs to work together to reinvigorate and strengthen the UN's assistance and aid functions to enable them to meet new global challenges," Mr Brown is expected to say.

"It is time for a bold and ambitious agenda and the leadership to drive this forward."

Also on Thursday, Hilary Benn, the international development secretary, is attending an international donors' conference in Sweden.

The Treasury said the trips by the two Cabinet ministers were "a co-ordinated approach to argue that the international community needs to raise its game in this area".

More than 60 countries are at the donors' summit, along with officials from the UN, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Red Cross.