Major improvements in the United States Government's
disaster assistance operations in fiscal years 1972-1 973 were given impetus
by the upgrading and strengthening of A.1 .D.'s disaster relief capability.
It was during ,this period that the disaster
relief function was raised from a divisional level to one of the major
offices in the Bureau for Population and Humanitarian Assistance.
A Center was designed and equipped, and a Disaster Tamsk Force Reserve
was created, manned by volunteers from various A.I.D. and State Department
units to provide personnel for disaster. duty around the clock. The Center
was planned to
improve the efficiency of U. S. emergency
relief activities, to respond more effectively to massive reaction of the
U.S. public to major foreign catastrophes, and to facilitate the interchange
of current disaster intelligence among members of the domestic and international
disaster relief communities.
Source: US Agency for International Development
Country: World
