Guardian: Lives lost through lack of leadership in UN response to humanitarian crises, Britain warns

Britain will issue a warning today that a lack of leadership in the UN's handling of humanitarian emergencies is "costing lives", and will call for urgent reforms because natural and man-made disasters are increasingly frequent.

In a speech to the UN in Geneva, Gareth Thomas, the international development minister, will say that conflicts, climate change and the scarcity of water and other natural resources, together with rising food prices, have combined to create an accelerating string of crises of unprecedented scale.

"The number of reported disasters over the past 10 years was 60% higher than the previous decade," Thomas will say, according to a text of the speech made available to the Guardian. The humanitarian response, he will argue, has not kept pace.

Thomas will identify the principal problem as a lack of properly trained humanitarian coordinators to oversee disaster relief in crisis-hit countries.

Read more on the Guardian Unlimited website.