A/RES/54/219 Page 3 a review of these arrangements after the first year of operations with a view to submitting proposals on adjustments;7 5. Decides to maintain the observance of the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction on the second Wednesday of October; 6. Requests the Secretary-General to establish, from voluntary contributions, a trust fund for disaster reduction to enable the funding of the inter-agency secretariat for disaster reduction and to transfer all assets of the Trust Fund for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction to the new trust fund for disaster reduction, effective 1 January 2000; 7. Calls upon Governments to continue to cooperate and coordinate their efforts with the SecretaryGeneral and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations system, nongovernmental organizations and other partners, as appropriate, to implement and to develop further a comprehensive strategy to maximize international cooperation in the field of natural disasters, based upon an effective division of labour, from prevention to early warning, response, mitigation, rehabilitation and reconstruction, including through capacity-building at all levels, and the development and strengthening of global and regional approaches that take into account regional, subregional, national and local circumstances and needs, as well as the need to strengthen coordination of national emergency response agencies in natural disasters; 8. Requests the Secretary-General to solicit the required inputs from organizations of the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations and disseminate listings of organizations of the United Nations system as organizations that provide civil protection and emergency response at all levels, available resources, to help during natural disasters; Governments, the relevant in order to optimize further well as non-governmental with updated inventories of 9. Also requests the Secretary-General to optimize further and disseminate through all available channels, including handbooks, the information necessary to guide the international community at large in the effective management of international cooperation in the fields of disaster prevention, early warning, response, mitigation, rehabilitation and reconstruction; 10. Emphasizes the urgent need to develop further and make use of the existing scientific and technical knowledge to reduce vulnerability to natural disasters, bearing in mind the particular needs of developing countries, and, in this regard, calls upon all countries to strengthen scientific research and training of experts in universities and specialized institutions and to promote the exchange of information; 11. Recognizes the importance of early warning as an essential element in the culture of prevention, and encourages renewed efforts at all levels to contribute to natural hazard monitoring and impact prediction, the development and transfer of technology, capacity-building for disaster preparedness, the detection of natural hazards and the issuance and communication of early warnings, as well as education and professional training, public information and awareness-raising activities, such as the International Conference on Early- 7 See A/54/497, paras. 11–14. /...