A/RES/60/124 15. Decides to upgrade the current Central Emergency Revolving Fund into the Central Emergency Response Fund by including a grant element based on voluntary contributions, to be replenished at regular intervals, so as to ensure a more predictable and timely response to humanitarian emergencies, with the objectives of promoting early action and response to reduce loss of life, enhancing response to time-critical requirements and strengthening core elements of humanitarian response in underfunded crises, based on demonstrable needs and on priorities identified in consultation with the affected State as appropriate; 16. Decides also that the Fund will continue to operate in accordance with resolution 46/182 and the guiding principles contained in the annex thereto; 17. Affirms its role to provide overall policy guidance on the use of the Fund to maximize its impact and to improve its functioning, and encourages the Economic and Social Council to discuss the implementation of the Fund; 18. Takes note that an advisory group will be established, as an independent body, to provide advice to the Secretary-General on the use and impact of the Fund, and that the Inter-Agency Standing Committee will discuss the use and impact of the Fund; 19. Calls upon the Secretary-General, on the basis of his report on the improvement of the Central Emergency Revolving Fund2 and in consultations with all relevant stakeholders, to make the necessary managerial and administrative arrangements to facilitate the implementation of the grant element and set up appropriate reporting and accountability mechanisms to ensure that the funds allocated through the Fund are used in the most efficient, effective and transparent manner possible; 20. Urges all Member States and invites the private sector and all concerned individuals and institutions to consider making voluntary contributions to the Fund, welcomes the financial pledges already made, and emphasizes that contributions should be additional to current commitments to humanitarian programming and not to the detriment of resources made available for international cooperation for development; 21. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council on the detailed use of the Fund; 22. Also requests the Secretary-General to commission an independent review of the Fund at the end of the second year of operation to assess, inter alia, both the grant and revolving elements of the Fund, its administration, criteria for resource allocation, actions and responses supported by it and its ability to meet its objectives, and to submit a report in that regard to the General Assembly at its sixty-third session; 23. Emphasizes the importance of the discussion of humanitarian policies and activities by the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council and that those discussions should be continuously revitalized by Member States; 24. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-first session, through the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 2006, on progress made in strengthening the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations. 63rd plenary meeting 15 December 2005 4