The United Nations is ready to assist governments of tsunami-sticken countries in building disaster preparedness system, an UN official said here Friday.

"National governments have to be primary actors in taking the initiative and promoting appropriate disaster warning mechanism in the tsunami-affected region," said Margareta Wahlstrom, UN special coordinator for humanitarian assistance for tsunami-affected communities, at a press conference.

She stressed that the United Nations would provide strong support in establishing such mechanism and is willing to work with national authorities in facilitating the drive, which includes ways to bring in expertise and help national institutions that require the engagement.

On Jan. 28-29, a meeting on tsunami will be held in Thailand's Phuket island, at which the setting up of a tsunami warning systemwill be discussed.

Thailand hoped the Pathum Thani-based Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) will become a regional center for an early warning system.

Some 50 million US dollars are estimated to be needed to upgrade the ADPC into a full-fledged center for information analysis and distribution on tsunami and other national disasters.

For the installation of the system, Thailand has pledged to contribute 10 million US dollars to the "voluntary trust fund". Itis still not clear how big the fund should be for the establishment of the system.

Meanwhile, Wahlstrom said people who were greatly affected by the tidal waves have recovered rapidly three weeks after the disaster.

The UN official noted the focus of relief operation now has shifted to how to support people to regain their livelihoods, to get children back to school, to prevent the outbreak of diseases and to revive local economy. These would take time, she said. Enditem