CERF QUARTERLY UPDATE 2nd Quarter 2010

Summary

- Halfway through 2010, CERF has allocated $245.5 million to UN country teams in 34 countries. Allocations are at the same pace as 2008, the busiest year in the Fund's history.

- Although the food sector historically receives the largest percentage of CERF funding, health projects have received the greatest share in the first half of 2010. CERF has allocated 17.7 percent of all funds for health programs. In Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, CERF funding is being used to fight a polio outbreak; polio had been declared eradicated in Europe in 2002 by the World Health Organization (WHO). In response to a measles outbreak in southern Africa, CERF provided funds to vaccinate nearly 800,000 women and children.

- Niger, Chad and other countries in the Sahel belt are suffering from severe food and nutrition insecurity. In response, CERF has allocated over $35 million in the first half of 2010 to combat the dire situation. CERF funding is being used to bring the acute malnutrition rate below 10 percent and to decrease the incidence of stunting in children under the age of 5.

- The second underfunded round country selection was announced on 16 July. Humanitarian country teams working in nine countries - six countries with Consolidated Appeals (CAP) and three countries without CAPs - will receive a total of $42 million. The largest allocations, $8 million, will go to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Chad.

- In the second quarter of 2010, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) each received nearly equal shares of CERF allocations (approximately $16 million each). WFP still remains the largest recipient of all 2010 CERF funds.

- In the first half of the year, CERF contributed to three Flash Appeals and 10 CAPs. For two of the three Flash Appeals, CERF made its contribution within four days of the appeal launch. In the case of the third, Haiti, the first CERF allocations were made before the appeal was launched.

- The CERF Advisory Group met on 1 July. At the meeting, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the Emergency Relief Coordinator provided an update on the use and management of the Fund. The Group also discussed the Five-Year Evaluation of the Fund, which was requested by the General Assembly in its resolution 63/139, and the pilot of the Performance and Accountability Framework in Kenya.

- To date in 2010, CERF has already received $2.7 million from private donors, including individuals, corporations and other private organizations. This is nearly three times as much as was raised in 2008, previously the year in which CERF received the greatest amount of private donations. During the month of June, under the patronage of Mrs. Ban Soon-taek, wife of the United Nations Secretary-General, UN spouses organized the annual UN Spouses Bazaar. This year, all profits from the Bazaar were donated to CERF - more than $35,000.