Emergency Relief Coordinator allocates $32 million from global response fund

(New York: 10 May 2006): Jan Egeland, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, today announced that $32 million will be made available from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for the ten most under-funded emergencies in the world.
"I have often compared the world's system for funding humanitarian activities as a lottery that only one or two countries will win in a given year," said Mr. Egeland in announcing his decision. "The CERF was set up to redress the inequities we have traditionally faced in funding priority projects in much needed, but often overlooked areas," he added.

Mr. Egeland urged the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinators (HCs) in the concerned countries to identify priority programmes, which their respective country teams have been unable to implement in the past due to chronically low funding.

One-third of the funds vested in the CERF are earmarked for under-funded emergencies. The twelve countries to benefit from this first disbursement for the most under-funded are: Burundi ($2 million); Central African Republic ($1 million); Chad ($4 million); Cote d'Ivoire ($1 million); Democratic Republic of the Congo ($17 million); Guinea ($1 million); Haiti ($1 million); Republic of Congo ($1 million); Zimbabwe ($1 million); and Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia (which will jointly receive $3 million).

The CERF, which was approved by the General Assembly in December 2005 and officially launched on 8 March 2006, will save lives by providing quick initial funding for life-saving assistance and rapid response in sudden onset, rapidly deteriorating, and under-funded emergencies. It will be used to help redress the existing imbalance in global aid distribution, as a result of which millions of people in so-called neglected or forgotten crises remain in need, while others benefit from better-funded programmes.

Towards the target of $450 million for the grant facility, the United Nations has received $254 million from 40 countries and two private sector donors to date. Because the CERF is entirely dependent on voluntary contributions, OCHA urges more Governments, members of the private sector and individuals to donate to the CERF. States are also encouraged to establish a budget line for annual contributions to ensure the Fund's replenishment.

The CERF is managed by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator on behalf of the Secretary-General.

The 10 Most Under-funded Emergencies

Burundi - Although the post-conflict political and institutional transition made significant progress in 2005, the overall situation remains fragile and humanitarian needs are enormous. Some 117,000 people remain internally displaced in Burundi, while more than 3000 former refugees have returned to their country of origin (with a possibility of more returns from Tanzania, which hosts more than 300,000 Burundian refugees). 2.2 million people are food insecure in this country that suffers from extreme land pressure. The population faces continued extreme poverty, a non-diversified economy based on subsistence farming and a weak State that struggles to provide basic services.

Central African Republic - A decade of chronic instability and recurrent armed conflict, capped by civil war from October 2002 to March 2003, deepened widespread poverty and vulnerability in the country. Although significant progress was made in the political process in 2005, including through the holding of transparent, free and fair presidential elections, the humanitarian and socio-economic situation continues to deteriorate. Insecurity prevails in parts of the country, particularly in the north where some 12,500 people sought refuge in Chad last summer and many more remain internally displaced.

Chad - With its resources have been strained by its hosting of some 200,000 refugees from the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, as well as nearly 45,000 from Central African Republic, Chad faces rising political tensions, increasing socio-economic fragility, scarce natural resources, poor infrastructure and meagre basic social services.

Cote d'Ivoire - The civil war that erupted following a failed coup d'état has resulted in the internal displacement of approximately 800,000 people, more than 90 per cent of which reside with increasingly vulnerable host families, resulting in a severe strain on their hosts' coping mechanisms. Additionally, the de facto division of the country has resulted in limited access to basic social services, particularly in areas controlled by the rebel Forces Nouvelles, and has fostered a persistent climate of impunity and violence.

Democratic Republic of the Congo - The country is at a crossroads: over four million people have perished as a result of years of conflict -- and the death toll continues to rise by some 1,200 every day. On the other hand, never since independence has the prospect for the country to emerge from despotism, crisis and chaos appeared so bright. Last year, 25 million Congolese registered to vote and in December overwhelmingly endorsed a constitution that forms the basis of a democratic state and opens the way to the first free and fair elections in over 40 years. However, military operations and armed clashes in the country's eastern and southern regions continue to displace civilians: since the beginning of 2006, more than 350,000 newly displaced people have received humanitarian assistance.

Guinea - Host to nearly one million refugees over the last decade due to the armed conflicts in the sub-region, the country has suffered from the effects of the conflicts in neighbouring countries, including cross-border incursions from Sierra Leone and Liberia, which have particularly affected the region of Guinea-Forestière. Humanitarian indicators across the board are low; the majority of the population continue to faces high mortality, morbidity and malnutrition rates due to poor access to health services, clean drinking water, sanitation, education and food insecurity.

Haiti - Haiti remains the least-developed country in the Americas and one of the poorest in the world. Haiti's decline is the result of decades of political crisis, insecurity, economic stagnation, environmental deterioration and the absence of the rule of law.

Republic of the Congo - Successive conflicts have shaken Congo for the last decade, costing many lives and the destruction of the country's road, school, sanitation, and other basic infrastructures. Approximately 100,000 people have been internally displaced. Congo is also susceptible to epidemics of the Ebola virus and to natural disasters such as flooding. Instability in the sub-region also threaten the peace in this country, which hosts some 65,000 refugees from neighbouring states.

Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe has been hard hit by the "triple threat" of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, food insecurity and lack of capacity for governance. Compounding the difficulties faced by the civilian population are several years of drought, and last year's Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order in which hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes and/or businesses.

Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia - Each of these countries continues to host significant refugee populations: both Ethiopia and Kenya have been long-term hosts to refugees fleeing instability in the region, while Zambia hosts Angolan refugees who were displaced during the decades-long civil conflict in that country.

OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org and www.reliefweb.int. For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570.