CERF Newsletter Nov 2008

High-Level Conference on CERF set for 4 December 2008

The annual High-Level Conference on CERF will be held on Thursday, 4 December 2008. The event will take place in the Economic and Social Council Chamber at United Nations headquarters in New York from 10:00 to 17:00.

The Conference is a key instrument to review progress and mobilize resources for the Fund. The goals of this year's event are to serve as a forum for an open and concrete dialogue on the Fund with Member States, and encourage as many Member States as possible to become contributors to CERF, so that the Fund can reach the annual funding goal of $450 million as set by the General Assembly in 2006.

The Conference will be attended by the Secretary-General and senior representatives of Member States at ministerial and ambassadorial level. The full day event includes a substantive briefing in the morning, a reception over lunch time, and a pledging session in the afternoon. Full interpretation will be provided.

Joining the Secretary-General at the podium will be ministers from Australia and Kenya, the Vice President of the General Assembly, and Mr. John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

CERF's Two-Year Evaluation: Briefing for all Member States

One of the most important developments for CERF in 2008 was the General Assembly-mandated evaluation of the Fund's performance in its first two years.

Mr. Stephen O'Malley, Chief of the CERF Secretariat, will brief all Member States on the follow-up to evaluation's recommendations. The briefings, for which Member States should be receiving invitations soon, will take place in Geneva on Wednesday, 19 November from 11:00 to 12:00 on the Secretary-General's report on CERF and in New York on 24 November at 09:00 in Conference Room D.