Japan pledges $7.5 million to global response fund

(New York: 17 May 2006): The Government of Japan today announced a pledge of $7.5 million for the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), approved by the General Assembly in December 2005 and officially launched by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in March 2006. The pledge makes Japan one of the top ten donors to the CERF and brings the total number of Member States contributing to the Fund to 41. Total pledges and contributions now amount to more than $261 million.
As of 16 May, 41 countries and two non-state groups have made pledges and/or contributions to the CERF, including Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Grenada, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United States. Japan's Hyogo Prefecture and the private sector Disaster Resource Network have also made pledges to the CERF. Because the CERF is entirely dependent on voluntary contributions, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) urges more government, private sector, corporate and individual donations to the CERF. United Nations Member States are also encouraged to establish a budget line for annual contributions to ensure the Fund's replenishment.

"Too often, aid resembles a lottery in which a few win but most lose based on consideration other than need. We must move from lottery to predictability so all those who suffer receive aid," said Jan Egeland, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator.

The CERF will save lives by providing quick initial funding for life-saving assistance and rapid response to sudden onset, rapidly deteriorating, and neglected emergencies. It will also help to rectify the existing imbalance in global aid distribution, as a result of which millions of people in neglected or forgotten crises remain in need while others benefit from better funded programmes.

General Assembly resolution 60/124 (2005) added a grant facility of up to $450 million to the previous Central Emergency Revolving Fund's loan mechanism of $50 million. Up to two thirds of the grant facility can be allocated to rapid response to sudden onset emergencies. The other third is available for addressing underfunded emergencies.

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs manages the Fund on behalf of the Secretary-General and makes disbursements from the Fund on the basis of requests submitted by the Humanitarian or Resident Coordinators in the countries affected by the emergencies. He will receive guidance from the CERF Advisory Group, whose 12 independent experts will hold their first meeting in New York on 23 May 2006.

To date, rapid response funding from the CERF has been used to fund life-saving assistance activities in Cote d'Ivoire and the Horn of Africa including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somali, and Kenya. Additionally, an initial grant allocation of $32 million for the ten most underfunded emergencies has been announced, including for Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Haiti, Republic of Congo, and Zimbabwe, as well as for Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia.

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.