PricewaterhouseCoopers, partners and staff donate $500,000 to UN humanitarian fund

[New York, 4 August 2008]: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today welcomed the very generous donation of $500,000 by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), on behalf of its partners and staff, to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). CERF is the UN's central donation facility, collecting contributions from member states and other donors year round to help ensure that funds are on hand to allow for immediate humanitarian relief in emergencies.

PwC's donation is the largest so far by a private firm to the humanitarian fund. It is part of a larger grant prompted by cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, which led PwC to pledge one million dollars divided equally between the CERF and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). PwC also contributed to the earthquake relief efforts for the people of China. The firm donated $250,000 to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to help provide emergency food and health to children affected by the earthquake.

'At PricewaterhouseCoopers, we have a strong commitment to community involvement worldwide, and believe that acting responsibly is a critical part of what it takes to be a leader,' said Michael Costello, PricewaterhouseCoopers' Charitable Foundation President in a letter to the United Nations.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has collaborated with the United Nations for years, including contributing toward the Indian Ocean tsunami relief efforts, being a member in the UN Global Compact, and assisting the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to help people displaced by the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. Globally, PricewaterhouseCoopers has donated $4 million to UNHCR.

'This generous donation by PricewaterhouseCoopers, its partners and staff, could not have come at a more opportune time. Humanitarian needs have risen considerably because of various natural disasters around the world, but above all rapid increases in the price of food and energy globally have left many vulnerable people in need of extra aid,' said John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

In Myanmar, for example, the devastating Cyclone Nargis in May left more than two million people in need of help, and in the Horn of Africa, more than 14 million people are estimated to be in need of immediate emergency aid as a result of drought, coupled with rising food prices.

Since it was launched in 2006, donors to the CERF have made available more than $800 million for rapid disaster relief, helping UN agencies, funds and programmes to save tens of thousands of lives in 62 countries struggling with disasters, armed conflicts or both. The food crisis has also put more pressure on the CERF's limited funds. The UN is still short of US$20 million this year to reach its annual funding goal of $500 million.

Philanthropy is an important component of responsible corporate citizenship. OCHA encourages more companies and foundations to follow the example of PricewaterhouseCoopers, SCOR, Western Union and the UN Foundation in supporting the CERF. The UN Foundation is a US public charity that accepts tax-deductible donations for CERF.

In the US, PricewaterhouseCoopers, its partners and staff have donated more than $18 million to nearly 3,000 organizations and spent over 95,000 hours in community activities during the past year.

For further information, please call: Dawn Blalock, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 318 8917; John Nyaga, OCHA-NY, + 1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570; Kelly Howard, PricewaterhouseCoopers, + 646 471 2111. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int.