United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund allocates $104 million to 13 underfunded crises

(New York, 25 January 2012): The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Valerie Amos, today announced the allocation of some US$104 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to bolster humanitarian operations in 13 neglected humanitarian emergencies around the world: Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Eritrea, Haiti, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Syria.

“Millions of people need help around the world in places which have fallen out of the headlines. These funds will help to save lives. I hope that more funds will become available from governments and others to support a continued humanitarian response,” said Valerie Amos.

South Sudan, the largest CERF recipient, will receive $20 million to support critical delivery of services for returnees from the north. As millions of people continue to suffer the affects of drought in the Horn of Africa, Djibouti and Eritrea will receive allocations of $4 million to support life-saving programmes. In Pakistan, hostilities and violence continue to affect thousands of families while funding for relief operations is diminishing; $15 million has been provided for people in conflict-affected areas of the country. Although much has been achieved in the two years since the devastating earthquake in Haiti, thousands of vulnerable people continue to live in camps, reliant on humanitarian assistance. $8 million will be allocated to ensure essential services continue for people still living in camps. Full details of the countries and allocations in this round can be found on the CERF website http://cerf.un.org

CERF funds will be prioritized by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinators in each of these countries for critical life-saving programmes, as identified by the UN agencies and NGO partners. Specific projects will be developed and proposed by these humanitarian country teams in February. These countries were selected on the basis of severity of humanitarian need and analysis of funding levels.

A second round of allocations from CERF’s window for underfunded emergencies will follow in July 2012. In 2011, 20 underfunded emergencies received more than $143 million, while since 2006, nearly a third of the $2.3 billion allocated from CERF has gone to chronically neglected crises in more than 40 countries.

CERF is funded by voluntary contributions from Member States, NGOs, local governments, the private sector and individual donors. For 2012, donors have so far pledged more than $377 million in support of the Fund, bringing the total amount contributed to CERF since March 2006 to more than $2.6 billion. As mandated by the General Assembly, CERF commits a third of all funds each year to redress imbalances in global aid distribution by supporting neglected crises.