Central Emergency Response Fund Facts

What is the Central Emergency Response Fund?

The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is a humanitarian fund established by the General Assembly in 2006 to enable more timely and reliable humanitarian assistance to those affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts. The Fund is replenished annually through contributions from governments and the private sector, and constitutes a pool of reserve funding to support humanitarian action.

The CERF’s objectives, as set by the General Assembly, are to:

• Promote early action and response to reduce loss of life.
• Enhance response to time-critical requirements.
• Strengthen core elements of humanitarian response in underfunded crises.

The CERF has a grant facility of US$450 million and a loan facility of $50 million and the two components have with distinct features