UN Secretary-General appoints new members to Emergency Response Fund's Advisory Group

(New York, 4 September 2018): United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced last week the appointment of five new members of the Advisory Group of the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, the 19-member Advisory Group provides policy guidance to the Secretary-General and advice on the use and impact of CERF, through Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, who manages the fund on the Secretary-General's behalf.

The new members are:

  • Ms. Hong Liang, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Economic and Trade Affairs (DITEA), Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), China
  • Ms. Rahmawati Husein, Vice Chair of Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center (MDMC), Muhammadiyah Organization, Indonesia
  • Ms. Aissata Kane, Deputy Permanent Observer at the Permanent Delegation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to the United Nations in Geneva, Mauritania
  • Mr. Tariq Ali Faraj Al-Ansari, Director of the International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State of Qatar
  • Ms. Beverley Warmington, Director Humanitarian, Security and Migration, Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom

"I thank the departing members for their service and welcome the new members to CERF's Advisory Group. As the fund moves towards an increase in its annual target from $450 million to $1 billion, the Advisory Group plays a key role in providing the strategic guidance vital to enable CERF to fulfil its mandate in an increasingly challenging humanitarian context," Lowcock said.

CERF is one of the fastest ways to ensure urgent aid to people whenever and wherever they need it the most. For more than a decade, CERF has enabled the UN agencies, funds and programmes, and their implementing partners to provide over $5 billion in life-saving assistance across the globe. The Advisory Group is key to managing the fund efficiently, and to ensuring that assistance reaches those most in need.

For further information, please contact:

Claudia Hargarten, UN CERF: hargarten@un.orgmailto:hargarten@un.org I + 1 917 207 3925
Russell Geekie, UN OCHA Spokesperson: geekie@un.orgmailto:geekie@un.org I +1 212 963 8340

CERF is managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

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