United Nations Humanitarian Fund launches 2011 Annual Report

More than US$427 million provided for humanitarian relief in 2011

(New York, 29 May 2012): The 2011 Annual Report of the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the United Nations’ humanitarian fund, highlights the contributions of the Fund to humanitarian partners in 45 countries and territories in 2011.

The report is available for the first time in a web-based format at www.unocha.org/cerf/ar/2011

The report notes that some US$427 million of CERF funds were allocated to 11 UN agencies and the International Organization for Migration in 2011. Climate-related emergencies due to drought, floods and storms, received more than $149 million from the Fund. CERF gave more than $128 million in 2011 to the Horn of Africa for people affected by drought and food insecurity, and provided needed money to help humanitarian partners intervene early in the Sahel to help the most vulnerable people affected by drought-related hunger in Niger, Chad and Mauritania.

As in previous years, the World Food Programme (WFP) remained CERF's top-funded agency, and was given $127 million, or almost 30 per cent of all CERF funds, due to its role in providing emergency food aid. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was the Fund’s second-highest funded agency in 2011, receiving $109 million to fund 130 projects in 38 countries and territories.

Despite the challenging global economic environment, CERF raised the highest dollar amount ever from donors in 2011; more than $465 million was raised.

In addition to in-depth information provided on CERF grants, the 2011 Annual Report of the Central Emergency Response Fund includes a number of feature stories and programme highlights from Cambodia, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Guatemala, Kenya, Niger, the Philippines, the Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan and Turkey.

The 2011 Annual Report has been launched on the newly redesigned CERF website. Through the revamped website, humanitarian partners and donors have quick and easy access to essential information on the Fund. The new site offers real-time information on the contributions of Member States, private donors and individuals to the Fund, and CERF grants to UN agencies around the world.

The new website also provides an easy entry point for finding information about the CERF grant application process. It also serves as an important portal for research and evaluation reports on the added value of the Fund and the use of funds at the country level.

The redesign of the site is part of the Fund’s efforts to enhance the quality and availability of information on the Fund and its impact to Member States, donors and the general public.

We encourage our partners to visit our site at http://www.unocha.org/cerf and follow CERF on Twitter at https://twitter.com//UNCERF.

For more information, please contact Raquel Wexler at CERF:
wexler@un,org, tel. +1 917 367 9387