US$418.6 Million Pledged for Central Emergency Response Fund in 2015

(New York, 17 December 2014): Donors today pledged US$418.6 million to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) at the annual high-level conference. The funds will support critical, life-saving humanitarian operations in 2015.

“When natural disasters strike and conflict rages, it is our duty to do everything we can for the women, children and men caught in crisis,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “CERF is one of the most effective tools we have to help people face the immediate, devastating effects of natural disasters, armed conflict and chronic emergencies.”

Several donors announced significant increases in their contributions, including Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Turkey and the UAE. All pledges will allow the UN’s emergency fund to support rapid humanitarian response for people affected by natural disaster and armed conflict in 2015.

“It is heartening to see, that despite difficult global economic circumstances and growing demands on aid budgets, our donors continue to support CERF,” noted Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos.

“In my four years as Emergency Relief Coordinator, I have seen the impact that CERF funding has had for some of the world’s most vulnerable people from Sudan to Mali, from Afghanistan to Haiti,” said Ms. Amos.

So far in 2014, CERF has supported emergency aid operations – large and small – with $450 million across 44 countries. Ms. Amos highlighted critical allocations that provided safety and relief for millions of people displaced by the crises in the Central African Republic and South Sudan, and health services in the early stages of West Africa’s Ebola outbreak.

Approximately a third of CERF’s 2014 funding went to emergencies in 22 of the world’s most neglected crises - including Chad, Haiti and Yemen. Of the $170 million for underfunded emergencies, the largest amount, $20 million, went to Somalia, where more than three million people need humanitarian assistance.

Since 2006, 125 Member States and Observers, as well as regional authorities, foundations, private and individual donors have supported CERF, contributing more than $3.7 billion. This includes 37 countries which are both contributors to and recipients of the Fund.

For further information, please call:
Tomas de Mul, UN CERF, demul@un.org, Tel. +1 917 367 6013, Cell. +1 917 250 8400
Michelle Delaney, OCHA NY, delaneym@un.org, Tel. +1 917 363 8536, Cell. +1 929 328 7986