UN humanitarian agency provides $85 million to fund life-saving programmes

In the first of two annual instalments, the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will provide almost $85 million to help 15 countries cope with underfunded emergencies, the Organization’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced today.

“While each of these allocations represents but a fraction of the overall requirements in the individual emergencies, as a whole they help us pursue principled humanitarian action in which those who require aid the most are identified based strictly on need and assisted accordingly,” said Margareta Wahlström, Acting UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.

The funds are drawn from the OCHA-managed CERF, which was launched in March 2006 and is financed by voluntary contributions. This year, 50 donors – including 47 Member States – have pledged almost $350 million to the CERF. Including today’s allocations, CERF has furnished $162 million since its inception.

One third of CERF’s resources are put aside expressly for use in underfunded emergencies to reverse imbalances in global aid distribution which result in millions suffering in so-called neglected or forgotten crises.

The 15 countries receiving this round of funds are: Angola, Bangladesh, Burundi, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Haiti, Myanmar, Namibia, Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. The amount individual countries will receive range from less than $500,000 to almost $40 million.

Funding data collected by the Financial Tracking Service, recommendations from UN agencies, inter-agency discussions and opinions of Humanitarian and Resident Coordinators determine the specific amount of CERF funds individual countries receive.

In some instances, the money is allotted for specific sectors. In both Namibia and Bangladesh, CERF funds will target perpetually underfunded refugees programmes to bring an improvement to the areas of health and nutrition, water and sanitation, and protection.

The money earmarked for Zimbabwe is to be used for shelter and water and sanitation projects, given that more than 5,000 families, originally displaced by the Government’s 2005 Operation Murambatsvina which left hundreds of thousands homeless, are still in need of help. In Somalia, aid workers are impeded by the lack of security, and CERF money is intended to allow for humanitarian work to recommence.

The second round of allocations targeting underfunded emergencies will be announced in the mid-2007.