UN emergency aid fund hands out $30 million to projects in seven countries

The United Nations relief chief announced today that the world body’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has allocated $30 million to support UN agencies conducting vital aid work in seven countries.

Projects in Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Iraq, Sri Lanka and Syria will all receive funding as a result of today’s announcement, which marks the second round of allocations this year from CERF for under-funded emergencies.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said funds given by CERF “are often the last source of hope” for people facing crises.

“Millions of people affected by some of the less visible crises around the world often have to endure great deprivation,” said Mr. Holmes, who is also the Organization’s Emergency Relief Coordinator.

The largest funding recipient will be UN agencies in Chad, where $6.8 million has been granted to help respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation that has resulted from the worsening insecurity and an influx of fresh refugees from the neighbouring Darfur region of Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR). As many as 500,000 people, mostly in eastern Chad, now depend heavily on outside aid.

UN agencies operating in Iraq will receive $5 million, while those working in Syria – which is now home to about 1.5 million increasingly impoverished Iraqi refugees – will be given $4 million from CERF to assist with food, health and other relief programmes.

UN-backed programmes and projects in Afghanistan are slated to receive $4.6 million, while $4 million has been set aside for Sri Lanka, $3.6 million for Burundi and $2 million for the DPRK.

The funds go to UN aid agencies and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and then through them to partners in the field, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The grants were selected according to the severity of needs, the availability of funding around the world and security constraints on aid delivery.

CERF was set up by the UN at the end of 2005 to provide a standby pool of funds so that more timely humanitarian assistance can be given when natural disasters, armed conflicts and other crises occur. One-third of funds generated – from Member States, NGOs, local governments, the private sector and individual donors – are awarded to so-called “neglected crises.”