Central Emergency Response Fund´s support to the Sahel

 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel David Gressly at the CERF High-level pledging conference. CREDIT: UNOCHA

What does Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) mean?


The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is a humanitarian fund established by the United Nations to enable more timely and reliable humanitarian assistance to those affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts. 

CERF is a tool created by the United Nations to pre-position funding for humanitarian action. It was established to upgrade the Central Emergency Revolving Fund by including a grant element based on voluntary contributions by Governments and private sectors organizations such as corporations, individuals, and NGOs.

CERF assures that the funds will go where they are most needed in the network of international aid organizations. Those include the most experienced organizations such as the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organizations (WHO) to name a few.

Pledges for emergency aid in 2013

 More than 40 donors pledged US$384 million to support the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) next year, contributing to a $9 million increase in pledges from 2012.

Since its launch in 2006, the CERF, which has an annual funding target of $450 million, has enabled aid to reach millions of people affected by humanitarian emergencies such as natural disasters and other crises in 87 countries and territories.

The importance of CERF in the Sahel region

CERF was among the first funding to come online to respond to the Sahel crisis. This was particularly important for the Food, Health-Nutrition and Agriculture sectors of non-CAP Appeal countries such as Senegal and the Gambia.

To date CERF has contributed approximately US$108.5 million to eight West African countries across the Sahel region. Roughly 62 per cent of CERF funding has gone towards the Food and Nutrition Crisis.

Niger received around US$30 million, just under a third of total CERF contributions for the Sahel crisis in 2012. Chad received US$17.1 million and Burkina Faso 14.9 million.

80% of CERF funding earmarked for Sahel countries has been used to support the response to the food and nutrition crisis with 37 million going for Food, 19 million for Health-Nutrition and 14 million for Agriculture.

More information on CERF