The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, has released US$125 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to boost underfunded humanitarian operations in fourteen countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East. Afghanistan and Yemen top the recipient list with $20 million each.
Tuesday's announcement comes at a time when the need for humanitarian aid is skyrocketing around the world. As of June, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance this year has risen to a staggering 362 million. This means that 1 in 22 people worldwide are now requiring relief aid.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the CERF allocation will have an added focus on advancing efforts to better include affected people in humanitarian decision-making. It will also ramp up poorly funded humanitarian crises around the world.
The CERF injection brings the emergency fund’s total support through its Underfunded Emergencies window to more than $270 million this year. OCHA said this is the largest annual amount ever allocated, to the highest number of countries, a reflection of surging humanitarian needs and the fact that regular donor funding is not keeping pace.
“It is a cruel reality that in many humanitarian operations, aid agencies are scraping along with very little funding right at a time when people’s needs compel them to scale up”, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Tuesday.
“Thanks to the generosity of a vast range of donors, we can count on CERF to fill some of the gaps. Lives are saved as a result. But we need individual donors to step up as well - this is a fund by all and for all.”
In 2023, global funding requirements have surpassed $55 billion to support 250 million people affected by conflict, displacement, the impact of the climate crisis, natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and other crises. Faced with these record needs, less than 30 percent of the funding required has been received.
The latest CERF allocation will help scale up humanitarian assistance in some of the world’s most protracted and neglected crises: Afghanistan and Yemen ($20 million each), Burkina Faso ($9 million), Mali ($8 million), Myanmar ($9 million), and Haiti ($8 million). The allocation will also support refugee operations in Bangladesh ($8 million) and Uganda ($6 million).
In addition, funding will go to Venezuela ($8 million), the Central African Republic ($6.5 million), Mozambique ($6.5 million), Cameroon ($6 million), the Occupied Palestinian Territories ($6 million), and Malawi ($4 million).
According to Jens Laerke, spokesperson for OCHA, the humanitarian response plans for these countries are currently between 18 percent (Venezuela) and 36 percent (Central African Republic) funded.
The release comes amid the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announcing Tuesday that it was being forced to drop another 2 million hungry people from food assistance in Afghanistan in September, bringing to 10 million the number of people cut off from support.
However, CERF's allocation of US$20 million for Afghanistan falls far short of needs. Over the next six months, the UN agency requires US$1 billion to provide life-saving food and nutrition assistance and livelihood support to a projected 21 million people.
WFP, the biggest recipient of humanitarian appeal funding, is in the midst of a crippling financing crisis that is forcing the organization to scale back life-saving assistance at a time when acute hunger globally reached record levels.
Like most UN aid agencies, WFP is suffering a serious cash shortfall for its operations. Since March, the UN food agency has therefore slashed aid to millions of people and suspended emergency assistance to millions more worldwide.
Among the countries and situations most affected by these cuts are Bangladesh (Rohingya refugees), Somalia, Syria, Afghanistan, Haiti, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Nigeria, and Yemen. But these persistent funding shortfalls have also led to reduced rations for Congolese refugees in Burundi or refugees hosted in Chad.
The UN food agency said Tuesday almost half of its country operations have already cut - or plan to cut soon - the size and scope of food, cash and nutrition assistance programs. As needs skyrocket globally, WFP is urging donor governments to prioritize funding for humanitarian operations.
The Central Emergency Response Fund, created by the UN General Assembly in 2005, is one of the fastest funding instruments available to help people affected by emergencies. Managed by the OCHA, the fund enables timely, effective and life-saving humanitarian action by UN agencies and others to kick-start or reinforce crisis response anywhere it is required.
CERF has an annual funding target of $1 billion. Funding decisions for underfunded emergencies are based on detailed analysis of more than 90 humanitarian indicators and wide consultation with stakeholders. The Central Emergency Response Fund is funded primarily by UN member states. However, CERF also accepts donations from corporations, foundations and individuals.
Further information
Full text: Poorly funded humanitarian crises to receive US$125 million from UN emergency fund, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, press release, published September 5, 2023
https://reliefweb.int/report/world/poorly-funded-humanitarian-crises-receive-us125-million-un-emergency-fund
Website: United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)
https://cerf.un.org/
Donate now to the Central Emergency Response Fund
https://cerf.un.org/donate
https://crisisrelief.un.org/t/cerf
See also