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Projects
Contribution to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund CERF
Short Description:
Overall goal
The UN’s global emergency response fund, the Central Emergency Response Fund CERF pools contributions from donors around the world into a single fund allowing humanitarian responders to deliver life-saving assistance whenever and wherever crises hit.
Expected results
CERF has a US$1 billion annual funding target and is fully unearmarked to ensure funds go to meet the most urgent, life-saving needs. During emergencies, humanitarian organizations on the ground jointly assess and prioritize needs and apply for funding from CERF. Funds are immediately released if these proposals meet CERF’s criteria, i.e. the needs are urgent and the proposed activities will save lives.
Target group / Beneficiaries
As of 28 October 2021, CERF has allocated over $491 million directly to 36 countries. The Country Based Pooled Funds have allocated $506 million to 19 country contexts. Eleven UN agencies have received CERF funding, targeting 50 million people. Apart from UN agencies, CBPFs funds in 2021 benefited 260
international NGOs, 196 national partners and four Red Cross/Red Crescent national societies, targeting 59.1 million people. GBV programming received a special allocation of $25 million from CERF’s Rapid Response window. All CERF-funded projects are expected to mainstream support for persons with disabilities, taking into consideration their specific needs.
Activities
Activities are implemented in following sectors among others:
- Health
- Food Assistance
- Water and Sanitation
- Nutrition
- Agriculture
- Protection
- Shelter
Context
The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Country Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs) remain key instruments that ensure coordinated and principled humanitarian assistance quickly reaches people caught up in crises. In 2021, weather events, conflicts, disease outbreaks and the impacts of COVID-19 continued to contribute to high levels of humanitarian needs. Several countries were struck by new emergencies, while others witnessed deteriorating humanitarian conditions that required support. For example, in response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and Ethiopia, several time-critical CERF and CBPFs allocations have been approved since December 2020 for an overall amount of more than $276 million.