In accordance with the Secretary-General's Bulletin (ST/SGB/2006/10), the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) is responsible for setting priorities for the use of the CERF Underfunded window and for selecting countries to receive allocations from that window, in close consultation with relevant humanitarian agencies. In 2009, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated a total of US$130 million to twenty underfunded emergencies.

Country selection and country envelopes (phase I): Taking into consideration the level of funding for lifesaving operations by humanitarian agencies, severity of the crisis and agencies' recommendations of non-CAP countries, the ERC selected 10 CAP countries and 10 non-CAP countries. The countries receiving the largest allocations were DPRK and Zimbabwe (15 percent each of the total amount for round I and II) followed by Ethiopia (12 percent), Somalia (8 percent).

Submission of grant requests (phase II): Following in-country prioritization of sectors and projects, RC/HCs submitted grant request packages within the scope of each allocated Underfunded envelope.

Surge: Surge support from OCHA Regional Offices, agencies and/or the CERF Secretariat was deployed to six countries. Surge capacity was effective in raising awareness on the CERF application process and in improving the quality of proposals submitted.

Sectors: The sectors receiving the largest share of grants were food (24 percent); health-nutrition (16 percent); health (14 percent);5 and agriculture and water and sanitation (both 12 percent).

Recipient agencies: The largest recipient agencies of grants were WFP, UNICEF, FAO and UNHCR.

Project size: The average approved project amount was $694,1226.

Approval (phase III): Rejection rate: A total of 187 projects were received, most of which underwent revision by the field following review by the CERF Secretariat; five projects were rejected due to incompatibility with the CERF Life-Saving Criteria.

Overall approved amount: Following adjustments of project amounts in the review process and rejections an overall amount of $129 million was approved, against a total $130 million set aside for the Underfunded rounds in 2009.

Rates of revision: The rate was particularly high for some countries during round II where surge could have been considered.

Timeliness of approval: The average number of days that passed between the final submission of a (revised) project to the CERF Secretariat, its internal processing, and final approval by the ERC, improved by two days between round I and II to reach five days for round II.