CERF Newsletter Mar 2008

Pledges and contributions

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is pleased to acknowledge the receipt of seven new contributions (as of 29 February) totalling $52,506,482.03. They were made by Colombia ($20,000), Italy (an additional $1,380,300) and Sweden ($7,861,635.19) for 2007, and Denmark ($9,931,472.84), Ireland ($33,301,074), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ($2,000) and Thailand (an additional $10,000) for 2008. Meanwhile, new pledges were announced by Kuwait ($50,000), Morocco ($5,000) and the United Arab Emirates ($50,000) for 2008.

Since its inception two years ago, the CERF has received, so far, pledges and contributions from 90 governments, in addition to six public or private organizations. The broad donor base shows the commitment of Member States to a key element of the humanitarian reform. The CERF is a unique financial mechanism at the disposal of governments looking to enhance their assistance to populations hit by a disaster. It is the support from Member States that allows OCHA to manage the CERF as a fund for all by all.

Country highlights

In February 2008, the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) approved over $27.5 million in grants from the CERF's window for rapid response.

AFGHANISTAN - Wheat flour has become unaffordable for many low income households. About 2.55 million people are critically food-insecure. The World Food Programme (WFP) is using a $6.9 million CERF grant (or less than 9% of the total project) to provide food assistance to 22,600 households (or 135,600 people) during a three-month period.

A CERF allocation of more than $800,000 (out of a total budget of $3.6 million) is enabling the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to prevent and control malnutrition among 237,000 children and 118,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women. It is providing essential food such as high-energy protein biscuits, therapeutic milk and micronutrients to health facilities to mitigate deficiencies.

With $250,000 from the CERF, the World Health Organization (WHO) is making essential drugs as well as health supplies and equipment available in several provinces, and providing training to health workers. This project is targeting a vulnerable population of over 400,000 people in food-insecure communities.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Rudolph Muller (CERF Secretariat); mullerr@un.org

Ms. Shoko Arakaki (Donor and External Relations Section); arakaki@un.org