Attachments
Executive summary
The Special Fund for Emergency and Rehabilitation Activities (SFERA) enables the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to take rapid and effective action in response to food and agricultural threats and emergencies.
The Fund has three components:
• a working capital component to advance funds once a resource partner’s commitment is secured toward the immediate procurement of inputs to protect livelihoods, restart agricultural activities or contribute to an immediate response to a crisis;
• a revolving fund component to support FAO’s involvement in needs assessment, programme development, early establishment and reinforcement of emergency country team capacities, Level 3 (scale-up) emergency1 preparedness and response activities; and
• a programme component, which pools resources in support of a programme framework for large-scale emergencies or strategically complements ongoing programmes, including the Agricultural Inputs Response Capacity (AIRC) window as well as the Anticipatory Action (AA) window triggered by corporate early warnings.
From its inception in 2004 through 31 December 2023, SFERA has received USD 431.7 million.
Under the programming component:
• USD 155.2 million were allocated to large-scale programmes (e.g. sudden-onset disasters, El Niño response, highly pathogenic avian influenza, or regional protracted crises);
• USD 118.4 million was disbursed under the AIRC window; and
• USD 36.9 million under the AA window.
Under the revolving fund:
• USD 39.6 million was used to set up or reinforce Country Office emergency response capacities and support needs assessments and programme formulation; and
• USD 28.8 million was allocated to the Level 3 (scale-up) emergency preparedness and response window.
Since SFERA’s inception, under its working capital component, USD 607.2 million have been advanced to fund immediate emergency projects, of which USD 25 million were advanced over the reporting period. Outstanding advances as of 31 December 2023 amounted to USD 3 million.
SFERA’s cash balance as of 31 December 2023 was USD 49.7 million.