Vanuatu | 2024 | CERF Vanuatu, Port Vila. In the neighbourhood of Mamau in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, Anna and her husband, the local church leader, have supported their community through...
Pooled Fund Impact Stories
Introduction
The Pooled Funds StoryHub is a collection of stories that show the impact of the OCHA-managed pooled funds: the global Central Emergency Response Fund, the Country-based Pooled Funds, and regional funds for West and Central Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
OCHA’s pooled funds help provide the world’s most vulnerable people with life-saving assistance to, thanks to contributions from national governments, foundations, and private individuals.
From emergency water for communities affected by El Niño floods in Somalia, to safe spaces for people at risk in Colombia; to helping humanitarian organizations respond to millions of people in dire need in Gaza; these human stories help illustrate how pooled fund support makes a real difference – to the lives of real people when they are dealing with severe crises.
OCHA’s Pooled Funds help our partners clear land of remnants of war in Ukraine; provide children with the resources needed to stay in school in Lebanon; and many other life-saving interventions around the world.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan + 5 more
From drought to deluge, OCHA’s pooled funds help people through climate-related disasters
Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Myanmar, Somalia and Syria |2023 and 2024 | CBPF and CERF Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Myanmar, Somalia and Syria. As climate-related disasters...
Providing a lifeline for women affected by crisis
Afghanistan | 2024 | CBPF Afghanistan, Baghdis. At fifty-five, Gul Jan is supporting her grandchildren. “I came here today to receive some cash,” she explains. “My grandchildren will be so happy, as...
Afghanistan + 5 more
Local NGOs, supported by OCHA’s pooled funds, are on the front lines of humanitarian response
2023 | CBPF Afghanistan, CAR, Somalia, Sudan, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen. In an emergency, local and national organizations are often the best equipped to provide water, food, shelter and other...
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, CERF helped people prepare for the worst
Bangladesh | 2024 | CERF Bangladesh, Sirajganj. “Every year, our area experiences severe flooding,” says Salma Khatun. “Water floods our home, and snakes also find their way inside. This forces us to...
Ensuring dignity kits are inclusive
Bangladesh | 2021 | CERF Bangladesh. Anticipatory action — helping people before disaster strikes — saves lives and resources. Mobilizing early also allows people to prepare with dignity and on their...
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso + 1 more
In West and Central Africa, the Regional Humanitarian Fund supports displaced women and girls
Burkina Faso and Niger | 2023 | CBPF Burkina Faso and Niger. “Our garden used to provide us with enough food. But we lost everything,” says Roukietou, a mother of two in Banwa province, Burkina Faso,...
Women’s livelihoods and changing social attitudes
Burkina Faso | 2023 | CBPF Burkina Faso, Kaya. Kadi (not photographed) a mother of three, left her village when armed men killed some of her family. She came to Kaya with no belongings and no money. ...
Mental health support helps long-term displaced people
Burkina Faso | 2023 | CBPF Burkina Faso, Kaya. Zourata lives at the Tiwega displacement site in Kaya. Kaya is a city north-east of Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, which has experienced a massive...
Central African Republic
Mental and physical health care for survivors of violence
Central African Republic. Last year, Elizabeth*, 17, lost both her parents when armed groups came to her hometown. They took her and held her prisoner for months. Elizabeth escaped and sought shelter...
CAR + 1 more
Helping children return to school
Central African Republic, Baoro. Fadimatou is seven years old. Her family fled to Cameroon to escape persistent violence in their hometown. Now, Fadimatou and her family are among the Central African...
Locally-led solutions protect children now and tomorrow
Central African Republic | 2024 | CBPF Central African Republic, Birao. In Birao, Vakaga Prefecture, people have faced years of armed violence and intercommunal conflict. For more than a decade,...
Colombia
In Colombia, CERF fosters women community leaders
Colombia | CERF | 2024 Colombia, Chocó. The presence of armed groups in Chocó, Valle del Cauca, and Nariño regions has made life very uncertain and driven many people from their homes. Growing up in...
Working together to respond to crisis and build resilience
Colombia | 2024 | CERF Colombia, Nariño. The people of Sanquianga are severely affected by conflict. Families have to flee their homes because of violent clashes, or find it difficult to access...
Midwifery training saves lives in remote communities
Colombia | 2023 | CERF Colombia, Chocó region. Visitación Perea has been a midwife for nearly fifty years. As a young girl, she joined her grandmother – also a midwife – on her daily visits. In those...
DR Congo
Safe water for people affected by floods and conflict
DRC | CERF | 2024 DR Congo, Tshopo and Ituri. In November last year, Mandoko, her husband, and their seven children had to flee their home when the Congo River flooded, submerging their village. "We...
Fighting an unprecedented malnutrition crisis
DRC | 2024 | CBPF DRC, Mambasa region. Stephanie knew her daughter Kavira wasn’t well. She had used all her savings for medicine and traditional remedies, but Kavira, at two and a half years old, was...
Fighting malnutrition for DRC’s most vulnerable children
DRC | 2023 | CBPF DRC, North Kivu. Kahindu lives in a small village. She and her family fled here to escape violence back in 2022. In 2023, the conflict in DRC was getting even worse, displacing...
Ethiopia
Ethiopia + 1 more
A lifeline for people fleeing conflict
Ethiopia, Matema. Abdi, who is Ethiopian, went to Sudan for work nearly two decades ago. He and his wife made a decent living, saving what they could and sending money back home to Ethiopia to help...
Ethiopia + 2 more
CERF helped people through the climate emergency in East Africa
Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia | 2023 | CERF Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. In early 2023, the Horn of Africa faced the lasting effects of a historic drought, following an unprecedented five consecutive...
Household supplies help families after the floods
Ethiopia | 2023 | CBPF Ethiopia, Dollo Ado region. Iadan, 55, is a mother of seven who lives in the town of Dollo Ado in the Somali region, sharing a small house with her husband and seven children. ...
Guinea
Working with communities to contain Ebola
Guinea | 2021 | CERF Guinea,N'Zerekore. A few days after he referred one of his patients to the regional hospital, Dr. Emmanuel Goepogui, a private practitioner in N’Zerekore prefecture in...
Haiti
Vital health and protection for displaced women in Haiti
Haiti | 2024 | CERF Haiti, Port-au-Prince. Marie is 67 years old. She used to sell goods at the market to get by, but since the gang violence in Haiti has escalated she is living in the Colbert...
Haiti + 2 more
For displaced women, safe spaces help recovery
Haiti, Somalia and Sudan | 2023 | CERF Haiti, Somalia and Sudan. Miido (not her real name) has survived violence, both physical and emotional. Only in her thirties, conflict and drought ravaged her...
Feeding communities after the devastating earthquake in southern Haiti
CERF in underfunded emergencies: Haiti Grand’Anse and Sud Departments, Haiti. A 7.2 magnitude earthquake severely damaged homes and infrastructure in Sud, Nippes and Grand’Anse on 14 August 2021,...
Honduras
CERF improves rural health centers damaged by hurricanes Eta and Iota in Honduras
Honduras| 2023 | CERF Honduras, Puerto Cortés. Dr. Alba Rita Sámbula heads the Bajamar Health Centre, which serves about 11,000 people. In November 2020, the devastating storms Eta and Iota that hit...
New life after the storms
CERF in underfunded emergencies: Honduras In January 2022, CERF allocated $5 million from its Underfunded Emergencies (UFE) window to support relief operations in Honduras. Honduras, San Pedro Sula...
Iraq
Cash assistance transforms Mishan’s workshop
Pooled Fund impact stories #2023, #CBPF, #Iraq
Mental and physical therapy in the aftermath of violence
Iraq | 2021 | CBPF Iraq, Mosul. Hamid is 30 years old. He used to live with his family in a village outside of Mosul before fighting started. The family had their own house and sheep, that provided...
Jordan
Teenaged boys reflect on child labour
Jordan | 2021 | CBPF Jordan, Marka-Amman. Child labour is a major problem in Jordan. A recent report found 32 per cent of children experienced harassment at work, and many of them work under...
Kyrgyzstan
Helping conflict affected families in Kyrgyzstan face the coldest winter in years
Kyrgyzstan | 2023 | CERF Kyrgyzstan, Batken – Hundreds of families displaced by the violence that broke out in the remote Kyrgyz-Tajik border areas of Batken and Osh last September are facing the...
Lebanon
Helping shelter families displaced by conflict
Lebanon, Beirut and other locations. Umm Hassan fled Nabatieh, a city in southern Lebanon, with her daughter and grandchildren, after their home was damaged in a bombing. They had to drive for two...
Helping a mother to help her children in the midst of war
Lebanon | CBPFs | 2024 Lebanon, Beirut. When Mariam, 27, left her village in southern Lebanon amid escalating bombardment, she left behind her home and life as she knew it. With her four children in...
Medical care and other help for elderly refugees
Lebanon | 2024 | CBPF Lebanon, Nahr el-Bared, Beddawi, and Wavel refugee camps. Amina is eighty years old. When she was three years old, she and her family fled Nazareth to Lebanon. Since then, she...
Madagascar
Mobile clinics provide vital support after cyclones and help people prepare for future weather events
Madagascar | 2023 | CERF Madagascar, Antananarivo. “A year ago, getting health care would have been a luxury,” explains Toky Rabemaharo, a leader from Marokarima commune. “After the two cyclones hit,...
Malawi
Fighting child abuse by raising the awareness of community leaders
Malawi | 2023 | CERF Malawi, Chikwawa. “We couldn’t keep quiet,” says Mary (not her real name), a camp leader at a site that shelters 450 people displaced by the Tropical Cyclone Freddy. “Here was a...
Malawi + 2 more
El Niño 2015-2016, CERF saved lives: Emergency livelihoods and food support for people affected by drought and flooding
In 2015-2016, the El Niño event was one of the strongest since 1950, affecting over 60 million people. Its effects – drought, floods, harsh winters and poor food security - lasted for two years. The...
Mali
Helping displaced people access quality health care
Mali | CERF | 2024 Mali, Ménaka. Aissata (not her real name), remembers the day she fell ill. "My stomach hurt that day, I was weak and I had no appetite. Worst of all, I had no money and my husband...
In Mali, regional fund helps provide access to health and education for communities recovering from conflict
Mali | 2024 | Regional Fund Mali, Tidinbawene. “Seeing my son go to school every morning is a privilege I never thought possible,” says Ahmed. In Mali, over half of a million school-aged children do...
Mobile clinics provide essential health services for displaced people in Mali
Mali | 2024 | Regional Fund Mali, Angsongo. Tagalif lives at the Cap d’Angsongo displacement site along with about 600 other people. After an attack by armed groups, he and his neighbours were forced...
Nepal
Anticipatory action helps households weather severe floods
Pooled Fund impact stories #2022, #CERF, #Climate, #Natural Disasters, #Nepal
Niger
Niger: Breaking the cycle of negative coping strategies
Niger | 2024 | CERF A pilot project in south-west Niger has shown that acting before people experienced a drought’s impact enabled them to preserve land, save livestock and avoid negative coping...
Cash support provides welcome relief after disastrous harvest
CERF in underfunded emergencies: Niger In January 2022 CERF allocated $10 million from its Underfunded Emergencies (UFE) window. Bambeye commune, Tahoua Region, Niger. 2021 was a disastrous year for...
Responding to floods in Niger
Niger | 2021 | CERF Niger, Niamey. When Hama Sorka, a 75-year-old fisherman from Saguia in Niamey, Niger, lost his house and livelihood this past October because of flooding in his neighbourhood, he...
Nigeria
Reproductive health care helps women affected by conflict
Nigeria | 2024 | CBPF Nigeria, Adamawa state. Uwani was worried when she found out she was pregnant with twins. “I always suffered during my previous pregnancies,” she explained. A friend advised her...
Emergency nutrition saves baby Hadiza’s life
Nigeria | 2024 | CBPF Nigeria, Pulka IDP camp. “I had almost lost hope. I thought I was going to lose my baby,” said Gambo, recalling how sick her daughter had been. 18-month-old baby Hadiza arrived...
Education opportunities are transforming young lives
Nigeria | 2023 | CBPF Nigeria, Monguno, Borno State. After being displaced from her home in 2015, Kellu Angoshe’s dream was to return to school. Originally from Marte Local Government Authority (LGA)...
occupied Palestinian territory
Inclusive education for children displaced by the conflict
oPt | 2024 | CBPF Gaza, oPt. “My children didn’t have disabilities before the war. But they were severely injured by a bombing, and it has left them with problems with their vision. They haven’t been...
Gaza: Delivering clean water to displaced communities
oPt | 2024 | CBPF oPt, Gaza. Ibrahim is fifteen. He should be in school, worried about exams. Instead, he has to take care of his family. He fled Gaza City in July with his family, seeking refuge in...
Gaza: providing children with psychological first aid
oPt | 2024 | CBPF oPt, Gaza. Sara’s father and brother died in a bombing. Sara and her mother sought refuge in a displacement camp. Sara’s mother was hurt, and Sara had to take care of her. One year...
Pakistan
Sharing accurate information about COVID-19 and the vaccine
Pakistan | 2021 | CERF Pakistan, Kohat refugee camps. As part of the maternal, newborn, and child health and psychological services provided to Afghan refugee communities, free medical camps were...
Somalia
Pooled funds bring emergency water to people affected by El Niño floods
Somalia| 2023 | CBPF Somalia, Dollow. El Niño triggered devastating floods in Somalia October to December 2023, intensifying the already major humanitarian needs for people facing severe drought,...
Providing a safe space to play in Somalia
Somalia | 2023 | CBPF Somalia: Iftin and Habal Aday displacement sites. “I love coming here,” says Zaituna, who is 12 years old, of the child-friendly space at Iftin displacement site. “It’s a happy...
Sharing knowledge to stay safe from water-borne disease
Somalia | 2023 | CBPF Somalia, Dollow. Mama Fatuma Gurham is a vendor in the marketplace in Dollow. Recently, she and other vendors were visited by women from the community who shared information on...
South Sudan
Learning new farming skills to support the family
South Sudan | 2023 | CBPF South Sudan, Fangak County. Dak Biliu lives in Kuerkan village, South Sudan, where, like most of the population, people are dealing with a complex humanitarian crisis driven...
In South Sudan, pooled funds support psychosocial and shelter
South Sudan | 2023 | CBPF South Sudan, Twic East. Devastating floods back in 2021 forced Clara*, her husband and four children to flee, leaving everything behind. Clara was overwhelmed by the...
Supporting long-term nutrition security for rural children
Pooled Fund impact stories #2023, #CBPF, #South Sudan
Sudan
Helping to keep a broken hospital running
Sudan | 2024 | CERF Sudan, El Fasher. On 13 October 2024, Dr.Suhiba was performing an operation. “A mortar hit the hospital. I was so worried because the patient’s wounds were open, and everyone was...
Farm supplies help people keep going
Sudan | 2024 | CBPF Sudan, Blue Nile and South Kordofan. As the war in Sudan drags on, people are managing to survive – but under extremely difficult circumstances. The war has devastated the food...
Pooled Funds continue to support Sudanese frontline organizations
Sudan, El Fasher. The situation in Sudan remains dire. The city of El Fasher in Darfur has suffered heavy fighting in recent months, including bombardment targeting hospitals and markets that has...
Türkiye
Pooled funds work together to deliver aid after earthquakes in Syria, Türkiye
Syria and Türkiye| 2023|CBPF and CERF Syria and Türkiye. On 6 February 2023, a series of major earthquakes rocked Syria and Türkiye. Nearly 5,900 people died and over 12,800 were injured. People...
Ukraine
Building a resilient family and business despite the war
Ukraine | 2024 | CBPF Ukraine, Chernihivska Oblast. Valentyna Tapekba has been breeding quail for about eight years. “My son has low haemoglobin,” she explains, and hearing that quails’ eggs can help...
Essential health care for older people affected by the war in Ukraine
Ukraine | 2024 | CBPF Ukraine, Kherson. Elizaveta is 83 years old and has lived her whole life in Kherson. As a young woman, she worked on a collective farm. She raised two sons with her husband, who...
Braving winter and air strikes to help people in need
Ukraine | 2023 | CBPF Ukraine. As Ukraine endures yet another new wave of attacks amid a harsh winter, humanitarian workers are tirelessly supporting the most affected people, especially in the...
Venezuela
Building skills in communities devastated by economic crisis
Venezuela, El Rincón. “Fishing is for men,” is the saying around these parts. In remote communities like this one in Sucre state, ensuring people have enough quality, nutritious food can be a...
Yemen
CERF helps a young doctor deliver life-saving treatment
Yemen |2024|CERF Yemen, Hudaydah governorate. Dr. Jamal Al Babeli is a young doctor at Bajil Hospital, working on the front lines of a growing health crisis. Over eight years into the conflict,...
Help for children living with disability
Yemen | 2023 | CBPF Yemen, Al Makha. When Nerfan* was four, she was diagnosed with a specific type of cerebral palsy that affects her whole body. Her mother took her to Ta’iz to seek treatment and...
Making learning more comfortable
Yemen | 2023 | CBPF Yemen, Ta’iz governorate. Bakil is twelve years old. He enjoys school but was finding it difficult to focus. His classroom in Ta’iz lacked seats and it was hard to concentrate...
Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, supporting food security now and in the future
Zimbabwe | 2024 | CERF Zimbabwe, Chredzi. Chredzi district in south-east Zimbabwe is semi-arid – and that’s in a good year. Poor rains at the end of 2023 meant the harvest was only about half its...