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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.

Latest Stories

Vanuatu

Immediate help in the aftermath of Vanuatu’s earthquake

Vanuatu | 2024 | CERF Vanuatu, Port Vila. In the neighbourhood of Muamua in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, Anna and her husband, the local church leader, have supported their community through...

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...

Afghanistan

Afghanistan

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...

Bangladesh

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...

Bangladesh

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

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. ...

Burkina Faso

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

CAR

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...

CAR

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

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...

Colombia

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...

Colombia

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

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...

DR Congo

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...

DR Congo

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...

Ethiopia

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

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

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...

Honduras

Honduras

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

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

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

Lebanon

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...

Lebanon

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...

Lebanon

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

Malawi

Mali

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...

Nepal

Niger

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...

Niger

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...

Niger

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

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...

Nigeria

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...

Nigeria

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

oPt

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...

oPt

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...

oPt

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

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

Somalia

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...

Somalia

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

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...

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...

Sudan

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...

Türkiye

Ukraine

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...

Ukraine

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

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

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,...

Yemen

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...

Yemen

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

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...