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CERF used for crises in 26 countries in first seven months

(New York: 29 September 2006): As of 30 September 2006, the United Nations will have committed $173.5 million from the new Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for more than 250 projects in 26 countries.

During the Fund's first seven months, $96.6 million has been disbursed from the rapid response facility for new and/or rapidly deteriorating emergencies in 16 countries, including Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lebanon, Niger, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Timor-Leste. An additional $76.8 million of the funds earmarked for use to redress imbalances in underfunded emergencies has been distributed across 16 countries, including Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Also by the end of the third quarter of 2006, nearly $274 million had been pledged to the CERF by 52 Member States, Japan's Hyogo Prefecture and the Disaster Resource Network. Member State donors include Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Grenada, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.

As the new CERF is a grant-giving facility, a replenishment conference is currently being organized for 7 December 2006, to be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The CERF, which was approved by the General Assembly in December 2005 and officially launched on 9 March 2006, aims to save lives by providing quick initial funding for life-saving assistance and rapid response in sudden onset, rapidly deteriorating, and under-funded emergencies. It is used to help redress the existing imbalance in global aid distribution, as a result of which millions of people in so-called neglected or forgotten crises remain in need, while others benefit from better-funded programmes.

The CERF is managed by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator on behalf of the Secretary-General.

The CERF Advisory Group, which is mandated to provide periodic policy guidance and expert advice on the use and impact of the CERF, will have its second meeting on 12 October in Geneva. The twelve members of the Advisory Group, who serve in their individual, expert capacities, are Chairperson Marika Fahlen (Sweden), Vice-Chair Barbara Carby (Jamaica), Vice-Chair Sipho George Nene (South Africa), Catherine Bragg (Canada), P.G. Dhar Chakrabarti (India), Ahmed El-Kholei (Egypt), Gregory C. Gottlieb (United States), Jemilah Mahmood (Malaysia), Michael Mosselmans (United Kingdom), Elisabeth Kraakaas Rasmusson (Norway), Park Soo-Gil (Republic of Korea), and Ruud Treffers (Netherlands). Four alternates also serve on the Advisory Group: Tom Arnold (Ireland), Simon Mechale (Ethiopia), Mati Raidma (Estonia), and Ronald J. Waldman (United States).

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int.

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