Deputy Secretary-General, in remarks to replenishment conferEnce, lauds central

emergency response fund for helping United Nations ‘deliver as one’

Following is the text of United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks as delivered to the replenishment conference for the Central Emergency Response Fund in New York today, 13 December:

I am delighted to join you today and lend my enthusiastic support to one of the United Nations’ most innovative instruments:  the Central Emergency Response Fund, or CERF.

Launched less than two years ago, the Fund has proved to be a powerful tool for assisting some of the most vulnerable members of our human family.  It provides a lifeline of hope and humanity to those in most urgent need of both these qualities.

As a mechanism for delivering tangible results in a coherent, predictable and accountable manner, CERF has more than met the mark.  The initial aim of CERF was to improve humanitarian response in two ways.  First, by ensuring that funds are available from the earliest moments of a crisis when most lives are on the line.  Second, by injecting an element of equity into a system that all too frequently focuses on high-profile crises at the expense of so-called “neglected crises”.

From Bangladesh to Peru, Darfur to the Dominican Republic, CERF exemplifies the United Nations at its most effective, delivering real results on the ground, wherever and whenever it matters most.

Africa has received two thirds of CERF funds so far.  These resources have supported life-saving, rapid-response efforts in places like Somalia, Chad and Côte d’Ivoire.  They are also addressing huge humanitarian needs in crises like that of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

This year alone, millions of Congolese have benefited from activities made possible by CERF allocations totalling more than $52 million.  These funds have supported food, health, water and sanitation services in some of the areas hardest hit by conflict and insecurity.  CERF funds have also supported critically-needed assistance and protection programmes for the thousands of victims of sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.  And they have assisted thousands of Congolese children who have been recruited into an array of armed forces.

These humanitarian efforts are intimately connected with our work to reach the Millennium Development Goals.  In many of the countries in which we work, emergency relief is often the first rung on the ladder of development.  By providing immediate, life-saving assistance at the earliest stages of a crisis -- with the help of CERF -- humanitarian assistance provides a platform for future efforts aimed at reducing poverty, improving health and education, and reaching the other MDGs.  It helps to arrest the deadly spiral of displacement, disease, and destitution before it spins out of control.

Even two years ago, this kind of immediate financial response would not have been possible.  But thanks to the public and private donors who invested in CERF, lives have been saved, livelihoods protected and hope restored in communities devastated by conflicts and natural hazards.

By prioritizing needs and allocating resources accordingly, the Emergency Relief Coordinator has been able to direct a more coherent and timely humanitarian response.  Within the United Nations humanitarian family, CERF has thus helped us to “deliver as one”.

And it has helped us respond to climate-related disasters -- ranging from massive flooding across West Africa and the Horn to droughts in Southern Africa, to intensive storms and cyclones that have swept with deadly force across South-East Asia.

While no single disaster event can reliably be attributed to climate change, the trend is indisputable:  we can expect to see more in the future.

With your support, CERF will remain on the front lines of the response to all these needs.  It will continue to prove one of the best investments you could make.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record