UNITED NATIONS GIVES $85 MILLION TO UNDERFUNDED CRISES IN 15 COUNTRIES

NEW YORK, 7 February (OCHA) -- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today announced that just under $85 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will be used to fund life-saving programmes in 15 countries, in the first of two annual rounds of allocations for underfunded emergencies.

“While each of these allocations represents but a fraction of the overall requirements in the individual emergencies, as a whole, they help us pursue principled humanitarian action, in which those who require aid the most are identified based strictly on need and assisted accordingly,” said Margareta Wahlström, Acting United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator.

Within the total $85 million, individual allocations have been made to the following countries:  Angola, $4.5 million; Bangladesh, $1 million; Burundi, $8.5 million; Central African Republic, $4.5 million; Côte d’Ivoire, $4.5 million; Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, $5 million; Democratic Republic of the Congo, $36.6 million; Eritrea, $2 million; Ethiopia, $6 million; Haiti, $2 million; Myanmar, $354,976; Namibia, $1 million; Somalia, $1 million; the Sudan, $6 million; and Zimbabwe, $2 million.

Individual countries receive underfunded allocations based on a review of funding data captured by the Financial Tracking Service, recommendations from United Nations agencies, inter-agency consultation and discussions with Humanitarian and Resident Coordinators, as required.

In some cases, specific underfunded sectors have been targeted with the allocations.  For example, the allocations to both Namibia and Bangladesh are to be used for chronically underfunded refugee programmes where beneficiaries are in need of urgent assistance in the areas of health and nutrition, water and sanitation, and protection.

The Zimbabwe allocation is to be used for shelter and water and sanitation projects, as recent needs assessments have found that more than 5,000 families originally affected by the 2005 Operation Murambatsvina remain in need of immediate assistance.  The $1 million designated for Somalia is to be directed to security, in order to facilitate the resumption of humanitarian activities.  Additionally, the $6 million for the Sudan has been allocated for projects in the water and sanitation, education and health areas, in order to ensure more comprehensive coverage of needs of the increasing number of vulnerable persons.

One third of all funds in the CERF are earmarked for use in underfunded emergencies, in order to help redress imbalances in global aid distribution, as a result of which millions of people in so-called neglected or forgotten crises remain in need.  Today’s allocations bring the total amount of such allocations to $162 million since the Fund’s inception.  The next round of underfunded allocations will be announced in mid-2007.

The CERF, which is resourced by voluntary contributions, was approved by the General Assembly in December 2005 and officially launched on 9 March 2006.  In 2007, 50 donors, including 47 Member States, have pledged nearly $343 million to the CERF.  It is managed by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs on behalf of the Secretary-General.

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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For information media • not an official record