As the global funding outlook remains grim, the United Nations today released US$100 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to address critical underfunding of humanitarian emergencies across 10 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East.

“In far too many humanitarian emergencies, a lack of funding prevents aid agencies from reaching people who need life-saving assistance, and that is heart-wrenching,” said Joyce Msuya, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “CERF funding is an emergency cash injection of last resort to avert the worst and save lives when other humanitarian funding is inadequate. We urgently need increased and sustained donor attention to these underfunded crises.”

More than one third of this new funding from CERF, which is managed by OCHA, will support aid operations in Yemen ($20 million) and Ethiopia ($15 million), where people are grappling with the combined impact of hunger, displacement, diseases and climate disasters.

The new funding package will also support humanitarian operations in countries beset by years of conflict and displacement, exacerbated by climate shocks and stresses. They include Myanmar ($12 million), Mali ($11 million), Burkina Faso ($10 million), Haiti ($9 million), Cameroon ($7 million) and Mozambique ($7 million). Countries responding to El Niño-induced drought and flooding, such as Burundi ($5 million) and Malawi ($4 million), are also included.

Recognizing climate change as a key driver of humanitarian needs, part of this allocation will promote climate-smart humanitarian action supported by CERF’s Climate Action Account.

This is CERF’s second allocation for underfunded emergencies this year, following the release of $100 million in February for seven countries.* However, the combined $200 million released this year for poorly funded humanitarian crises is the lowest amount in the last three years, underscoring the growing gap between humanitarian needs and the donor funding CERF receives to meet them.

This year, the humanitarian community is seeking some $49 billion to reach 187 million of the most vulnerable people in crises worldwide. To date, only 29 per cent of this funding has been received, leaving a $35 billion gap.

*CERF allocates funding for underfunded emergencies twice a year. The previous $100 million, released in February, supported humanitarian operations in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Honduras, Lebanon, Niger, Sudan and Syria.