Humanitarian Financing - Pooled Funds
There are three types of pooled funds: Emergency Response Funds, Common Humanitarian Funds and the Central Emergency Response Fund.
Emergency Response Funds
Emergency Response Funds (ERFs) were established in 1997 to provide rapid and flexible funding to address gaps in humanitarian needs. They are usually established to meet unforeseen needs not included in the Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) or similar coordination mechanisms, but in line with Common Humanitarian Action Plan objectives and identified priorities. ERFs increase opportunities for local actors, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to respond to needs in areas where international NGOs face access challenges due to security or political constraints. They are relatively small compared with CERF and CHFs. OCHA typically undertakes financial and programmatic management of ERFs. As of April 2012, there are 13 ERFs managed by OCHA in Afghanistan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, oPt, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
Common Humanitarian Funds
Common Humanitarian Funds (CHFs) provide early and predictable funding to the most critical humanitarian needs, as identified and formulated in a CAP. However, CHFs will also maintain an emergency reserve (typically maximum 10 per cent of total funding) for responding to unplanned emergency needs outside the CAP. All humanitarian partners participating in the CAP process are eligible to receive CHF funding. As the objective of a CHF is to provide core funding towards the CAP, these funds are often much larger than ERFs and will involve cluster/sector leads and other humanitarian partners in an elaborate prioritization and allocation process. CHFs are managed by the Humanitarian Coordinator and supported by a dedicated advisory group. The OCHA Country Office provides fund management support. In all existing funds, UNDP is the financial fund manager and is also tasked with subcontracting NGOs on behalf of the CHF. As of April 2012, CHFs exist in the Central African Republic, DRC, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.
Central Emergency Response Fund
The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) was the first concrete outcome of the Secretary-General’s reform process and the Millennium Summit. CERF was launched on 9 March 2006 and represents an important international multilateral funding instrument. It saves lives by providing rapid initial funding for life-saving assistance at the onset of humanitarian crises, and critical support for poorly funded, essential humanitarian response operations. Each year, CERF allocates approximately US$400 million.
CERF has three objectives:
- Promote early and coordinated action and response to save lives
- Enhance response to time-crucial requirements based on demonstrable needs
- Strengthen core elements of humanitarian response in under-funded crises
