Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 10/2008

The UN Central Emergency Response Fund one year on

March 2007

Oxfam Publishing

Abstract

The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has the potential to help millions of people whose lives are devastated every year by emergencies around the world. But that potential has not yet been fully realised.

Oxfam welcomes the progress made by the CERF in its first year of performance and the positive results achieved. However, a number of significant challenges remain. Urgent improvements must be made in order for the CERF to provide a truly rapid response to sudden-onset disasters, to bridge the funding gaps in under-funded emergencies and to become a transparent and accountable funding mechanism.