UN releases $100M to ramp up response to 10 underfunded humanitarian crises

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced Friday that it has released $100 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to address critical underfunding in humanitarian emergencies.

The emergency funding will support 10 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East, the UN coordination office said in a statement.

More than one-third of the new emergency funding will go toward aid operations in Yemen ($20 million) and Ethiopia ($15 million), where people are grappling with the combined impact of hunger, displacement, disease, and climate disasters, the statement added.

The new funding package will also support humanitarian operations in countries affected by years of conflict and displacement, exacerbated by climate shocks. These countries 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 in the funding.

"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," Msuya said referring to the emergency fund by its initials.

"We urgently need increased and sustained donor attention to these underfunded crises," Msuya added.

This is the emergency fund'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 for poorly funded humanitarian crises is the "lowest amount" in the last three years, according to the statement.

This year, the humanitarian community has requested about $49 billion to reach 187 million of the most vulnerable people in crises worldwide. However, only 29% of this requested funding has been received, leaving a gap of $35 billion.