Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09USUNNEWYORK1160
2009-12-24 18:11:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
USUN New York
Cable title:  

UN HOLDS ANNUAL HIGH LEVEL CONFERENCE ON CENTRAL

Tags:  EAID PHUM PREF UN 
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VZCZCXYZ0020
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #1160/01 3581811
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241811Z DEC 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7923
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3998
UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001160 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR IO/HR AND PRM
USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA
BRUSSELS FOR USAID PBROWN
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH
ROME FOR USUN HSPANOS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PHUM PREF UN
SUBJECT: UN HOLDS ANNUAL HIGH LEVEL CONFERENCE ON CENTRAL
EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND (CERF)

---------
Summary
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UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001160

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR IO/HR AND PRM
USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA
BRUSSELS FOR USAID PBROWN
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH
ROME FOR USUN HSPANOS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PHUM PREF UN
SUBJECT: UN HOLDS ANNUAL HIGH LEVEL CONFERENCE ON CENTRAL
EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND (CERF)

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. At the December 8-9, 2009 high-level United Nations
(U.N.) conference convened in support of the Central
Emergency Response Fund (CERF),57 donors and private sector
companies pledged contributions totaling $424 million for

2010. This amount marks an increase of more than 10 percent
from the December 2008 conference, when $380 million was
raised. The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs
Sir John Holmes and the Deputy Director-General of Food and
Agriculture Organization James Butler briefed donors on the
management and performance of the CERF to date. Secretary
General Ban-ki Moon and the President of the United Nations
General Assembly Dr. Ali Abdussalam Treki opened the donor
pledging session, underscoring CERF achievements and
encouraging all Member States to contribute. The U.S. was
represented by senior humanitarian representatives from the
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The USAID
Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance Acting Director
Carol Chan announced that the U.S. would contribute $10
million to the CERF in 2010. End summary.

--------------
CERF Snapshot
--------------


2. Widely recognized as one of the key successes of U.N.
humanitarian reform, the CERF is a humanitarian fund with a
grant component of up to $450 million and loan component of
$50 million annually. It was officially launched in New York
on 9 March 2006 by the U.N. Secretary-General after the
General Assembly upgraded the Central Emergency Revolving
Fund (a loan facility of $50 million established by the
General Assembly of the United Nations in 1991 under
resolution 46/182) by adding the grant element thereby
establishing the current Central Emergency Response Fund in
December 2005. The intent of the CERF is to complement, not
replace, existing humanitarian funding mechanisms. The CERF
provides seed funds to jump-start critical operations and
life-saving programs not yet funded through other sources.
Traditional donor sources are still expected to step in and
fund the majority of needs.


3. Since inception, the CERF has allocated $1.5 billion from
voluntary donations of 110 Member States, private sector and

individuals to support emergencies in 74 countries and the
occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The grant component of
CERF comprises two elements: a) rapid response grants to
promote early action and response to reduce loss of life and
to enhance response to time-critical requirements; and b)
under funded emergency grants to strengthen core elements of
humanitarian response in under funded crises.

--------------
CERF High-level Donor Conference
--------------


4. On December 8, Under-Secretary-General Sir John Holmes
and Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture
Organization James Butler provided a detailed briefing on the
achievements to date of the CERF with particular focus on the
past year. In 2009, CERF allocations included over $213
million for rapid response to 38 countries and the occupied
Palestinian territory. Two rounds of under funded emergency
allocations were also provided during the year: $73 million
was allocated to 14 countries during the first round and in
the second, some $55 million was allocated to 11 countries.
The concentration of rapid response grants focused on Africa
and Asia this year with the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Somalia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Sudan, and Sri Lanka representing
the top six recipient countries for CERF, collectively
comprising over 44 percent of total CERF allocations in 2009.
Twelve different U.N. agencies and the International
Organization for Migration received funding from the CERF
with the World Food Program (35 percent) and U.N.
Children,s Fund (27 percent) continuing to receive the
largest percentage of overall funding. The top sectors
funded by the CERF in 2009 include food, health, water and
sanitation, nutrition, agriculture, shelter and non-food
items.




5. The CERF represents the top funding source for seven
flash appeals and the fifth-largest source of funding for
Consolidated Appeals in 2009. Strengthening partnerships was
a key theme this year. The CERF Secretariat recently
concluded their annual round of consultations with U.N.
agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Rome,
Geneva, and New York. Holmes stressed that these sessions, in
addition to regular inter-agency meetings, allow for open
communication between the CERF Secretariat and humanitarian
agency partners. The CERF Secretariat has also worked with
the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Working Group to
establish an IASC Group on Humanitarian Financing ) this
group should enable more effective, inclusive, and
coordinated inter-agency consultation. UNICEF, WFP and U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees have also begun to work with
NGO partners to catalogue and address longstanding issues
related to financial partnership arrangements that exist
between the U.N. agencies and NGOs.


6. Operational and policy areas of concern pertaining to the
CERF were reviewed, including an update on the recent CERF
Advisory Group meeting. While the U.N. Emergency Relief
Coordinator manages the CERF on behalf of the
Secretary-General, overall strategic guidance is provided by
an Advisory Group of 16 independent experts. Members include
government officials from countries that have contributed to
or received funding from CERF, representatives of
humanitarian agencies, and academic experts but Advisory
Group members serve in their individual capacity. (Note: the
U.S. is represented by USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator
for the Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance
Bureau Jon Brause. End note.)


7. The Advisory Group commended CERF,s work towards
finalizing a Performance and Accountability Framework but
urged the CERF to complement reporting arrangements with
independent evaluations in a small number of selected
countries. The Advisory Group continues to review funding
procedures for the under funded emergencies window and
CERF,s relationship with NGOs. The Advisory Group
recognized that progress had been made on finalizing the
revised Secretary-General,s Bulletin on the CERF and on the
umbrella Letter of Understanding. The Advisory Group
recommended that the CERF,s &Life-saving Criteria8 should
continue to be defined as tightly as possible, but that some
flexibility should be maintained to take some preventive,
time-critical actions.


8. On December 9, the Ceremonial Session hosted a range of
speakers and was opened by the President of the United
Nations General Assembly Dr. Ali Abdussalam Treki. Dr. Treki
noted that December marked the fifth year anniversary of the
Indian Ocean tsunami and that the overwhelming international
response stood in deep contrast to the response to other
less-publicized crises. He underscored the value of CERF
promoting early action to humanitarian crises and strongly
encouraged all Member States to contribute generously. U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also addressed donor
representatives, stating &In the coming year, we do not know
exactly how the combination of conflict, climate change,
demographic shifts, and a global economic slowdown will
conspire to create emergency needs, but we do know that we
will face such challenges, and that CERF will be an important
part of the response.8 Also present on the podium were the
Minister of State for International Development, United
Kingdom, Mr. Gareth Thomas, and Mr. Tabrani Bakri, Senior
Advisor, National Agency for Disaster Management, Republic of
Indonesia who both made remarks in support of CERF.

-------------- --------------
2010 Pledges and Overall CERF Funding Trends
-------------- --------------


9. The CERF Donor Conference concluded with short statements
made by 67 speakers and new 2010 pledges made by 57 of the
speakers. Overall, the 2010 pledging conference is
characterized by the U.N. as the most successful to date,
with $424 million already pledged. Five new donors stepped
forward - Madagascar, Mauritania, the Russian Federation,
Singapore, and the Sovereign Order of Malta. Several
long-standing donors also announced increases in their


contributions, including Norway, Belgium, Brazil, Indonesia,
Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Pakistan, Slovenia,
South Africa, and the United States.


10. During 2009, the CERF received $399 million in pledges,
compared to $450 million received in 2008 with the U.N.
accounting for the difference due to the global financial
crisis and exchange rate differences. The top ten
contributors to the CERF are consistently the United Kingdom,
the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Spain, Ireland,
Germany, Denmark, and Australia. While the bulk of CERF
funding comes from a relatively small group of donors, with
the U.S. currently ranked as the fourteenth largest donor,
the U.N. has sought a diversity of funding sources. There is
specific interest in recipient countries also becoming
contributors, however small. In 2009, of the 77 donors to
CERF, 15 represented new donor contributors including a
number of CERF recipient countries.


11. 2009 also marked an increase in private sector
donations. In particular, the U.N. highlighted four new
private donors who provided support: TAQA, a United Arab
Emirates (UAE)-based energy company, HSBC-Middle East, the
Baha,i International Community, and the Red Crescent of the
UAE. Holmes highlighted continuing generosity from Western
Union and the Alexander Bodini Foundation, both of which made
donations to CERF in 2008. In an effort to diversify funding
sources, the CERF recently launched a new public service
announcement (PSA) to help raise awareness of CERF among the
general public in the U.S. "Help us Help in Time"
illustrates the importance of being able to provide aid
immediately following an emergency, highlighting the cash is
best theme. The PSA has been launched on YouTube and other
social media sites and is being distributed to television
networks in the U.S.

--------------
USG Support to CERF
--------------


12. The past few years have seen rapid developments in
humanitarian funding, innovation, institutional evolution,
and coordinated donor initiatives calling for reform. The
confluence of greater volumes of foreign aid and the
humanitarian reform platform has generated momentum for
significant changes in the way international humanitarian
response is financed. Pooled funding also gained greater
prominence due to criticisms that U.N. agencies lacked timely
bilateral funding to respond more rapidly to new emergencies
and because some donors lack the field capacity to make
bilateral funding decisions a reality, thereby preferring
pooled multilateral funding options. As supported within the
Good Humanitarian Donorship initiative, the U.S. believes in
a broad array of coordinated humanitarian responses and
financing mechanisms to address the needs of vulnerable
populations that also ensure appropriate prioritization,
implementation and accountability of humanitarian funds. The
U.S. continues to provide the majority of our funding in
bi-lateral agreements to the U.N. and NGOs due to our field
presence and rapid grant-making mechanisms, but we also
believe that the CERF is an important mechanism for donors
seeking centralized funding mechanisms.


13. Overall, international humanitarian response has been
expedited by the CERF and other elements of the U.N.
humanitarian reform efforts. The CERF has also attracted an
unprecedented coalition of donor and non-traditional and/or
smaller donors who would not have considered providing
funding to global humanitarian crises but who are now doing
so through the apolitical pooled funding mechanism of CERF.
CERF funding works best when used in combination with U.N.
agencies, own emergency funds by enabling the Emergency
Response Coordinator to kick-start the international response
to an emergency, to meet time-critical requirements and to
intervene quickly in deteriorating situations, by funding
essential activities and key sectors.


14. Since CERF inception in 2006, the U.S. Government has
provided limited support to the CERF through USAID support of
$15 million over the last three years. USG concerns in the
past have centered on the decision making process for fund
utilization and accountability of funds. Recently, greater


international attention on humanitarian financing and pooled
funding mechanisms within the donor community, stronger U.N.
accountability measures, and renewed interest for USG
leadership on global humanitarian issues has merited broader
consideration of CERF support. The CERF reflects a different
type of multi-lateral approach which is in the best interests
of the USG if the CERF can be focused effectively. In
consultation with other USG agencies, the U.S. contribution
to CERF was increased in 2010 and during the CERF Donor
Conference, USAID/OFDA Acting Director Carol Chan announced
the U.S. contribution of $10 million to the CERF in 2010.


RICE