In August 2024, the OCHA-managed Pooled Funds allocated grants across seven countries amounting to $86 million to enable essential and life-saving humanitarian assistance. Of this amount, the CBPFs allocated $73 million and CERF allocated $13 million. In addition to the CERF allocations, the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) also endorsed $100 million from CERF’s Underfunded Emergencies (UFE) window to support underfunded humanitarian crises in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar and Yemen. These countries have now been invited to develop allocation strategies.
This is CERF’s second 2024 UFE allocation round and follows the release of $100 million in February for another seven countries. As part of the second UFE allocation round, the ERC has committed an additional funding envelope of up to $10 million to support catalytic initiatives promoting the adaptive capacities and resilience of crisis-affected communities against climate-related shocks and stresses.
For more information about allocations, please visit the CBPFs’ Data Hub and CERF’s website.
CENTRAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND
Allocations endorsed by the ERC as of 31 August 2024
Allocation in focus: In response to significant population movements due to the advance of the armed force M23, the humanitarian situation in South Lubero, North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has rapidly deteriorated. In August, CERF allocated $10 million to provide life-saving assistance for 115,500 newly displaced people and returnees. This funding will prioritize vulnerable communities in spontaneous settlements around Kayna and Kanyabayonga. Five coordinated projects will target these groups, ensuring an effective and integrated response, complementing existing Nutrition and WASH programs funded by the DRC Humanitarian Fund in 2023.
By end August 2024, contributions from donors to the CERF in paid, pledges and pipelines was $484 million, which is almost the same amount as last year at the same time of the year. Projected total income for CERF for 2024 has dropped to $524 million, which will represent the lowest income level since 2017. Low-income levels to the CERF will have direct consequences on the Fund’s ability to allocate in response to humanitarian needs until the of the year.
Fundraising for the CERF Climate Action Account continues. The Climate Account serves to scale CERF’s capacity for anticipatory action and humanitarian assistance in response to climate-related disasters. For more information, see the Flyer on the CERF Climate Account.
CERF Allocations
COUNTRY-BASED POOLED FUNDS
as of 31 August
Allocation in focus: The situation in Sudan continues to worsen, with new needs rapidly emerging due to escalating violence in Sennar and El Fasher, increasing border movements, the return of deportees, and a deepening food crisis. In response, the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) allocated $40 million in August to ensure that life-saving services are ready to launch as soon as the rainy season ends in September 2024. The allocation will support affected people living in famine hotspots, conflict zones, and newly displaced communities, including deportees. This area-based allocation is driven by local partners on the ground and shaped through engagement with affected communities, ensuring that the most urgent humanitarian needs are met in the areas that need it most.
As of end August 2024, total paid, pledges and pipelines for 16 CBPFs and 2 Regional Funds amounted to $761 million. This is $126 million less than the amount at the same time last year ($887 million). Projected total income for the CBPFs stands at $940 million. This is nearly $220 million below the income received in 2023. Against an incredibly tight financial landscape, we are very concerned about the funding outlook of the funds in 2024 and 2025, and the consequences that this decline in funding will have on the operational continuity of Funds’ partners.
CBPF Allocations
Pooled Funds Story
Helping children living with disability
Blue Nile, Sudan.
Noureldin contracted polio when he was young. His father, Elnour, explained, “We didn’t know much about his condition, and we were also struggling economically, so we weren’t able to properly attend to it. Unfortunately, as a result, Noureldin is living with a physical disability.”
Noureldin cannot walk and can use only one arm. “When I was younger, my mother used to help me. But now that I’m grown up, she is not able to do that anymore.”
Elnour, Noureldin, and the rest of their family fled fighting in Khartoum, and went to safety in Ed Damazine, the capital of Blue Nile. Like many vulnerable displaced people across Sudan, Elnour is struggling to provide for his family. He is a daily-wage earner, so he could not afford to buy Noureldin a wheelchair.
“I would barely leave the house,” says Noureldin. “It was too difficult to crawl on the rocky and muddy ground, and I preferred to stay at home. One day I fell and hurt my ear and the left side of my face,” he adds, showing the scar on his face and head.
A Sudan Humanitarian Fund-supported project, implemented with Save the Children, AlSalam Organization for Rehabilitation, and the Child Development Fund, supports children with disability who have been affected by the fighting. As part of the project, a community-based child protection network is reaching out to support families with children living with disability.
“[One of our community leaders] came to our house to ask after Noureldin,” says Elnour. After that, they received a wheelchair for Noureldin, as well as some food and household items to help the rest of the family.
“It changed everything for me and my family. Now I can finally go outside and enjoy time with my friends,” Noureldin said, adding that he goes to the nearby child-friendly space supported by Save the Children and plays with his peers. “I come here with my brothers, and we play with other children. It’s great!” Noureldin said.
Meanwhile, Elnour hopes that his family will not be displaced again: “Millions of people are currently fleeing from conflict in Khartoum, Darfur, and other states. Until now, our area has been relatively safe. We pray every day that it remains calm and that the rest of Sudan can return to peace.”
February 2024
Adapted from OCHA Sudan’s original story.
For more information: visit the Sudan Humanitarian Fund and find real-time contribution and allocation data on the Pooled Funds Data Hub.
