Established in 2005, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) pools contributions from donors, mainly governments but also private donors into a single reserve fund. It allows humanitarian responders to deliver life-saving assistance whenever and wherever crises hit. The fund is set aside for immediate use, to jump-start critical relief operations (rather than fully fund a response) and fund life-saving programmes not covered by other donors in rapidly deteriorating situations and in underfunded protracted crises.

CERF aims to have an annual target of US$1 billion and a loan facility of US$30 million. The funds are administered by the ERC (on behalf of the UN Secretary-General) with support from the CERF Secretariat of OCHA.

It is intended to complement, not to substitute, existing humanitarian funding mechanisms such as Flash and consolidated appeals (see text box) and other funding sources, such as CBPFs and bilateral funding. CERF is only for highest priority, immediate life-saving activities, while other funds and contributions can be used for longer-term needs. 

CERF Allocation Mechanisms: Loans, Grants and Recipients 

The CERF includes two funding modalities:    

1. CERF Loans 
   The loan facility covers critical funding gaps in humanitarian operations whereby one-year loans may be provided for the UN agencies, for example in case of a delay in the transfer of pledged funds.
2. CERF Grants
   The CERF grant component has two funding windows: Rapid Response (RR) and Underfunded Emergencies (UFE). The key difference is that applications for RR funding are field-driven under the leadership of the RC/HCin response to a specific humanitarian event. However the UFE funding is released through a UNHQ-driven process based on a global analysis of humanitarian needs and levels of funding. 
   • Rapid Response Grants are requested by RC/HC to provide immediate funds for life-saving, humanitarian activities when a new crisis hits, when an existing emergency deteriorates significantly or in response to time-critical needs i.e. when it is critical that emergency relief operations get under way and scale up quickly.
     Applications for an RR CERFallocation are accepted throughout the year and can be approved by the ERC in as little as 48 hours. See more here: Rapid Response.
     • Early Action: In recent years, CERF has included an early action element under the RR window. An anticipatory action pilot has been launched in 11 countries (Somalia, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Chad, Malawi, Madagascar, Nepal, Niger, Philippines, Burkina Faso and South Sudan). Funds are ring-fenced for pre-agreed interventions and are released when a trigger is activated in advance of a pre-agreed hazard (see this anticipatory action update from CERF).  Anticipatory action represents a distinct way of accessing CERF funding. It is applicable to crises that can be predicted with a certain degree of confidence. See more on the conditions for anticipatory action, pp. 5-6 in the updated CERF Life-Saving Criteria, 2020. See also 5.8.2 on early action. 
     • CERF Underfunded Emergencies Grants provide support for critical needs and life-saving activities in underfunded and neglected humanitarian emergencies where they help scale up or sustain protracted relief operations to avoid critical gaps when no other funding is available.
       Selected country teams are requested to apply for grants from the underfunded emergencies window twice a year (usually in December and July). The ERC selects countries based on a number of criteria (e.g. a data-driven analysis of needs, risks, vulnerabilities, funding levels and consultations with UN agencies, NGOs and different parts of OCHA etc.). In countries with a HRP , the CERF underfunded emergencies window can only fund humanitarian response plan projects. See more here: Underfunded Emergencies and see more on the decision making process here.
   • CERF recipients: CERF allocations are available to UN agencies (and IOM) only, but CERF encourages strengthening partnerships with national and local implementing partners as a matter of priority. Although NGOs are not directly eligible to apply for or directly receive funding from CERF, they are provided access as implementing partners of, for example, FAO or WFP (if they receive a grant or loan).   

CERF Application Process  

The field-based activities in the CERF process start with a “crisis trigger” in RR or with the selection of the “crisis as underfunded” in an UFE round. For both grants however, key responsibilities are managed at the country level:  

• The RC/HC leads and manages the CERF submission process, ensuring the strategic use of CERF funds through rigorous prioritisation. This includes prioritising needs and activities for consolidated CERF applications (through consultations with HCT and ICCG), endorsing and submitting a package of priority sectors and proposals to the CERF secretariat for ERC approval. He/she has the authority to include or exclude activities/projects in the submission package.
  
  Where a Flash Appeal or HRP exist, these should form the basis for setting priorities and proposing activities for CERF funding and for setting in-country criteria for a CERF application. In case of a Flash, the highest-priority Flash Appeal projects that address life-saving activities should be submitted to the CERF.
• The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) participates in the RC/HC-led strategic prioritisation process based on situation analysis, needs assessment and CERF criteria. It is the HCT (with ICCG inputs) who provides information on humanitarian needs and funding gaps, and makes recommendations for CERF support to the RC/HC. In countries where there is no HCT, this will be the UNCT.
• Clusters (and the ICCG) advise the HCT and the RC/HC on needs (they should justify and prioritise cluster needs), the strategic use of funds and the adherence to CERF's life-saving criteria (see below). Where clusters do not exist, this will be sectors.
  The specific role of the FSC and the Coordinator, and the process in more detail, is outlined below in the grey/orange box.
• UN Agencies draft their own projects proposals and implement CERF-funded projects in line with the objectives of the CERF application. For the FSC, this means that: 
  • FAO and/or WFP will submit the proposal to the RC/HC.  
  • Normally, a CERF allocation envelope will be made to a specific country emergency and then, the allocations to a specific sector/agency will be negotiated by the HCT. It is critical that FAO and WFP are actively engaged in these HCT discussions determining the priorities to be funded by a CERF application in order to ensure that critical food security needs are included as a priority intervention.  
• NGOs actively participate in clusters as members and provide inputs to the prioritisation process (selected NGOs or NGO consortia may also serve as HCT members). 
• OCHA provides guidance and support to the RC/HC and HCT, facilitate inter-cluster coordination to organize joint needs analysis, provide information on funding status of sectors and specific projects during the prioritization of needs and the related projects. OCHA also guides the CERF application process, liaises with the CERF Secretariat and coordinates and consolidates reporting components. For the UFE window, OCHA provides analytical inputs to the country selection process.
  For details on the application process, see pp. 16-19 for rapid response allocations and pp. 20-22 UFE allocations in the CERF Handbook (CERF, 2018).

CERF Funding Criteria 

Agency proposals must comply with the CERF Life-Saving Criteria (LSC), which includes:  

• Life-saving activities that within a short timespan remedy, mitigate or avert direct loss of life, physical and psychological harm or threats to a population or major portion thereof. Activities can include common humanitarian services that are necessary to enable life-saving activities (e.g. air support).  
• Time-critical activities i.e. rapid and time-limited actions required to minimize additional loss of lives and damage to social and economic assets either in complex emergencies or after natural disasters. 

FSC Activities: CERF provides funding for emergency and humanitarian activities such as general food distributions (GFD) and agricultural activities that are considered life-saving if they are time-critical and have a direct and immediate impact on food security. See more examples of food security related activities that may qualify for CERF funding in Annex II. 

Cluster Coordination Costs: CERF may also cover cluster/sector coordination in very specific situations: only in new emergencies, under the RR window, if there is a demonstrated need. This must be part of a larger agency project, already prioritized by the RC/HC and HCT (and not a standalone project).  

Thematic and Cross-Cutting Areas: The latest life-saving criteria from 2020 prioritise Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and four thematic and cross-cutting areas that have to be considered when preparing CERF applications (for both RR and UFE): 1) Support for women and girls, including tackling gender based violence, reproductive health and empowerment, 2) Programmes targeting disabled people, 3) Education in protracted crises and, 4) Other aspects of protection.