Today, the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced that it is providing $15 million to the United Nations (UN) Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). This is the Agency’s largest contribution to date to the CERF, the UN’s global humanitarian fund that enables the rapid delivery of life-saving assistance whenever and wherever crises strike and ensures that underfunded or prolonged crises are not left behind.
With its critical role in responding to the needs of the most vulnerable, the CERF helped UN agencies and partners provide life-saving assistance to 51.5 million people across the world in 2021 alone. This year, the CERF is helping respond to severe food insecurity in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel region of West Africa, Yemen, and other countries facing worsening hunger crises.
Today, the world faces unprecedented needs, as countries continue to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, increasingly protracted conflicts and the ripple effects of Russia’s war against Ukraine. As a result of the war, it is projected that up to 40 million more people could be pushed into poverty and food insecurity worldwide in 2022.
USAID is proud to support the CERF as part of the United States’ global efforts to respond to these historic humanitarian needs and encourages other donors to join us in contributing urgently to the humanitarian community’s collective efforts to save lives and ease suffering around the world.