GENEVA: The United Nations has released $160 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support life-saving assistance in 12 of the world's most underfunded humanitarian crises.
A statement by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the allocation is part of broader efforts to reach 87 million people facing the most severe humanitarian needs this year.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said there are 87 million people to reach and no time to waste, adding that the new funding announced today will help deliver aid to people who might otherwise be left behind.
The statement said about $150 million of the allocation will support life-saving responses in the occupied Palestinian territory ($18 million), Afghanistan ($18 million), Burkina Faso ($10 million), Cameroon ($6 million), Chad ($9 million), Cuba ($4 million), Mali ($10 million), Niger ($10 million), Somalia ($16 million), South Sudan ($15 million), Sudan ($16 million) and Yemen ($18 million).
Five of these crises - Afghanistan, the occupied Palestinian territory, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen - are among 10 contexts in which Fletcher has called for urgent diplomatic action to ensure humanitarian access, allowing assistance to reach 11 million of the 87 million people prioritized for aid this year, the statement continued.
The allocation also includes $10 million to address the urgent needs of persons with disabilities across the 12 crises and make humanitarian assistance more accessible and inclusive.
