Common Fund mechanism has improved the process by which humanitarian response is planned, prioritized, and coordinated. It has also strengthened the position of the Humanitarian Coordinator, created strong incentives for coordination, and increased opportunities for actors to participate in a more coherent manner. As such it has shown the potential for improving humanitarian outcomes, and represents a significant step forward in international financing of humanitarian action.

One of the main tools available to the HC is the Central emergency respond fund providing flexible and predictable financing for humanitarian response.

The CERF empowers Humanitarian Coordinators (HCs) by giving them the authority to prioritize   the projects allocated to the crisis by the ERC.  The HC needs to enforce the life-saving criterion for selected projects, as well as using judgment to identify the highest-priority.  The ERC will review the recommendations and reject any that are not up to standard.  In practice, an HC may delegate project selection to a sector/cluster lead, for example, but should always review the cluster/sector lead’s choices.  CERF aims to be the fastest donor in rapid-response situations, and the donor of last resort in chronic under-funded situations.

In the first six months since the CERR was launched in March 2006 the CERF recorded pledges of more than US$ 298 million from 52 states, one local government and one private organization. The ERC has committed US$ 189.2 million to approx. 280 projects in 26 countries, including US$ 112.3 million for rapid response and close to US$ 77 million for under-funded emergencies. The most recent CERF allocations are for the floods in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.To find out more see the CERF Website. With respect to under-funded emergencies, the CERF provided immediate cash to humanitarian emergency situations that had not attracted sufficient donor attention. The initial tranche of US$32 million was provided to 11 countries and the second trench of $43 million is currently being disbursed to 12 countries. The largest allocation was made to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where under funded life-saving projects received US$ 38 million in CERF grants. CERF funds already disbursed have helped accelerate the implementation of life-saving programmes including malaria control, cholera response, mine action activities and protection of IDPs.

Pooled funding is another new humanitarian financing instrument being piloted in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It provides a mechanism allowing donors to put their money into a central pot to support humanitarian action in a particular country. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator can then draw on this pot to fund strategic priorities quickly and easily. An independent evaluation of the Common Funds concluded that the predictability and flexibility of funding had been increased and enabled funds to be targeted to the most urgent priorities, , particularly with regard to ensuring NGO access. Please see the Evaluation of Common Funding December 2006 report here.

Emergency Response Funds allow Humanitarian Coordinators access to funding to respond to new crises and to fill gaps in funding to respond to urgent needs. An independent evaluation of this funding has recently been completed. Please see the Emergency Response Fund report here. Please find the Ethiopian ERF evaluation report here.