Effectiveness of humanitarian response is based on activities undertaken in support of beneficiaries in a timely manner. Those activities are dependent on funding. Humanitarian reform seeks to ensure greater predictability, accountability and partnership in all aspects of humanitarian operations, including financial mechanisms. It has been demonstrated time and time again during emergency response that the adequacy, timeliness and flexibility of emergency funding are ingredients to successful humanitarian operations.

Initiatives to strengthen humanitarian financing include the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), Emergency Response Funds (ERFs), Pooled Funding and Good Humanitarian Donorship initiative (GHD).   In addition, work is on-going to strengthen the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) along with the Needs Assessment Framework (NAF) to support adequacy of humanitarian financing.

The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is a stand-by fund established by the United Nations to enable more timely and reliable humanitarian assistance to victims of natural disasters and armed conflicts.  
The CERF was approved by consensus by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 December 2005 to achieve the following objectives:

1) promote early action and response to reduce loss of life;
2) enhance response to time-critical requirements;
3) strengthen core elements of humanitarian response in under-funded crises
See also the CERF website.

In some countries Emergency Response Funds are used as mechanism for NGOs and UN agencies to cover unforeseen humanitarian needs, and have been used since 1997.  An ERF is often established and administered by the Humanitarian Coordinators (HC) office with an advisory board made of up of UN Agencies and in some cases NGOs (for example in Somalia and Ethiopia). For more information please click here.

The objective of Pool Funding a multi-donor initiative is to support the timely allocation and disbursement of donor resources to the most critical humanitarian needs under the overall management of the Humanitarian Coordinator.

Pooled funds are similar to ERFs, often established to ensure flexibility and adequate funding using needs based approach aiming for flexible, timely, predictable and adequate funding for areas within the agreed Humanitarian Action Plan. For more information please click here.

The Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) initiative provides a forum for donors to discuss good practice in funding humanitarian assistance and other shared concerns. By defining principles and standards it provides both a framework to guide official humanitarian aid and a mechanism for encouraging greater donor accountability. For more information click here.