UN emergency fund needs huge surge in support, top officials say

With conflicts and climate disasters miring millions of people around the world in humanitarian need, top United Nations officials today urged the global community to ramp up support for the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), during an annual pledging event.

“Year after year, CERF has proven its unique, effective, and vital role,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a video message for the event. “We need more support to build on CERF’s record of results. As humanitarian needs soar, contributions are failing to keep pace.”

Forty-five donors announced pledges of some US$351 million for CERF for 2025, with others expecting to make contributions in the coming months. Donor announcements at last year’s event topped $419 million. The roughly 16 per cent decrease is yet another indication of how grim the funding outlook in 2025 will be.

“Now more than ever, we need a global humanitarian system that is prepared, empowered, and well-funded to meet the challenges before us,” said Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher. “CERF is vital to this mission. Whether it succeeds or not depends on how generous the international community wants to be.”

So far in 2024, CERF, which is managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, has allocated more than $550 million to support millions of people who need rapid, life-saving assistance in 42 countries. This includes $66 million to help those devastated by the conflict in Sudan, which has sparked the world’s worst hunger crisis and fastest-growing displacement crisis.

In September, within hours of the surge in hostilities in Lebanon, CERF fast-tracked $10 million to meet the urgent needs of displaced families and those trapped in conflict zones.

Even as crises multiply and escalate, CERF has injected $219 million this year into protracted humanitarian emergencies that are critically underfunded. These additional resources are helping bolster the efforts of local responders in 17 countries, expand support for the most vulnerable, and signal to the international community the need for stepped-up funding.

Nearly one-third of CERF allocations in 2024 went toward confronting climate-induced disasters across multiple regions, from cyclones to floods and droughts. In nine countries, the Fund also kick-started humanitarian action aimed at helping communities adapt to climate threats, through a dedicated envelope of $10 million supported in part by the CERF Climate Action Account.

Since CERF was established nearly two decades ago, humanitarian needs and the funding requirements to address them have skyrocketed: In 2025, the UN and partners are appealing for $47 billion to help 190 million people – nine times the $5.2 billion required in 2006 to assist 32 million people.

Throughout its history, the Fund – which has an annual funding target of $1 billion – has allocated almost $9.5 billion to help hundreds of millions of people in more than 116 countries and territories.