High-level event marking 10th Anniversary of the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)

 

 

 

High-level event marking 10th Anniversary of the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)

Statement by FAO LON Director Carla Mucavi

17 December 2015, New York

 

Mr Under Secretary General,

Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

FAO would like to congratulate CERF for its work over the past 10 years enabling a rapid, coherent and prioritized response to needs of people in crisis situations.

 

We thank donors for making this support possible.

 

CERF is one of the top financing mechanisms of FAO’s emergency interventions. It provides early funding for rapid response after a sudden-onset disaster, such as an earthquake or a cyclone. It also provides early enough funding during a slow-onset emergency, such as a drought or a locust infestation.

 

Rapid response to agricultural threats and emergencies saves lives, accelerates recovery and reduces the time gap between food-aid dependency and self-reliance. Challenges such as keeping livestock alive, or supporting farmers to meet a planting season deadline, are critical, time-sensitive interventions. When delayed, communities suffer further losses that can push them deeper into poverty.

 

CERF is critical to bring faster, more strategic assistance to affected communities by supporting their coping and survival strategies, and protecting and enhancing their resilience while other sources of funding are being secured.

 

Let me conclude by reiterating the importance of CERF to FAO, to the international community and to the people that we serve. We believe that the prominent and effective role that CERF has played to date will continue to be a strength of the UN in the future.

 

Thank you