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The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocates US $ 11 million to assist 147,000 people in southern Chad and maintain humanitarian access

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(N'djamena, 16 November 2017): The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Mark Lowcock, has approved the allocation of US $ 11 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for humanitarian action in Chad. The funds provided will help meet the vital needs of 147,000 people, including returnees and refugees from the Central African Republic and their host communities, in four southern regions of the country. This new funding follows a first allocation of US $ 10 million in September 2016 in the same region to cover the priority needs of the most vulnerable populations.

The Moyen-Chari, Mandoul, Logone Oriental and Logone Occidental regions remain deeply affected by the impact of the Central African crisis, with several new populations influxes in 2017. Faced with the gradual withdrawal of humanitarian partners due to an increased lack of funding, the living conditions and livelihoods of affected populations have been deteriorating, especially in displacement sites.

In total, five projects funded by the CERF will help improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable populations. These projects will provide multi-sectoral emergency assistance through multi-purpose cash transfers (60% of funds granted) and through strengthening of basic social services (27%), which will contribute to strengthening food security, protection, shelter and livelihoods, and access to nutrition, health, and education services. Nearly fourteen per cent of the funds will also be allocated to UNHAS air services to maintain humanitarian access throughout the country. The United Nations recipient agencies are FAO, UNFPA, UNHCR, WHO, WFP and UNICEF. They will work together with implementing partners to deliver the various projects over the next nine months.

The Humanitarian Coordinator in Chad, Mr. Stephen Tull, praised the importance of this allocation which will help introduce an innovative approach: "This CERF funding is very important for our response in southern Chad. It helps us meet urgent needs of refugees, returnees and local populations when our humanitarian appeal is seriously underfunded. To date, less than 40% of the required funds have been met at national level. In addition, it supports a new joint program of assistance through multipurpose cash transfers, placing the needs, preferences and dignity of beneficiaries at the heart of its intervention, while being more effective in terms of operational costs."

This new modality of assistance offers immense potential. In order to ensure the feasibility and effectiveness of this approach, the humanitarian partners involved conducted prior market situation and protection studies.

According to Florent Méhaule, Head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Chad, "The humanitarian crisis in southern Chad is underfunded. Further support remains necessary to help the 866,000 people in need of emergency assistance and strengthened resilience while advances in southern Chad remain fragile; this CERF funding will only cover a fractionof the needs. In addition, increased involvement of development actors and of the Government is paramount, to support and complement the efforts of the humanitarian community and help reinforce the resilience of affected populations. "

Note to editors: Created by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006, CERF is a humanitarian funding mechanism managed by OCHA, which enables a faster and more effective response to vital needs of people affected by natural disasters, armed conflicts, or under-funded crises. Since 2006,
CERF has financed US $ 173 million in Chad and is the third largest humanitarian donor.

View photo gallery on southern Chad

For further information, please contact:
Mr. Florent Méhaule, Head of Office, mehaule@un.org, Tel. +23568851004
Ms. Naomi Frérotte, Public Information Officer, frerotte@un.org, Tel. +23566901633
OCHA press releases are available at www.unocha.org or www.reliefweb.int

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