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The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocates US $ 6.8 million to address urgent needs among newly arrived refugees and their host communities in the south of Chad

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(N'Djamena, 29 March 2018): The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Mark Lowcock, has approved the allocation of US $ 6.8 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for rapid response in the south of Chad. These funds will help provide vital humanitarian assistance to 45,000 people in need, including newly arrived refugees from the Central African Republic and their host communities.

Since 26 December 2017, clashes in northern Central African Republic have triggered important influxes of populations seeking refuge in southern Chad. More than 22,000 new refugees have been registered by UNHCR and the National Refugee Agency (CNARR) while cross border movements continue and the security situation remains volatile in CAR. Humanitarian organizations have rapidly deployed to provide life-saving assistance, but capacities are stretched and more resources are necessary to scale up the response and support host communities, who have shared their resources and face the risk of becoming food insecure as their food stocks are depleted. This new crisis occurs in a context where there are already 77,000 refugees and 43,000 Chadian returnees living in precarious conditions in southern Chad.

The Humanitarian Coordinator in Chad, Mr. Stephen Tull, warned of a possible deterioration of the humanitarian situation, “current humanitarian assistance is insufficient given the scale of needs, particularly against the backdrop of food insecurity and the fast-approaching rainy season, which could further exacerbate vulnerabilities. This CERF funding is critical for our response in southern Chad while our humanitarian appeal continues to be seriously underfunded year after year. Increased donor funding will be essential to save lives through sustaining and expanding our humanitarian operations.”

In total, eight projects will benefit from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocation and will help provide multisector refugee assistance (about 32% of the funds), food security and livelihoods (30%), health (10%) and nutrition (8%), protection (7%), water and sanitation (6%) and education (2%) services to over 20,000 refugees and 25,000 people among vulnerable host communities. Three per cent of the funds will also be allocated to UNHAS air services to maintain humanitarian access to the south of Chad. The United Nations recipient agencies are the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). They will work together with NGO implementing partners and state services to deliver the various projects over the next four months.

According to Abdoulaye Sawadogo, Head Ad Interim of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Chad, "it is essential that other donors scale up their support, especially development donors, because CERF funding will only cover a fraction of the needs, and it is vital to strengthen the resilience of affected populations and provide them with sustainable solutions. This will require long-term political and development investments in the region."

A response plan was developed by UNHCR and partners to respond specifically to the urgent needs of newly arrived refugees from the Central African Republic and vulnerable host communities. Implementing this plan requires US$ 28.5 million, of which US$ 3.5 million is already mobilized and US$ 6.8 million is now funded by CERF, leaving a funding gap of US$ 18.2 million.

In 2018, humanitarian partners in Chad need US $ 544 million to save and improve the lives of the 1.9 million most vulnerable people in the country. To date, less than 4% of the required funds have been met at national level. In 2017, only 45% of funding needs were covered, a decrease compared to the 53% received the previous year.

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.

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Abdoulaye Sawadogo, Head of Office Ad Interim, sawadogoa@un.org, Tel. +23568851005

Ms. Naomi Frérotte, Public Information Officer, frerotte@un.org, Tel. +23566901633

OCHA press releases are available on www.unocha.org or www.reliefweb.int

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