UN allocates emergency funding to all but forgotten crises

The United Nations has allocated 70 million U.S. dollars in emergency funds to some of the world's most protracted and chronically under-funded emergencies, said Stephen O'Brien, the UN under-secretary-general of humanitarian affairs, Wednesday, while stressing the urgent need of more funding sources.

The funds will be allocated to some of the world's most vulnerable people, including millions of people who have been forced to flee their homes, in Bangladesh, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Somalia and Sudan, O'Brien said in a statement issued by his office here.

More than 20 million U.S. dollars of the funds will be distributed to Sudan and Chad to provide basic services and protection to millions of people from Sudan's Darfur region who have suffered through 13 years of protracted conflict.

Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia -- countries in the Horn of Africa -- were allocated 33 million U.S. dollars. O'Brien said that the region was home to some of the most vulnerable communities, due to recurring conflicts and "climatic shocks."

The world body also allocated 8 million U.S. dollars to Myanmar and Bangladesh, where O'Brien said some of the world's most neglected communities and displaced people need access to emergency shelter and healthcare.

"With almost 60 million people forcibly displaced around the world, we face a crisis on a scale not seen in generations," he said, urging donors to help the people affected by these "all but forgotten crises."

"These CERF (the UN Central Emergency Response Fund) grants are a last resort for aid operations and represent a life-line for some of world's most vulnerable populations," he said.

CERF was created in 2006 as a central fund for emergency relief work, and 125 member states have contributed to the fund which has allocated more than 4.1 billion U.S. dollars to support humanitarian relief in 95 countries and territories since 2006.