Richest donors neglect global emergency fund-Oxfam

LONDON, March 9 (AlertNet) - A global emergency fund set up to get aid to disaster zones more quickly has received "exceptionally poor support" from some of the richest donors, hurting relief efforts around the world, aid agency Oxfam said on Friday.

The U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) entered its second year with international pledges of $342 million. The United Nations wants $450 million from donors, on top of $50 million it already has in the fund's coffers, to reach an overall target of $500 million.

"It's certainly disappointing that some countries haven't contributed as much as you would hope or expect...for the fund to meet its target and its full potential to reach people in need," said Oxfam International policy adviser Greg Puley.

The fund was set up to allow cash to flow after a disaster without aid agencies having to wait for donations to roll in. A third of the money is spent on "forgotten emergencies" that struggle to attract international attention.

The United States, Canada, Japan, Italy, Austria and Greece have yet to commit any cash at all for 2007.

In a report on the achievements and challenges of the fund's first year, Oxfam highlights the disparity in country contributions. The international relief group compares the amount governments have promised with what it calculates they should give according to the size of their national income.

By this measure, Norway, Luxembourg and Ireland are the three most generous donors for 2007, giving more than 10 times their "fair share". Britain is the largest financial supporter for the second year running.

The 10 meanest countries are the United States, Canada, Japan, Italy, Austria, Greece, France, Portugal, Germany and Belgium.

"The $195 million we think the United States should be contributing is less than what it cost to produce the latest King Kong movie," Puley said.

Rudolf Muller, head of the CERF secretariat, said he was hopeful that countries yet to commit funds would do so later this year.

"I think the majority of them are willing, but we also have to understand that many of these countries are going through internal budget revisions, or even cuts in their budgets, and therefore it can be very difficult to mobilise funds," he said.

Aid experts say some donors are reluctant to give money because they may be suspicious of multi-country initiatives or do not want to lose the publicity impact of announcing their own bilateral donations.

DELAYS

In its first year of operation, the fund spent $376 million on more than 360 urgent humanitarian projects in 40 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

"In a number of countries, we have been able to fill critical gaps, or...in some cases, respond very quickly, such as recently in Mozambique," Muller said, referring to the floods that have displaced around 170,000 people in the southern African country since the start of the year.

But he said the fund needed to improve its administrative procedures to allow money to reach disaster-affected people more quickly.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including Save the Children and Oxfam, have criticised the way the fund operates because they cannot access its grants directly - even though NGOs deliver many of the services in humanitarian emergencies.

Instead they must apply through U.N. agencies, causing delays in some countries and incurring administration fees of up to 10 percent of the amount they receive.

"These shortcomings significantly reduced the CERF's rapid response capacity and might well have negative medium-term consequences for the humanitarian response system as a whole," the Oxfam report said.

Allowing NGOs to apply for money directly would require the approval of the U.N. General Assembly. Muller said the chances of this happening were "bleak" and added that the best short-term approach would be to look at ways of including relief groups more effectively in the grant process.

"The first step is...to immediately improve the relationship between the U.N. agencies, NGOs and local government on the ground so that, even while the funding goes through U.N. agencies, it can get more quickly to those who are directly reaching people in need," said Oxfam International's Puley.

Click here for an interview with Rudolf Muller, chief of the CERF secretariat.