National statement delivered on behalf of Sweden by Minister Counsellor Camilla Nevstad Bruzelius at the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund High Level Pledging Conference, 7 December 2018, New York.
Mr Chair, Excellences, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
In a world marked by dramatically increasing humanitarian needs, the CERF, is a cornerstone of our humanitarian system.
The CERF is one of the true success stories of the humanitarian reform process. The CERF’s flexible funding model enables a rapid, effective and principled humanitarian response to the needs of people affected by conflicts and natural disasters across the globe. Sweden is proud to be a longstanding and leading donor to the CERF.
In Yemen, CERF has provided crucial life-saving assistance amidst the growing risk of famine, mitigated the impact of an accelerated collapse of public services and assisted the civilians affected by the escalated conflict. CERF has been one of the first responders to warning signs in North-east Nigeria, South Sudan and Somalia where millions of people last year were near famine. In these – and other crises – the CERF continues to respond to the people most in need.
The CERF has a clear value added for the humanitarian response system. It empowers OCHA and the ERC and strengthens the relevance of the UN coordination system by enabling decisive and rapid action in time-critical situations as well as in forgotten crises. It brings donor partners together; creating a tool that allows UN Member states to share responsibility. Its effectiveness and efficiency also make the CERF excellent value for money: essential in a world where every humanitarian aid dollar counts.
CERF, as the UN’s global emergency fund, is also critical to the humanitarian community’s ability to deliver timely, coordinated and principled assistance on the ground as part of our common global commitment to leave no one behind. We are impressed by the way the CERF continues to deliver results on transparency, effectiveness and impact – also very much in line with the reform agenda of the Secretary General.
Mr Chair,
The CERF remains a central pillar of Sweden’s humanitarian engagement. With the aim of enhancing the predictability and flexibility of Sweden’s multilateral contributions, I am pleased to note that Sweden earlier this year signed a multi-year agreement with the CERF for the period 2018-2021, equivalent of approximately 308 million USD. We hope that this multiyear funding by Sweden will inspire other donors to adopt a similar approach.
Pending parliamentary approval, I am proud to announce here today that our total contribution for 2019 will be – 77 million USD (695m SEK). To assist CERF at the end of this budget year, Sweden has also already in December (today in fact!) made an early payment of 20% of our contribution for 2019. With this pledge, Sweden reiterates its commitment to be an engaged and strategic partner to the CERF.
Mr Chair, dear colleagues,
While we are a proud donor and partner of the CERF, it is unsustainable that the top-five donors year after year continue to provide the lion’s share of the CERF’s funding. It is crucial that the UN and OCHA reach out and demonstrate the value of the CERF to more donors. The humanitarian needs and challenges are constantly increasing and unfortunately the share of CERF funding against the global requirements has declined. This is a trend we need to counter and I strongly encourage all UN Member States to heed the Secretary-General’s call to increase their contributions to the CERF.
Thank you.