UN Central Emergency Response Fund Increases Bilateral Aid, Study Finds
A United Nations fund designed to release emergency aid when disasters strike does more than pay for immediate relief — it also tends to prompt individual governments to follow suit and direct aid to underfunded emergencies, according to new research by Lisa Dellmuth, a professor of International Relations at Stockholm University affiliated with the SCGG.
The new study "How the Central Emergency Response Fund Crowds in Bilateral Humanitarian Aid" was published in the Global Studies Quarterly.
How the Central Emergency Response Fund Crowds in Bilateral Humanitarian Aid
The study, published on Tuesday in the Global Studies Quarterly, the journal of the International Studies Association, examined the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, known as CERF, which disburses money quickly to crises that erupt suddenly or that the world has largely overlooked — emergencies in which hunger is often a central threat.
Drawing on data covering CERF aid, 29 donor governments, and 147 recipient countries from 2006 to 2021, Dellmuth found that aid from individual nations tends to follow CERF's allocations.
"The CERF does not only provide direct emergency funding, but also plays an important role in catalyzing aid in the broader humanitarian aid system, and can thus help to combat acute food insecurity," Dellmuth wrote in a social media post.
Last updated: 2026-05-28
Source: Department of Political Science