The Emergency Response Fund (ERF) for Zimbabwe was established as a pooled fund in 2006. It was initially set up to meet the emergency needs of people affected by displacement but has continued to be replenished by donors thereby facilitating response to emerging response requirements in the country.

The overall aim of the ERF for Zimbabwe is to improve the timeliness and appropriateness of humanitarian response through the provision of a flexible resource that can be drawn on quickly. The emphasis of the ERF is to support rapid response projects seeking to contribute to sustaining lives and prevention of further erosion of livelihood assets through supporting positive coping mechanism of communities. The fund is also available to strategically fill gaps (geographic or sectoral) within an overall emergency response plan.

Implementation period for projects is limited up to a maximum of 6 months and the funding can be made up to USD 250,000 per project. Each implementing agency can have up to 3 active projects at a time. The applicant agencies are encouraged to consult relevant partners in the cluster/working group, geographical areas and local communities during development of the intervention. For the final round of consultation, the Advisory Board is normally given 48 hours to make a recommendation to the Humanitarian Coordinator. Once the approval process is completed, an agreement is entered between the implementing partner and the Humanitarian Coordinator after which OCHA requests for the funds to be released directly to the implementing agency from the Geneva based account.

More Information

Fernando Arroyo, Head of Office, OCHA Zimbabwe, Email: arroyof@un.org

Lilian Nduta, ERF Manager, OCHA Zimbabwe, Email: nduta@un.org