The El Niño global climatic event has had a devastating impact on tens of millions of people across the globe in 2015 and 2016. East Africa, Southern Africa, Central America, South East Asia and the Pacific Islands continue to be at risk of extreme weather events, including below-normal rains and flooding. The humanitarian fallout includes increased food insecurity due to low crop yields and rising prices; higher malnutrition rates; devastated livelihoods; increased susceptibility to illnesses, and forced displacement.
The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has been one of the quickest and largest supporters of early humanitarian action in response to the El Niño phenomenon.
Since mid-2015, the Fund has allocated around US$102 million for life-saving activities in response to drought, floods and cyclones that can be linked to El Niño. This includes $97 million disbursed and some additional $5 million currently being processed for response in 15 countries.