Contribution 2022-2024 to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

The DREF is a key part of IFRC's integrated disaster and crisis management system, which reaches from communities to national, regional, and global level.

The DREF works in two main ways:

1. First, by allocating grants to enable National Red Cross Red Crescent Societies to respond to small and to medium-scale disasters and emergencies where an Emergency Appeal would not be warranted or may not garner donor support. These DREF grants equate to around two thirds of the annual allocations.
2. Second, DREF provides start-up loans to Emergency Appeals to kick-start operations, before donor pledges are received. These loans are paid back to the DREF once donor support to the Emergency Appeal is registered.

Created in 2018, Forecast-based Action (FbA) by the DREF is a separate pooled financial mechanism designed to support National Societies to act in advance of a hazard, saving lives and livelihoods.

The Forecast-based Action mechanism is integrated into the DREF. Forecast-based Financing (FbF) is a programme that enables access to humanitarian funding for early action based on in-depth forecast information and risk analysis. A key element of FbF is that the allocation of financial resources is agreed in advance, together with the specific forecast threshold that triggers the release of those resources for the implementation of early actions.

The DREF aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. It allows National Societies to ensure preparedness and response to natural disasters.

Each time, a National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society needs immediate financial support to respond to a disaster, it can request funds from the DREF.

The goal of the FbF is to anticipate disasters, prevent their impact, if possible, and reduce human suffering and losses. The popularity of Forecast-based Action by the DREF underscores the IFRC commitment to anticipatory humanitarian action.

The DREF is also responding to the aspirations of the Grand Bargain localization workstream as funding 'as direct as possible' to local and national actors.

National Societies provide rapid and effective assistance to vulnerable people affected by disasters and crises with the provision of timely and adequate financial support from the DREF.

Allocations may be made as start-up loans in the case of large-scale disasters, grants to meet the costs of responding to small-scale emergency relief operations, or for making preparations in the case of imminent disasters. All requests for DREF allocations are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Money can be authorized and released within 24 hours.

Resultate von früheren Phasen:  

The DREF has proven to be a useful response tool, speeding up immediate disaster response.

Operations supported by the DREF during the previous twelve-month period aimed to bring assistance to an estimated more than 4 million people.

In 2021, the DREF has allocated funding to 136 different emergency operations (27% increase - 109 in 2020) of a total value of CHF 40.6 million (23% increase - 32 million in 2020) and 1.097 million (31% decrease - 1.6 million in 2020) for Forecast-based Actions.

Phase 11 01.01.2022 - 31.12.2024   (Completed)