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Distribution of rations from UNICEF and the Ministry of Social Affairs occurs in schools for displaced people in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 10, 2024.

Enabling the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to allocate funding to the most vulnerable

The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) was established in 2005 to enable United Nations agencies and their partners to respond rapidly and deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance when crises strike and where emergency operations are not covered by other donors. The fund is managed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator on behalf of the UN Secretary-General. CERF operates through two key funding windows: Rapid Response, which disburses funds as soon as a crisis is identified, and Underfunded Emergencies, which addresses critical funding gaps in ongoing crisis responses, typically twice a year.

To ensure funding is distributed effectively, CERF relies on trusted data sources, such as ACLED, alongside a rigorous methodology to support fast, evidence-based decision-making.

Challenge

In an increasingly constrained humanitarian funding environment, CERF must allocate finite resources as effectively as possible. This presents a significant challenge: Allocating funding to one crisis may limit the ability to support another. This challenge has been further compounded by the aid funding cuts in early 2025, leaving nearly all crises underfunded. Of the 30 crises in 2026 with published humanitarian needs and response plans, flash appeals, and regional response plans, 21 report receiving less than 25% of the required funding.1 Within this context, it is critical that decisions under the Underfunded Emergencies window must be guided by fair, impartial, and comprehensive comparative global analysis.

Solution

To prioritize allocations under the Underfunded Emergencies window, CERF developed the multidimensional CERF Index for Risk and Vulnerability (CIRV). Since 2023, CIRV has incorporated ACLED’s conflict event and fatality data, both directly within its composite index and through the INFORM Severity Index. The index generates country scores on a 0–100 scale, where higher scores indicate greater humanitarian needs, risks, and vulnerabilities. The integration of ACLED data has strengthened CERF’s ability to assess and compare conflict-affected contexts. Combined with qualitative consultations with key humanitarian stakeholders and comprehensive desk reviews, CIRV enables CERF to analyze crises in a robust, transparent, and replicable manner. These insights directly inform funding allocation decisions.

For Rapid Response funding, CERF employs a global monitoring approach to detect emerging crises. One such tool is UN OCHA’s HDX Signals platform, which integrates ACLED data to allow users to monitor trends, detect deterioration, and set automated alerts for emerging situations. CERF is also working on a conflict-specific model to inform decision-making on funding amounts, which includes ACLED data. 

Why does CERF choose ACLED data?

  1. ACLED’s rigorous process for researcher-led data collection ensures comparable and unbiased conflict data with global coverage, spanning 244 countries and territories.
  2. ACLED’s conservative methodological approach to data collection and coding supports rigorous estimates of fatality figures.
  3. ACLED’s global dataset includes civilian-related variables, such as: 
    • A label for events in which civilians were specifically attacked, sexually abused, or abducted,  called “violence against civilians.” 
    • A broader civilian targeting category that indicates whether civilians were the main or only target in any event.
    • Data on the number of civilians killed as a result of political violence and those exposed to political violence and protest.
  4. ACLED’s transparent approach to methodology and its clear definition of its data sources and limitations enhance the trust and confidence among CERF staff. 

Complementing CERF’s internal scoring index, ACLED provides a Weekly Conflict Index that ranks all countries by conflict intensity. Rankings are based on four indicators: deadliness, danger to civilians, geographic diffusion, and armed group fragmentation, or the number of non-state armed groups engaging in violence in the country. These rankings, along with customizable country comparisons, are available through ACLED’s Conflict Index dashboard. 

Conflict-index-Dashboard

Impact

Guided by trusted data sources such as ACLED, CERF allocated 574.9 million US dollars across 45 countries in 2024. Of this, US$ 271.8 million supported Rapid Response activities, while US$ 219.4 million was directed toward Underfunded Emergencies. These allocations enabled humanitarian assistance to reach over 35 million people.

In a time of escalating crises and constrained humanitarian assistance, ACLED empowers multilateral funders like CERF to maximize the value of every dollar. By sharpening data-driven decision-making, funding instruments can ensure that resources go precisely where they’re needed most and deliver the greatest impact.

What is your key challenge?

Speak to one of our specialists and find out how ACLED can support your data needs.

Footnotes

  1. 1

    This statistic is informed by the 2026 Global Humanitarian Overview produced by UN OCHA on behalf of the humanitarian community. See Humanitarian Action, “Escalation in the Middle East and Beyond: The Humanitarian Response,” accessed on 17 April 2026