CERF stands for Central Emergency Response Fund, which is a humanitarian fund established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005 and launched in March 2006. Its objectives are to promote early action and response to reduce loss of life, enhance response to time-critical requirements, and strengthen core elements of humanitarian response in underfunded crises. CERF enables more timely and reliable humanitarian assistance to those affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts. The fund is replenished annually through contributions from governments, the private sector, foundations, and individuals. CERF is managed by the Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Mark Lowcock, Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

CERF is one of the fastest and most effective ways to ensure that urgently needed humanitarian assistance reaches people caught up in crises. It allows the United Nations to react immediately when a disaster strikes and makes funds available for life-saving activities to the United Nations and its funds, programs, and specialized agencies, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). CERF is intended to complement, not to substitute, existing humanitarian funding mechanisms, such as United Nations consolidated appeals. CERF provides seed funds to jump-start critical operations and fund life-saving programs not yet covered by other donors. Since its inception in 2006, CERF has allocated about $2.7 billion to help hundreds of thousands of people in 87 countries across the world.

It is important to note that CERF is not to be confused with the Community Economic Resilience Fund (CERF) Program, which is a funding program in California aimed at building an equitable and sustainable economy across the states diverse regions and fostering long-term economic resilience in the overall transition to a carbon-neutral economy.