Annual report

its support to the vital work of National 
Societies would not be possible. 
70
Annual Report 
2022

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FUNDS
The Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) 
The IFRC’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund 
has been channelling life-saving resources to 
local responders at community level since 1985. 
More than 210 million people in crisis have bene- 
fitted from DREF support in that time. 
In recent years the fund has evolved to be more 
agile and expanded to include an anticipatory 
pillar (one fund, two pillars: Response and 
Anticipatory Actions). This allows funding to 
be released in anticipation of disaster so that 
National Societies can act early – in advance of 
the hazard – to mitigate and reduce the impact 
on vulnerable communities, rather than just pre-
paring to respond, when the hazard becomes 
a disaster.
The DREF is a demand-driven, flexible, and 
cost-effective way for donors and partners to 
support local humanitarian action. Donations 
to the DREF allow the IFRC to provide National 
Societies with:
•
Direct funding to finance their local responses 
to small-to-medium scale disasters when no 
emergency appeal will be launched, or when 
support from donors is not foreseen.
•
Star t-up loans for wider responses 
(Emergency Appeal) where the IFRC and 
National Societies work together to re- 
spond to complex medium and large-scale 
emergencies. The loan is then automatically 
reimbursed to the DREF when the Emergency 
Appeal mobilizes 200% of the loan allocated.
•
Direct funding to finance anticipatory action 
in advance of predicted hazards, based on 
an agreed emergency plan (i.e., Early Action 
Protocols, Simplified Early Action Protocol, 
DREF for imminent event) designed to save 
lives before a disaster occurs.
In 2022, the DREF supported 91 National 
Societies with predictable funding to anticipate 
specific hazards, implement early actions and 
respond to disasters, allocating 59 million Swiss 
francs in total. 
The fund supported 154 operations through 
loans to Emergency Appeals, and grants to 
anticipation and response via DREF operations 
that collectively supported National Societies to 
reach more than 15 million people. More than 
half – 52 per cent – of allocations across both 
pillars were for climate-related disasters.
DREF is a highly cost-efficient way to support 
local disaster risk reduction and response work 
on the ground. The funds are allocated directly 
to the implementing National Society with no 
intermediaries. Accountability and oversight are 
provided by the IFRC, which manages the fund 
on behalf of its membership.