Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF)

In January 2009, extremely low temperatures hit Bosnia and Herzegovina. An allocation of 165,000 Swiss francs from the DREF supported the Red Cross operation to buy and deliver firewood, stoves, blankets and food parcels to 5,000 people.

What is DREF?

The Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) is a fund set up by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in 1985 to ensure that immediate financial support is available for Red Cross Red Crescent emergency response to disasters.

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 disaster. All requests for DREF allocations are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Money can be authorized and released within 24 hours.

Latest allocations

Funds for DREF are sought through an annual appeal. This allows the IFRC to maintain the necessary balance of funds to meet the requests for support.