By Arul Louis

United Nations, Dec 14 (IANS): India will contribute $500,000 to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), Indian diplomat Anjani Kumar has announced at the high level pledging conference here.

Kumar, a counsellor at India's UN Mission, said on Tuesday that this contribution for the year 2016-17 and New Delhi's cumulative contribution since the fund was launched in 2006 stood at $6 million.

"Despite our own resource constraints, India has always been forthcoming within its ability and national circumstances in offering humanitarian assistance as per the needs and requests of our friends and partners," Kumar said.

"These efforts have ranged from immediate supply of relief materials to emergency evacuation of very large number of persons of various nationalities from danger zones."

CERF provides early funding when humanitarian crises break out and supports essential relief operations that are poorly funded.

At the pledging session on Tuesday, 29 countries promised contributions totalling $273 million to the CERF after outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a plea for funds.

"The scale of humanitarian deprivation is greater than at any time since the UN was founded," he said. "A record 130 million people need humanitarian assistance to survive."

Ban asked the CREF to raise its annual target of $450 million to $1 billion by 2018.

CERF has provided $4.6 billion in emergency assistance to 98 countries since it was founded.

So far this year it has provided emergency help to about 50 countries.