Resource Mobilisation

Additionally, agencies may source funds directly through a bilateral relationship with public sector donors such as government agencies or with private donors, although these projects should still be included in the Flash Appeal and the Consolidated Appeals Process.

Standby funds consist of contributions from many donors which are pooled for allocation according to a common purpose. These funds can respond rapidly to urgent humanitarian needs, without delay for confirmation of donor pledges. Examples of these funds are the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), and the country-specific Emergency Relief Funds (ERF) and Common Humanitarian Funds.

The Financial Tracking Service (FTS), managed by OCHA, is “a global, real-time database which records all reported international humanitarian aid” to UN and non-UN agencies, from all sources. The FTS makes a distinction between uncommitted pledges, commitments and paid contributions and relies on agencies and donors alike to report into the system. The system is used by donors for visibility and for tracking funding gaps.

In the first week of an emergency response the two major routes to funding are by application to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and through the UN Flash Appeal.

The Central Emergency Response Fund

The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is a humanitarian fund established by the United Nations to enable more timely and reliable humanitarian assistance to those affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts,” (www.ochaonline.un.org). The CERF resources are unlikely to be sufficient for the cost of the entire response. Instead, the CERF operates as a seed fund for life-saving projects, either to cover the delay between an appeal and donor commitment, or to mitigate the effect of uneven distribution of humanitarian aid.

The funds are managed and distributed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC). Allocations are prioritised according to both the urgency of needs and the likely distribution of forthcoming funding.

The CERF operates through:

1. loans to allow rapid access to resources for immediate implementation of life-saving programs where there is evidence of forthcoming alternative funding;
2. grants to facilitate either the initial elements of rapid response to a sudden onset emergency, or time-critical response to prevent the escalation of a slow-onset crisis; and
3. grants to strengthen core life-saving elements of humanitarian response in an underfunded crisis, which has little prospect of funding from other sources.

The CERF funds only emergency or life-saving crisis response actions. Programmes will not be eligible if they focus on disaster prevention, early warning, recovery or preparedness, which includes resource stockpiling, although replacement of stocks used in sudden response can be included in an application. Life-saving activities are defined as those which, “…within a short time-span, remedy, mitigate or avert direct loss of life, physical and psychological harm, or threats to a population or major portion thereof and/or protect their dignity.” (CERF Life-Saving Criteria 2010, p3)

NGOs are not eligible to submit CERF applications unless as the implementing partner for a UN agency or IOM project.

Applications should include consideration of cross-cutting issues, such as gender, communicable disease, human rights and environment, principles of GHD, and the vulnerability of particular groups such as women, children, and the elderly.

THE FLASH APPEAL

A Flash Appeal is a mechanism through which “agencies responding to a sudden humanitarian crisis…present a unified set of needs to donors” to cover the costs of specific projects in the first 3 – 6 months of an emergency response. The appeal is compiled by the Humanitarian Coordinator in cooperation with all active humanitarian partners. The Flash Appeal mechanism is operated by the UN through UN/OCHA.

A Flash Appeal is published very quickly following the onset of a crisis, usually within one week. If an exact situation assessment has not yet been possible, the appeal should be based on the best available information, which may include informed predictions, or pre-existing data, such as population mapping. The appeal should outline possible scenarios with the appropriate response strategy for each, and should usually be revised in approximately one month when more precise information is available. If necessary it can be further revised after six months for presentation through the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP).

The application should be simple and concise. It should include:

• facts of what happened;
• humanitarian consequences and scale of the crisis;
• humanitarian needs;
• the response plan with clearly articulated activities and outputs including partnerships formed; and
• full costs.

Cluster coordination costs are eligible for inclusion in the Flash Appeal, but must be clearly separated from implementation costs.

Projects funded through a Flash Appeal must not be government-led, unless as a partner to a UN agency or an NGO.

The Flash appeal is a platform for publicising funding needs. The Cluster Coordinator prepares a comprehensive submission to the Flash Appeal including all projects prioritized and discussed with cluster members. Once endorsed by the cluster, or SAG, each agency inputs their submission onto an perscribed on-line system and the coordinator presents the cluster submission, both narrative and projects  to the Humanitarian Coordinator. The UN/OCHA, compiles the full Flash Appeal from the cluster submissions for endorsement by the Humanitarian Country Team. A final revision of the project submissions and overall appeal narrative is carried out by agency focal points at headquarter level before the  Flash Appeal is launched globally by UN/OCHA to donors.

Funds are not channeled through UN/OCHA or the Cluster Lead Agency. Donors select projects from the Flash Appeal and contact project agencies directly. Donors are encouraged to respect international good practice standards.

The Flash Appeal mechanism is separate from the CERF, but the two are complimentary, and should be prepared in tandem. Each should be sent to the Emergency Relief Coordinator as soon as it is ready. The Flash Appeal is a comprehensive account of response projects, from which those life-saving activities should be sent to the CERF for prioritisation of funding (IASC Guidelines for Flash Appeals, 2006, p3).

The Consolidated Appeals Process

The Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) is a “programme cycle for aid organisations to plan, coordinate, fund, implement, and monitor their response to disasters and emergencies, in consultation with governments”. The CAP provides a mechanism to mobilise resources through a single, coordinated appeal that illustrates clearly the total range of needs in an ongoing crisis ( IASC CAP Guidelines 1994,).

The CAP allows for a more strategic approach to the provision of humanitarian aid and as a coordination mechanism greater interagency collaboration. The CAP is established for an acute humanitarian need caused by a disaster or conflict, when a government either is unable or unwilling to respond to a humanitarian need and in those humanitarian crises which demand a system-wide response, involving national and international partners from multiple sectors.

The CAP and selection of CAP countries are managed globally by the Emergency Relief Coordinator but is led in the field by the Humanitarian Coordinator.

The process by which a CAP is established is similar to that of  the Flash Appeal. The needs are identified at the field level, discussed and endorsed by each cluster prior to submission to the HCT for further prioritization and endorsement. Each agency submission is inputted onto the online system for further review at agency headquarter and OCHA headquarter level before being globally launched by UN/OCHA to donors.

The CAP is based on the Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP). The Common Humanitarian Action Plan is the strategy for humanitarian action in a particular country. The Plan is developed by the Humanitarian Coordinator in cooperation with the national government and humanitarian partners, including IOM, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs. A Common Humanitarian Action Plan provides a contextualised snapshot of the crisis, including:

• an identification of prioritised humanitarian needs;
• possible future scenarios;
• an outline of the planned response;
• a statement of resource requirements; and
• a framework for response monitoring and evaluation.

The FTS currently categorises appeals in three ways: “Consolidated Appeals,” “Flash Appeals,” and “Other Appeals.”   However, what is often confusing is that the “Other Appeals” category has become a mixed bag of euphemized true CAPs/FAs (Sri Lanka CHAP, Pakistan and Yogyakarta Humanitarian Response Plan) plus appeals that vary significantly from CAP/FA standards (Tajikistan Humanitarian Food Security Appeal 2008-2009). The reason for this re-naming of a CAP is usually an effort to avoid government resistance to the publication of the appeal.