Appeals & Funding
Tuesday, November 24, 2009   
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Appeals and Funding
The Humanitarian Action Plan (HAP) is a  mechanism used by aid organizations  in Afghanistan to plan, implement and  monitor their activities. Working together in  the world's crisis regions, they produce a  Common Humanitarian Action Plan and an appeal, which they present to the international community and donors. Speaking with a common voice, agencies have been able to demand greater protection, get better access to vulnerable populations and work more effectively with governments and other actors.
  
 Humanitarian Action Plan 2009 Minimize

Source:WFPThe Humanitarian Action Plan for Afghanistan 2009 (HAP 2009) was launched on February  3rd by the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mr. John Holmes in Geneva. Mr. Bo Asplund, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan and Naseer Popal, official of the Government of Afghanistan attended the event. (Read the opening statement here). UN agencies as well as national and international NGOs are appealing for a total of 604 Mio. US through the HAP. 53% of the total requirements are dedicated to food aid. Monitor the contributions and pledges received to date. (Image:WFP)

Login to the Online Project System to review and re-submit your HAP projects (NGOs and Agencies) and to approve/reject project submissions (Cluster Co-ordinators)
  
 Humanitarian Action Plan 2009-Mid-Year Review Minimize
  
 Humanitarian Action Plan 2009 - Funding Statistics Minimize
  
 Humanitarian Action Plan 2010 Minimize

Is being Developed
  
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Humanitarian/Emergency Response Fund 

The objective of ERFs is to enable mainly NGOs (which cannot access the CERF) and UN agencies to respond quickly and effectively to an emergency by:

  • Making available start-up funds to NGOs and UN agencies, and
  • Making funds available to NGOs and UN agencies in cases of rapidly changing circumstances and humanitarian needs where gaps need to be filled and other donor mechanisms are not immediately available.

To date Emergency Response Funds have been used in Angola, the DRC, Indonesia, Liberia, Somalia, and Ethiopia, among others. Characteristics of the funds include:

  • Ensuring that humanitarian needs are addressed in a collaborative spirit, fostering understanding and coordination within and between clusters and humanitarian organisations;
  • A set limit on maximum funding sourced from the ERFs for a specific project (however in some cases there have been exceptions);
  • Majority of the funds are used for NGOs;
  • Cluster leads and advisory boards are used in the selection processes to advise the Humanitarian Coordinator whether to provide funding or not.

    A recent review of ERF’s by OCHA highlighted that "If humanitarian response is categorised into immediate response to a new emergency, addressing on-going needs and post-crises recovery, ERFs have provided greatest added value in the middle phase, by filling a range of gaps in humanitarian response, increasing humanitarian access and enabling NGOs to scale up their activities."

Afghanistan Emergency Response Fund (ERF)
Concept Note 
 
Country Context
Afghanistan faces an ongoing humanitarian crisis with multiple sources of vulnerability, including recurrent natural disasters, ongoing armed conflict, and a worsening security situation. Insecurity constrains the capacity of humanitarian actors to respond, particularly in the south and east.  Because of access limitations, there is increasing reliance on local partners for program implementation. Direct threats against humanitarian workers have further limited the operating environment for humanitarian response and considerably increased the costs of humanitarian action. Humanitarian response is also complicated by the fact that acute needs related to conflict and disasters exist alongside extensive chronic vulnerabilities resulting from underdevelopment and impoverishment.
 
While donors have committed vast resources to Afghanistan, most of these funds are (1) given to longer-term development projects, (2) tied to strategic priorities of the donor country, and/or (3) channeled through Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) or other actors supporting military operations. Many traditional humanitarian donors are not present. Therefore, there are relatively few resources available for humanitarian action.
 
Afghanistan has been a major recipient of money from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF); however, this is not a long-term solution to the scarcity of humanitarian resources. CERF allocations have also primarily benefited UN agencies as NGOs are not eligible to receive funds directly from the CERF. UN agencies have also been the main recipients of funding pledged to appeals (including the 2008 food crisis appeals and the 2009 Humanitarian Action Plan); NGO projects have received less funding in and outside the HAP. Given the challenging operating environment, NGOs (particularly local NGOs) are the main operational agencies on the ground and so are critical to the response in Afghanistan. An Emergency Response Fund (ERF), which would be able to fund NGOs directly, would serve as a timely and flexible source of much needed funding for urgent humanitarian activities.
 
In recent years the humanitarian community in Afghanistan has worked to improve its response to the deteriorating situation. In 2008, a Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) comprising the main humanitarian actors in the country was created and the cluster approach was adopted. In 2009, the HCT launched a Humanitarian Action Plan (HAP); this was the first consolidated appeal in years. In early 2009 OCHA also opened an office in Afghanistan. As a result of these initiatives, Afghanistan now has a coordination framework in place that has the capacity to support an ERF.
 
Objective of the Fund
The objective of the ERF is to provide rapid funds to international and national humanitarian organizations to initiate life-saving humanitarian activities to reduce acute vulnerabilities in the response to man-made crises and natural disasters. It is not intended to fill gaps in agency funding or in ongoing emergency operations, or to respond to chronic social problems, reconstruction, or long-term development needs.
 
Purpose and Scope of Activities to be Funded
The ERF should fund activities that respond to new/unforeseen emergency needs. These may be newly-emerged needs stemming from a natural disaster or an intensification of the conflict, or existing needs that are newly-identified because of improvements in access and/or information. It should not be used to fund existing humanitarian programs; resources for ongoing activities should be mobilized through the HAP process. All projects should be based on assessed needs.
 
The ERF should provide funds for immediate response not lasting more than six months. If an implementation timeframe of six months is not possible for reasons outside of the organization’s control, a request can be made for a no-cost extension. Since in many cases local organizations are best-placed to respond to humanitarian needs, the Fund will also provide “micro-grants” of a maximum of $25,000 to small local NGOs and CBOs to implement humanitarian activities.[1] The total amount to be allocated to micro-grants should not exceed $100,000. The modality for micro-grants will be reviewed and amended if necessary after the Fund’s first year of operation.
 
Recipients will be required to provide financial and narrative reports in line with established requirements. With the exception of micro-grants (for which all funds will be disbursed up front), disbursement of 20% of total project funds will be held back until all reporting requirements are met.   
 
Funding
The funding target for the ERF will be US$ 5 million. The ERF will seek replenishment with fresh contributions on a rolling basis. Contributions will be treated as unearmarked and pooled, i.e. they lose their donor identification. Donors will be discouraged from requesting reports on the use of their particular funds; instead, reports will be issued on the basis of the Fund’s overall activities.
 
Eligible organizations 
Organizations eligible to receive funds are NGOs, the Afghan Red Crescent society, UN agencies and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). It is anticipated that the fund will primarily benefit NGOs, and that UN agencies will only be funded on an exceptional basis in cases where they are the only actors capable of delivering needed assistance[2]. Organizations must be registered and have sufficient capacity, and credibility with local authorities and/or communities to implement humanitarian response activities. Organizations must develop proposals in consultation with relevant stakeholders and coordination mechanisms.
 
Relationship to the HAP
Since the ERF will fund new emergency needs, it should not be used for activities already included in the HAP. However, since the ERF should not be a vehicle for long-term funding, whenever necessary the HAP process should be used to mobilize additional resources to expand and continue activities commenced under the ERF.
 
Current OCHA structure and staffing
OCHA re-established a presence in Afghanistan in early 2009. The headquarters office in Kabul has units for Field Coordination, Civil-Military Coordination, Programme, Information Management, and Admin/Finance. The ERF will be managed within the Programme Unit. The L-3 ERF Manager in the Programme Unit that was included in the revised cost plan for 2009 has been approved. The L-3 ERF Manager will be supported by a national staff.
 
Once fully staffed, OCHA will also have field staff in Jalalabad, Kandahar, Herat, Kunduz, Mazar, and Bamiyan, and staff in Kabul dedicated to the central region.
 
[1] In developing the administrative framework for the ERF, OCHA and its partners will explore ways to streamline administrative processes so that the processing of many small grants does not create an undue burden.
[2] Decided by the HCT, with full endorsement of participating UN agencies.
  
 ERF Documents Minimize

ERF Documents will be available soon
  
 Financial Tracking System Minimize

The Financial Tracking System (FTS) is a global, real-time database of humanitarian aid, managed by OCHA. It covers funding through the Humanitarian Action Plan for Afghanistan. The FTS serves to improve resource allocation decisions by indicating to what extent populations in crisis receive humanitarian aid, and in what proportion to needs.
  
 Donations Minimize

OCHA is responsible for the coordination of international response to natural disasters and complex emergencies. We are currently accepting donations from individuals and corporations for relief efforts all over the world.

Click here to make a contribution directly to OCHA.

To make a contribution to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), please see the UN Foundation website (form for donation).

To make a contribution (money, food, clothes, etc) to humanitarian organizations working in Afghanistan, please visit the websites of partners listed in the contact directory.
  
This website was developed with the assistance of Thematic Funding from the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission in 2004 and 2005