Office of the Under-Secretary-General/Emergency Relief Coordinator Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator; Director, New York; and Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator/Director, Geneva

Executive and Administrative Offices

Donor and External Relations Section

Inter-Agency Standing Committee/Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs (IASC/ECHA) Secretariat

Donor and External Relations Section

DONOR AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Planned Staffing	Regular Budget	Extra-budgetary	Projects	Total
Professional	-	2	3	5
General Service	-	1	2	3
Total	-	3	5	8
Staff costs (US$)	-	456,063	828,724	1,284,787
Non-staff costs (US$)	-	37,290	125,826	163,116
Total costs (US$)	-	493,353	954,550	1,447,903
Total requested (US$)				1,447,903

NEW YORK

Planned Staffing	Regular Budget	Extra-budgetary	Projects	Total
Professional	-	2	-	2
General Service	-	1	-	1
Total	-	3	-	3
Staff costs (US$)	-	456,063	-	456,063
Non-staff costs (US$)	-	37,290	-	37,290
Total costs (US$)	-	493,353	-	493,353
Total requested (US$)				493,353

GENEVA

Planned Staffing	Regular Budget	Extra-budgetary	Projects	Total
Professional	-	-	3	3
General Service	-	-	2	2
Total	-	-	5	5
Staff costs (US$)	-	-	828,724	828,724
Non-staff costs (US$)	-	-	125,826	125,826
Total costs (US$)	-	-	954,550	954,550
Total requested (US$)				954,550

Within the context of ongoing humanitarian reform initiatives and in addition to its core responsibilityto mobilize adequate resources for OCHA’s activities, the Donor and External Relations Section (DERS) will play an active role in promoting donor and government support for the Humanitarian Response Review to Member States and in mobilizing donor support for the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). It will also intensify its efforts to broaden partnerships and develop closer relations with developing countries and the private sector.

The Section, in both Geneva and New York, assists the Senior Management Team (SMT) in managing relationships with a great range of partners, including governments, regional groups, G-77, parliamentarians, foundations and the private sector. While the Donor and External Relations functions have been combined into one section in New York, they are managed by two distinct sections in Geneva: the Donor Relations Section (DRS) and the Advocacy and External Relations Section (AERS).

The Donor Relations component is responsible for resource mobilization and donor reporting activities. It also provides advice on resource allocations and serves as the main entry point for the OCHA Donor Support Group (ODSG) and the Humanitarian Liaison Working Group (HLWG). The external relations component is in charge of relationships with the G-77, regional groups, academia, parliamentarians, non-governmental organisations, and the corporate sector.

In 2006, the Section will have three key priorities: to enhance donor support and broaden the donor base;to strengthen partnerships with Member States; and to better harness the potential of private engagement.

Enhancing Donor Support and Broadening the Donor Base

Despite some progress in obtaining a greater share of the Regular Budget, OCHA continues to depend heavily on extra-budgetary resources. DERS fundraising efforts will therefore remain central to securing timely and flexible funding for both headquarters and field activities. In 2006, the Section will build upon existing relationships with traditional partners and expand the donor base, targeting select developing countries and emerging economies.

Accurate and timely reporting to donors on the utilization of their contributions will remain an important responsibility of the Section, despite the increased number of donors who have signed up to the Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) initiative for harmonization of reporting requirements. The Section will continue to serve as focal point within OCHA for relations with Member States and will play the leading role in providing advice to the Senior Management Team on policy issues relevant for interaction with donors and resource mobilization.

Strengthening Partnerships with Member States

Recent large-scale disasters have led to the direct engagement of many countries and other partners in humanitarian assistance. This has spurred increased interest in the international disaster response system and has created new opportunities for OCHA to mobilize operational and financial resources from governments around the world. In 2005, DERS engaged Member States on a regional basis to galvanize support for humanitarian reforms, and the Section will continue these activities throughout 2006.

As an entry point to OCHA, the Section is responsible for creating an environment conducive to the development and maintaining of productive relationships with Member States to create broader understanding of the humanitarian agenda and increased support for the humanitarian coordination system and disaster management capacity. The Section will develop a strategy to engage in a dialogue with a number of Member States or regional groups on humanitarian issues of mutual interest.

Harnessing the Potential of Private Engagement

The response to recent natural disasters also has highlighted the important role of individuals and corporations in support of relief efforts worldwide. DERS has become more proactive in its outreach to the private sector to diversify OCHA’s resource base and garner support for the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) on behalf of the wider humanitarian system.

Donor and External Relations in New York and Advocacy and External Relations in Geneva are supporting OCHA's efforts to form strategic alliances with business groups such as the World Economic Forum and the Business Roundtable, focused on disaster relief and preparedness. In 2006, DERS will build on the partnership developed with the UN Foundation, which has accepted to host an online donation facility allowing citizens around the world to make donations to OCHA. The Section also will maintain the on-line Orientation Guide, developed together with the Global Compact, the UN Foundation for International Partnerships and seven UN agencies, to help business identify ways to support relief efforts and direct their donations to the appropriate operational agency.

Activities:

• Promote a strong interface between OCHA and its donors by ensuring that the approach to each donor is tailored, prioritised, and consistent with overall OCHA goals, objectives and priorities, in order to mobilize resources for OCHA’s activities. The Section will also advocate for wider humanitarian action and support by donors, in particular for neglected emergencies.
• Provide the Senior Management Team with updates on donor contributions and analyses of funding trends on a quarterly basis as well as donor analysis upon request.
• Create awareness of, and mobilize political and financial support for, OCHA’s initiatives by building strategic relationships with members of the G-77, CIS countries, the European Union accession states, and the private sector.
• Devise an action plan for the SMT’s outreach to new partners to promote a coherent and complementary approach to effective humanitarian response.
• Support efforts by substantive sections of OCHA to mobilise additional capacity from the corporatesector in areas such as telecommunications, information management, logistics and public information.
• Advocate for the increased predictability, flexibility, timeliness and quality of financial resources available to OCHA, and for the securing of a US$ 30 million budgetary cash reserve needed to issue one year contracts and cover three month operating costs for field offices.

Indicators:

• Increased funding from existing donors – in particular from members of the OCHA Donor Support Group – by at least ten percent over 2005.
• The budgetary cash reserve established and sufficient funds received to allow for full replenishment before November 2006.
• Proportion of funding received against requirements in OCHA in 2006 compared with previous year.
• Ten percent increase in portion of funds received unearmarked by the end of 2006, at least 60 percent of total contributions received in the first half of the year, and sufficient funds received to cover one-year field staff contracts and three months of operational costs.
• Increased number of non-traditional donors and corporate partners providing financial and operational support to OCHA.