external relations and support mobilization branch

The External Relations and Support Mobilization Branch (ERSMB) will be established as of 1 January 2007, consolidating the Geneva-based units whose primary responsibility is to engage with external partners. The Branch will include the Donor and External Relations Section, the Public Information Unit, the Geographical Coordination and Monitoring Section, and the Consolidated Appeals Process Section.

ERSMB will strengthen OCHA's ability to dialogue and develop effective partnerships with Europe-based humanitarian actors, including UN Agencies, the Red Cross and Crescent movement and NGOs, as well as Member States, regional organisations, parliamentarians, the private sector, the media, and the general public. It will also provide the media - and by extension - the public, with accurate, timely, and relevant information on OCHA's activities and priorities, and - more broadly - with topical issues of humanitarian concern. The Branch will focus on OCHA's first and second strategic goals: consolidated humanitarian reform and recognized leadership role in humanitarian advocacy and policy.

Against this background, ERSMB's key objectives for 2007 are as follows:

Improved, and publicly profiled, analysis of global and country humanitarian trends and issues: The Branch will develop and maintain an in-depth and up-to-date analytical understanding of the humanitarian, political and economic situation and trends, as well as of the humanitarian strategy, in countries of humanitarian concern. It will identify and analyze chronically under- funded crises, research global trends in humanitarian financing and pro-actively provide briefings to the media. It will carry out public outreach activities and brief the general public upon request.

Greater engagement and coordination with national and international NGOs: The Branch will strengthen the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) as a tool for inter-agency strategic planning, programming and coordination, reaching out to NGOs at field and headquarters levels to encourage their participation in the CAP. It will develop a strategy for forging effective partnerships at all levels with key Member States (particularly the G77), regional organisations and parliamentarians, and ensure that the strategy is implemented in a coherent and sustained manner. The Branch will engage donors in a strategic dialogue on OCHA priorities and develop strategic partnerships with key donors, as well as forge effective partnerships with the private sector.

Key indicators for 2007

• Number of analytical papers drafted on chronically under-funded crises and global trends in humanitarian financing; extent to which media products based on OCHA inputs reflect key OCHA concerns
• Number of consultations with Europe-based humanitarian partners and Member States on strategic and operational humanitarian issues in countries of humanitarian concern
• Number of strategic partnership framework documents developed with key donors; number of strategic dialogues initiated with new private sector actors

Donor and External Relations Section

The Donor and External Relations Section (DERS) is responsible for mobilizing adequate resources for all of OCHA's extra-budgetary requirements. The Section has staff in Geneva and New York and will continue to play a pivotal role advocating for broader support from humanitarian partners toward the achievement of the humanitarian reform and to enable OCHA to more effectively deliver against its mandate.

DERS is responsible for managing and strengthening relationships with humanitarian donors, including the OCHA Donor Support Group (ODSG) and the Humanitarian Liaison Working Group (HLWG). The Section will also serve as the hub for partnership building, and enhancing support from all Member States, regional organizations, parliamentarians, non-governmental organizations (NGO), foundations and the private sector.

DERS assists the Senior Management Team (SMT) to maintain existing and form new partnerships with a wide range of humanitarian actors. In Geneva, external relations, previously located in the Advocacy and External Relations Section, will be fully integrated with donor relations, becoming the Donor and External Relations Section. The DERS in Geneva will be housed in the newly established External Relations and Resource Mobilization Branch; the DERS in New York will continue to be located in the Office of the Director.

The Sections in Geneva and New York will work closely together, complementing each other's work. Geneva will focus on managing activities related to resource mobilization and donor reporting for OCHA, and the Section in New York will focus on fundraising for the Central Emergency Response Fund, (CERF) in close cooperation with the CERF Secretariat.

Against the background of the Humanitarian Reform initiative, the Section will ensure regular consultation with Member States. It seeks to establish new partnerships in humanitarian action, create a more thorough understanding of OCHA's mandate and the tools and services it manages on behalf of the wider humanitarian community. In addition to advocating for increased funding for the CERF, the Section will also continue to assist in mobilizing resources for other elements of the humanitarian reform, and will keep Member States abreast of progress on the Cluster Approach, strengthening the Humanitarian Coordinator System and cooperation with NGOs.

Various initiatives to engage with emerging economies, representatives and partners from different regions, including efforts to enhance partnerships with Islamic States, have produced some concrete results. The Section will work to strengthen existing relationships and also to forge more systematic collaborative arrangements and increase the number of new partners, working with OCHA's Regional Offices and other branches, sections and units to do so. DERS will also intensify its efforts to support the SMT to develop and strengthen partnerships with NGOs.

Engaging with the private sector is a priority for DERS. In 2007, it will develop a clear outreach strategy to broaden the UN donor base for the humanitarian sector, focusing on large foundations active in international development and disaster relief. Also in 2007, existing partnerships with corporate partners such as DHL, UN Foundation, Ericsson, and WorldCheck will be strengthened. OCHA and the World Economic Forum will collaborate on plans to launch a humanitarian relief initiative that streamlines and coordinates private sector participation in relief activities and is based on the cluster architecture.

The DERS will intensify efforts to ensure adequate capacity and resources. This will entail greater lobbying with current members of the ODSG as well as new partners to bring greater predictability and increased financial capacity. Work will continue to deepen the existing donor base, encouraging OECD member countries to deliver on their commitment to shoulder a more equal burden with OCHA's top ten donors, who currently provide some 83 percent of the extra-budgetary requirements. Focus will be placed on promoting multi-year commitments to obtain more predictable funding and more balanced support for field offices by increasing unearmarked or loosely earmarked contributions. While the Section will advocate with Member States for more stable funding through a larger share of the UN Regular Budget, efforts will continue to obtain increased support for the Budgetary Cash Reserve Fund (BCRF).

The year 2006 confirmed the expansion of the global donor base for humanitarian action. The donor diversification trend observed in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami was repeated with 63 percent of CERF contributors being non-traditional donors, and the remaining from OECD countries. All efforts will be made to achieve an even greater geographical and economic balance as well as a balance between bilateral and multilateral funding. Together with other units in OCHA, the Section will develop regional fundraising strategies.

Engagement with the Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) initiative will continue with focus placed on harmonization and simplification of donor reporting and management demands, strengthening donor coordination at country level, and achieving greater adherence to principled funding by donors, resulting in a reduced number of under-funded emergencies and sectors. The focus will be expanded to include adequate support for the implementation of the global cluster appeal 2007 before it is fully incorporated into country appeals the following year.

Against this background, DERS's key objectives for 2007 are as follows:

Properly functioning and supported CERF: The Section will advocate for increased funding for the CERF from Member States, and make use of the agreement with the UN Foundation to continue its activities raising funds for the CERF from private individuals online. A fundraising strategy will be implemented in late 2006 and in 2007.

More predictable and adequate funding: The DERS will promote increased support for the Budgetary Cash Reserve Fund (BCRF) in order to realize its target of US$ 30 million early in the year, and allow for 12-month contracts to be issued to all eligible OCHA staff in the field. In 2007, the DERS will enhance relations with emerging donors with support to and in cooperation with the Chair and Troika of the ODSG. This should result in a broadened donor base for OCHA, including additional member states who are meeting the requirements for membership of the ODSG.

Improved management practices: The OCHA Contributions Tracking (OCT) system developed in 2006 will provide an online tracking facility and keep all staff informed of the relevant details pertaining to donor contributions. Related reporting duties will be further improved for full implementation and utilization by all units and offices. The OCT will be able to reflect indications of pledges in the pipeline not yet formalized. This will allow for efficient planning and timely reporting to donors, and provide full transparency and accountability in the allocation and utilization of voluntary contributions to OCHA.

Key Indicators for 2007

• Number of additional Member States contributing towards the goal of the CERF resource mobilization to be achieved in the course of 2007; fiduciary for private donations established by end of year
• Target for Budgetary Cash Reserve Fund reached early in the year, and funds allocated as advances in 2006 replenished
• The amount and percentage of contributions received from new donors and private partners; the number of countries meeting requirements of ODSG membership
• Number of OCHA staff that have accessed the OCHA Contributions Tracking System in first half of 2007

Consolidated Appeals Process Section

OCHA is the custodian of the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP), the IASC's major instrument for humanitarian strategising and fundraising. Since 1992, 240 consolidated and flash appeals have raised US$ 29 billion. The purpose of consolidated appeals is to streamline the sometimes overwhelming structure of the humanitarian system's implementation side by bringing organisations together into a common analysis, strategy and action plan. The CAP combines what would be overlapping, competing single-agency appeals for each crisis into a comprehensive compendium of priority projects. This prevents both gaps and overlaps, and serves as a meaningful funding barometer for each crisis. More than 100 organisations list project proposals in CAPs and flash appeals each year, including the UN, IOM, NGOs, and occasionally the Red Cross and Crescent movement.

OCHA's CAP Section leads policy development on the CAP and develops inter-agency tools such as the Needs Analysis Framework and strategic monitoring, and chairs the IASC CAP Sub-Working Group. The Section also trains facilitators from various agencies to run CAP orkshops in the field and supports OCHA field offices and desk officers in appeal development and review. The Section manages the CAP editorial process, editing some 40 appeal documents - or 5000 pages of text - per year (including flash appeals and quasi-CAPs) making sure they get into the right hands in the right format at the right time. The Section provides a data management function by recording humanitarian funding data item by item and maintaining a database and website which tracks humanitarian aid to 400 implementing organisations in 100 countries from 500 donor governments and organisations. The Section prepares frequent special funding analyses for stakeholders; trains OCHA field and HQ staff on use of the Financial Tracking Service for advocacy and coordination; maintains a website containing appeal documents, guidelines, policy papers, best practices, and a workshop facilitation toolkit. Additionally, it organises the annual CAP launch chaired by the Secretary-General, plus numerous other high-level meetings. For the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the Section analyses and identifies chronically under-funded crises and provides inputs on the development of CERF policy and practice.

Against this background, CAP's objectives for 2007 will be as follows:

Strengthen the CAP as a tool for strategic planning, programming, and coordination: The Section will support the country teams to ensure the adoption of the Needs Analysis Framework. It will support PDSB in developing the strategic monitoring tool piloted in oPt in 2006 and improve guidelines and related documents for consolidated and flash appeals. It will improve project vetting and selection so as to reduce the presence of inappropriate and unfunded elements in CAPs and reach out to NGOs at field and headquarters levels to obtain maximum participation in the CAP. The Section will incorporate Humanitarian Reform (clusters, CERF, strengthened Humanitarian Coordinator system) into CAP policy and practices and support country teams to achieve coordinated humanitarian action and fundraising in situations where affected country government policy necessitates a quasi-CAP.

Properly functioning and supported CERF: The Section will ensure contributions to CERF policy, practices, templates, guidelines, criteria, specific decision-making on applications, development of CERF administrative software, visibility, analysis of under-funding, and training OCHA field and HQ staff on all of the above. (One position of the CERF Secretariat is located in the CAP Section.)

Improved tools and services: The section will implement improvements in the Financial Tracking Service (FTS), making its online tables and database more powerful and more user-friendly, obtaining (through active research if necessary) ever-more comprehensive data on humanitarian funding, providing FTS training to key donors, HCs, OCHA and IASC agency staff, and NGOs, researching donor behavior, and investigating the development of FTS into a platform for broader accountability and measures of impact.

Key indicators for 2007

• Percent of CAP countries that publish Needs Analysis (separately or as part of CAP document); percent of decrease in the number of unfunded CAP projects in 2008 appeals from the number in 2007; percent of appeals that include NGO projects
• Percent of CAP guideline documents that provide information on interaction of CAP and Reform elements
• Desks, CAP Section, and IASC CAP SWG identify all potential 'quasi-CAP' countries by means of field reports, humanitarian funding data, and early warning analysis, and familiarize the OCHA FO on how to proceed with CAP methods
• FTS website offers user-tested advanced features including advanced and keyword searches, personalisation options, and user aids; FTS database contains, and website displays, funding data for 90% of ODA-eligible countries that receive international humanitarian aid per FTS definition

geographical coordination and monitoring section

?A key feature of the OCHA re-alignment is the consolidation of the desk structure into one location. Desk functions from Geneva will be transferred to New York during the first quarter of 2007 and a focal point will be established in Geneva for interface with the Coordination and Response Division (CRD) on country and region-specific humanitarian issues. As the consolidation takes hold, the new Geographical Coordination and Monitoring Section (GCMS) is expected to have three main functions. It will act as OCHA Geneva focal point for substantive information on country and region-specific humanitarian coordination issues; respond, as appropriate, during first phase to large-scale sudden onset emergencies and disasters; and represent OCHA and reinforce dialogue on geographical coordination issues with the humanitarian community in Europe.

While the Section will report to the Chief of the External Relations and Support Mobilization Branch, it will maintain a functional link and work in close coordination with the Coordination and Response Division. The Section will contribute to OCHA's first and second strategic goals: consolidated humanitarian reform and recognised leadership role in humanitarian advocacy and policy.

Against this background, GCMS's key objectives for 2007 are as follows:

More coherent, sharpened advocacy in Europe on country and region-specific issues and strengthened partnerships for humanitarian action: GCMS will support system-wide advocacy and coordination efforts related to humanitarian coordination issues by promoting strategic dialogue on country and region-specific issues with key humanitarian partners in Europe, including the IASC and Member States. In close collaboration with the Donor and External Relations Section, GCMS will provide information to permanent missions in Geneva and join donor field visits and evaluations.

Strengthened in-country coordination: In close collaboration with CRD, GCMS may serve as focal point – as appropriate – for response during the initial phase of a large-scale sudden onset emergency or disaster on matters related to OCHA response management, inter-agency coordination, briefings, messaging and information. It may also support response coordination directly in the field through missions or deployments. On humanitarian situations overall, GCMS will maintain up-to-date information and analysis of coordination issues, facilitate the sharing of information on trends and policy among agencies and Member States, in the field and at headquarters, in pursuit of common humanitarian understanding and messaging.

Key indicators for 2007

• Level of satisfaction with quality of reporting as expressed by key partners through surveys
• Number of OCHA-initiated country/region-specific discussions with interested HLWG and IASC members held quarterly or more often as may be required
• Number of deployments and missions