The CAP is much more than an appeal for money. It is an inclusive and coordinated programme cycle of:

• strategic planning leading to a Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP);
• resource mobilisation (leading to a Consolidated Appeal or a Flash Appeal);
• coordinated programme implementation;
• joint monitoring and evaluation;
• revision, if necessary; and
• reporting on results.

The CHAP is a strategic plan for humanitarian response in a given country or region and includes the following elements:

• a common analysis of the context in which humanitarian action takes place;
• an assessment of needs;
• best, worst, and most likely scenarios;
• stakeholder analysis, i.e. who does what and where;
• a clear statement of longer-term objectives and goals;
• prioritised response plans; and
• a framework for monitoring the strategy and revising it if necessary.

The CHAP is the foundation for developing a Consolidated Appeal or, when crises break or natural disasters strike, a Flash Appeal.  Under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator, the CHAP is developed at the field level by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Country Team.

This team mirrors the IASC structure at headquarters and includes UN agencies and standing invitees, i.e. the International Organization for Migration, the Red Cross Movement, and NGOs that belong to ICVA, Interaction, or SCHR. Non-IASC members, such as national NGOs, can be included, and other key stakeholders in humanitarian action, in particular host governments and donors, should be consulted.

The Humanitarian Coordinator is responsible for the annual preparation of the consolidated appeal document. The document is launched globally each November to enhance advocacy and resource mobilisation. An update, known as the Mid-Year Review, is to be presented to donors in July 2006.

Donors provide resources to appealing agencies directly in response to project proposals. The Financial Tracking Service (FTS), managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is a database of donor contributions and can be found on www.reliefweb.int/fts

In sum, the CAP works to provide people in need the best available protection and assistance, on time.