Iraq Humanitarian Fund (IHF) Operational Manual (updated October 2018)

1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose

The purpose of the Operational Manual for the Iraq Humanitarian Fund (IHF), is to describe the governance arrangements, allocation modalities and priorities, and accountability mechanisms of the fund, as well as to detail the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved.
Under the direction of the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC), the IHF aims to support the timely allocation and disbursement of donor resources to the most critical humanitarian needs as defined by the Iraq Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) or a similar joint response plan supported by inter-agency/cluster coordination mechanisms in the country. To meet this goal, this manual is issued by the HC and endorsed by the Fund’s Advisory Board (AB) to:

i. Provide clarification and instructions for all stakeholders involved in the management of the IHF on effective management and governance practices;
ii. Describe the steps and requirements of the allocation processes with the aim of enhancing timely and strategic allocation decisions;
iii. Provide an overview of the general direction and programmatic focus of the IHF

The goal of this manual is to guide implementing partners and facilitate the role of the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), members of the review committees, and sectoral experts. This manual replaces the IHPF Operational Manual released in July 2015 and shall be updated on an annual basis.

1.2 Scope

This manual should be read in conjunction with the Operational Handbook for Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs). The present document defines the country-specific regulations that govern the IHF. It is designed within the framework provided by the Operational Handbook for CBPFs, which describes the global set of rules that apply to all CBPFs worldwide, and adapts specific aspects of the global regulations to the context of Iraq.
Adherence to the guidance provided in the two documents is mandatory so as to ensure standard and transparent processes.