Attachments
The new humanitarian fund to address the recurrent crises in the Sahel region. The SRF is hosted by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), governed and led by leading NGOs in the Sahel and financially supported by UK aid (FCDO). The fund ambition is to evolve into a multi-donor pool fund with a longer timeframe.
The SRF mission
To reinforce protection and humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, by providing funding for immediate relief to affected populations, strengthening local capacities, supporting skilled aid organisations and paving the way for lasting solutions - in particular for women, girls, the elderly, and persons living with disabilities who are amongst those most affected by the crisis.
The objective of this new regional mechanism led by NGOs is to support the implementation of an efficient response model and form evidence on high quality Value for Money approach (VfM). It will closely coordinate with and constructively challenge the broader response to see how we can collectively do better. The goal is to have more vulnerable people in the Sahel hard-to-reach hotspots have as many of their basic needs met more comprehensively through a higher quality, Value for Money (VFM) and principled humanitarian response.
The main purposes of the SRF are to provide predictable, flexible, and long-term funding for international and national humanitarian NGOs, to implement integrated multi- sector and cross-border response, to strategically and inclusively engage with local stakeholders and first responders and to support a more principled and effective response by using data and evidence as drivers for interventions. This will also underpin a joint regional NGO advocacy agenda to influence policy and humanitarian reform.
The sectors of intervention are lifesaving humanitarian assistance addressing food security, nutrition, health, and protection and access to essential services based on socio-economic vulnerabilities and capacities – all while promoting an early recovery approach as the foundation for building resilience in the humanitarian hot spots of the Sahel region.
The SRF geographic focus is Liptako Gourma (LG), Lake Chad Basin (LCB) and South-Western Niger (SW Niger) in the Maradi region. All three locations are under- resourced hard-to-reach conflict affected, which face challenges coping with the influx of conflict-affected and displaced people. The SRF could later expand its geographical focus.