Syria Humanitarian Fund: Operational Manual (July 2024)

1. Introduction

1.1. Purpose and scope of the SHF Operational Manual

1. The purpose of the Syria Humanitarian Fund (SHF) Operational Manual is to adapt the CBPF Global Guidelines, which ensure a coherent and harmonized approach to the governance and operations of Country-based Pooled Funds (CBPFs), to the local context of Syria. The Manual describes the governance arrangements, objective, allocation modalities, and accountability mechanisms of the Fund, as well as details the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved.

2. While the Global Guidelines describe minimum global standards for effective and efficient management of CBPFs, aligning approaches while recognizing the contextual specificity of each Fund, the SHF Operational Manual describes specific arrangements appropriate to the Syria context and includes membership of governance bodies; steps in the allocation process; the accountability framework, including procedures for risk management, and financial and budgetary administration.

3. The primary user of the SHF Operational Manual is OCHA Syria, in particular the Humanitarian Financing Unit (HFU), which is responsible for the daily management of all programmatic and financial aspects of the Fund. This Manual also serves as a reference document for partners, as it also describes the roles and responsibilities of the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) for Syria; OCHA; partners, including UN agencies, national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs); coordination platforms, including sectors/clusters and other stakeholders.

4. The Operational manual should be read in conjunction with the CBPF Global Guidelines. The present document defines the country-specific regulations that govern the SHF. It is designed within the framework provided by the CBPF Global Guidelines, which describes the global set of rules that apply to all CBPFs worldwide and adapt specific aspects of the global regulations to the context of humanitarian response. Adherence to the guidance provided in the two documents is mandatory to ensure standard and transparent processes. Annexes referred to in this manual can be found on the SHF website.

5. The Operational Manual is subject to periodic revision indicatively every one year or when required by significant change in the context, in line with the learning and the continuing evolution of good practices.

This should be discussed in the Advisory Board and the AB meetings need to acknowledge that a decision to keep the OM for an additional year has been made.