Attachments
IASC Results Group 5 on Humanitarian Financing
June 2020
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
As raised by the Emergency Relief Coordinator at the IASC Principals meeting on 28th April, there is some progress in providing funding to NGOs which are on the front lines of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, more needs to be done to ensure that funding is quickly disbursed to international, national and local NGOs with capacity and access to support a timely and effective response.[1] There has been strong NGO participation in the development of the May update of the Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-19 (GHRP) and now this must also be reflected in access to funding. At the request of the IASC Principals, the Results Group 5 on Humanitarian Financing set up a subgroup of NGOs and UN agencies to identify concrete proposals to address the inconsistency in unlocking and disbursing funds to NGOs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic response. The proposals below, which serve as a basis for further development, are the result of this work and cover planning, increased funding, and reporting. The proposals will require follow-up discussion and actions - both at global and country levels - to ensure adequate and sustained progress and broader system-wide support.
PROPOSALS
1. Strengthen national NGO involvement in planning and coordination processes
With the May GHRP update issued, a series of consultations involving representatives from UN agencies and national and international NGO staff could be instrumental in sharing reflections on good practices and challenges to contribute to HRP revisions and cluster coordination processes. These consultations would focus on connecting UN and NGO representatives at the regional and country level, promoting the contributions of international, national and local NGOs (including women’s rights and women led organizations), as well as tracking progress and identifying remaining barriers and challenges to disbursing funds to NGOs. Existing NGO networks with a focus on localisation issues (for example, Charter for Change, ICVA, NEAR, A4EP, etc.) can work with OCHA, and draw on the convening power of the OCHA-NGO CBPF Dialogue Platform to support the planning of a series of such consultations, in coordination with national NGO forums and national NGO localisation working groups. Initial implementation of this approach should take place before the next update of the COVID-19 GHRP in June.
In addition, UN agencies, INGOs and donors should be encouraged to further reach out to national and local NGOs and consult them on how to facilitate their engagement in clusters, sectoral working groups, and related efforts to feed into HRPs. Such engagement should foster a practical dialogue to identify ways forward on risk-sharing, partnership and other strategic priorities to enable NGO responses. UN agencies including IOM, UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP have ongoing dedicated fora for dialogue with NGO partners at a global level where operational issues including financing and funding are also being addressed.