On 7 February, the GCH and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) co-hosted a webinar on \u201cInternational Humanitarian Action and the Role of Local and Regional Authorities\u201d. The objective of the event was for cities and regions to get to know OCHA, its role within the UN humanitarian system and how cities and regions can contribute to humanitarian action through OCHA. Often, when cities and regions have their own programs to support development or bring humanitarian assistance, they channel funding to national NGOs and to partner cities and regions with which they have an established relationship. This event however focused on how cities and regions can contribute to the international humanitarian efforts, channelled through the United Nations (UN) and in particular OCHA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OCHA<\/strong> is the UN entity which ensures that people affected by crises receive the help they need (food, water, shelter, but also protection) quickly and effectively. Its primary role is to coordinate humanitarian assistance and to avoid duplications and gaps. For that, OCHA assesses the scale of the crisis, identifies the areas where help is most urgent and guides how aid can be delivered most effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs part of its mission, OCHA manages two pooled funds, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\n- CERF<\/strong><\/a> is the world\u2019s largest pooled fund. It operates like a global emergency savings account ready to be utilized whenever and wherever crises strike. So, donors provide money in advance, so funds are available immediately when crises happen. Resources are allocated to frontline responders like UNICEF, World Food Programme and UNHCR, based on needs assessed by the UN team on the ground. For instance, CERF disbursed $24 million in Nov. 2024 to fund displacement\/migration response in Sudan<\/a>. The recipients where IOM, UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO, WFP, etc. It also funded the earthquake response in Vanuatu<\/a> in Dec. 2024 with $1 million allocated to UNICEF, UNFPA and IOM to assist 8300 people. CERF also has the ability to fund anticipatory action, i.e. providing aid before predictable crises like droughts, floods or disease outbreaks happen. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- CPBFs<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>are similar to CERF but dedicated to specific emergencies. Thus, contributions are collected into single, unearmarked funds. These funds support high-priority projects being undertaken by those best placed to respond, including NGOs (international and local), as well as UN agencies. Currently, there are 23 CBPFs, including in Ukraine, Palestine, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Yemen, etc. In 2024, $935 million were allocated to partners to assist 46 million people in need. Almost half of the funding went to national NGOs, supporting local leadership in crisis response. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Ensuring accountability and transparency<\/strong> to donors of these funds are part of OCHA\u2019s responsibilities. For that purpose, OCHA maintains various tools to enable donors to see, in real-time, where their funding goes and what it achieves. (see CBPFs data hub<\/a>, CERF data hub<\/a>, as well as the Financial Tracking System<\/a> which provides data on the total global humanitarian funding).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presentations by representatives from Catalonia and Jersey, who have been donating to CERF and CBPFs for several years underlined their strong commitment to support multilateralism and international cooperation. Given the current context where some States withdrew from the multilateral system, it is more important than ever that cities and regions mobilize resources, in particular at a time of record levels of global humanitarian needs. Several advantages were underlined by Catalonia and Jersey in relation to their contribution to CERF and CBPFs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- The preposition of funds enables rapid response<\/strong>. It\u2019s indeed not a question of \u201cif\u201d, but \u201cwhen\u201d.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- As cities and regions usually have no embassies abroad to ensure due diligence, it is convenient to rely on the UN which ensures high levels of accountability<\/strong> and expertise to disburse humanitarian funding in the most effective and coordinated manner. As mentioned above, OCHA has developed several tools to track disbursement of funds in real-time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Cities and regions were reminded that as donors, they can sit on the advisory boards of CBPFs. Jersey is for instance the Co-chair of the Pooled Fund Working Group, alongside Italy, and underlined the possibility to take part in the governance of CBPFs<\/strong> and to talk with other donors in a safe space. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- In terms of visibility<\/strong>, the annual pledging conference of CERF in New York provides the opportunity to donors to speak at the international level, alongside UN Member States. Several online tools developed by OCHA also provide visibility to donors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Contributing to CBPFs supports the localisation agenda<\/strong>, with humanitarian funding being channelled to local actors often best placed to respond to the needs of local communities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Funding CERF and\/or CBPFs can be seen as a complementary<\/strong> approach to funding national NGOs bilaterally, for instance. Complementarity can also be sought with the national government and its humanitarian funding policy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Contributing to these pooled funds provide a sense of pride<\/strong> to the population, to feature among international donors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Overall, both OCHA and the Global Cities Hub encouraged cities and regions to reflect upon the opportunity to contribute to CERF and CBPFs and remain at the disposal of any interested city or region requiring more information about the CERF and \/or CBPFs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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To learn more:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n