Overview
The first Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) for the Republic of South Sudan was launched in July 2011. This was a continuation of the UN coordinated approach to the delivery of humanitarian aid in South Sudan which started in 2005 under the Sudan Humanitarian Work Plan until the end of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) period on 9 July 2011. The CAP covers the activities of the UN Agencies, IOM and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) which participate in the nation-wide coordination structures facilitated by OCHA in close consultation with Government authorities.
The CAP outlines annual strategic, programmatic and operational goals for the delivery of humanitarian and emergency assistance in South Sudan and includes cluster strategies, objectives and indicators to measure progress and a selection of supporting humanitarian projects. A South Sudan Common Humanitarian Fund has been established in February 2012 by the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) for South Sudan, UN Agencies and donors to support the timely allocation and disbursement of donor resources to the most critical humanitarian needs in South Sudan under the direction of the HC. Similar to the Sudan CHF, DRC Pooled Fund, Somalia CHF and CAR CHF, it is a pooled funding mechanism under the overall authority of the HC, that is intended to support national and international NGOs and UN agencies providing humanitarian assistance to people in need in a strategic and timely manner.
Donor contributions to the South Sudan CHF will be utilized to finance projects carried out by the Participating UN Organizations (PUNOs), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and NGO partners (international NGOs, South Sudan NGOs, Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) registered in South Sudan).
UNDP will serve as Participating UN Organization for NGO implemented projects, performing functions established by global corporate practice as those of ‘Managing Agent’ through its Country Office in South Sudan. The relationship between UNDP and the NGO Implementing Partners will be guided by UNDP rules and regulations. UNDP will use its standard NGO execution modality for this purpose. The HC will retain the responsibility for the allocation of funds to specific NGO projects.
The UNDP Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTF Office) will serve as Administrative Agent of the South Sudan CHF, on behalf of the Participating UN Organisations and IOM. Each Participating UN Organization and IOM assumes full financial and programmatic accountability for the funds received.
The South Sudan CHF aims to give the HC, in consultation with the CHF Advisory Board, the ability to allocate funds to priority humanitarian needs, encourage early donor contributions and allow rapid response to unforeseen needs.
The South Sudan CHF will be structured around the following priority clusters:
• Common Services and Coordination
• Education
• Emergency Telecommunications
• Food Security and Livelihoods
• Health
• Logistics
• Non-Food Items and Emergency Shelter
• Nutrition
• Protection
• Mine Action
• WASH
• Multi-sector (Emergency Returns and Refugees)
The South Sudan CHF will promote the principles of good humanitarian donorship which stipulates an approach to the allocation of humanitarian funding that is flexible, predictable and timely and in proportion to needs and on the basis of needs assessments.
Contributions to the South Sudan CHF may be accepted from governments, intergovernmental or nongovernmental organizations, and private-sector organizations upon signing of the Standard Administrative Agreement (SAA) with the Administrative Agent.
For more information on South Sudan CHF please visit OCHA South Sudan Website.
Governance
The Projects and the operations of the South Sudan CHF are designed and carried out under the overall oversight and coordination of the HC. In carrying out her function, the HC is supported by a CHF Advisory Board and a joint OCHA-UNDP Technical Secretariat. The CHF Advisory Board is chaired by the HC and includes Donors, PUNOs (in their capacity as cluster lead agencies), OCHA, and NGO representatives.
The Humanitarian Coordinator
The overall management of the South Sudan CHF will be led and coordinated by the HC, supported by a joint OCHA-UNDP Technical Secretariat and advised by the CHF Advisory Board. The HC is responsible for: helping to mobilize resources; defining the amounts of the Standard Allocation and the CHF Reserve; allocating South Sudan CHF resources according to agreed procedures; facilitating timely allocation of South Sudan CHF resources to projects; authorizing disbursements for approved projects; reporting to donors on South Sudan CHF operations; supervising the process of monitoring, reporting and evaluation related to South Sudan CHF operations; chairing the CHF Advisory Board; liaising with the MPTF Office as required; and overseeing the management of the joint OCHA-UNDP Technical Secretariat.
The South Sudan CHF Advisory Board
The South Sudan CHF Advisory Board will provide guidance to the HC in the management of the South Sudan CHF. The Advisory Board will also serve as a forum for discussing strategic issues and sharing information on funding coverage. The Advisory Board will consist of the following members: the HC (as Chairperson); two representatives of contributing donors; two representatives of PUNOs (in the capacity of cluster leads); two representatives of the NGO community; OCHA Head of Office; and one representative of a non-CHF contributing donor (observer). The HC, in consultation with the Advisory Board members, may invite other participants to the Advisory Board meetings.
The Advisory Board members will participate in the South Sudan CHF allocation process during the development of the Standard Allocation policy paper, at cluster defences for projects submitted in each round of South Sudan CHF allocations, allocations from the South Sudan CHF Reserve, and any other stage as may be requested by the Humanitarian Coordinator. The members may attend South Sudan CHF allocation Peer Review meetings as observers. The Advisory Board will meet quarterly and have its Annual General Meeting in the last quarter of the year in which overall strategic issues will be discussed and decided, policy considered, and donor pledges sought. Specific ad hoc meetings can be convened by the HC. The Advisory Board members will participate in the review of the South Sudan CHF TOR including the Allocation Process Guidelines and the Monitoring and Reporting Framework, annually or as may be required.
The joint OCHA-UNDP Technical Secretariat (TS)
The joint OCHA-UNDP Technical Secretariat (TS), headed by OCHA, will be under the overall supervision of the HC and will ensure adequate and efficient management of the South Sudan CHF. In support to the HC and the Advisory Board, the joint TS will undertake the following tasks:
a) Support South Sudan CHF project cycle from the launch of the allocation, to the disbursement of funds, ensuring advisory functions, oversight, technical reviews, and project closures;
b) Ensure timely communication to PUNOs, IOM and NGOs on South Sudan CHF standard allocation calendar of activities;
c) Provide technical advice to the HC and CHF Advisory Board on the allocation process, project implementation and monitoring;
d) Oversee project approval process including administrative aspects of selected projects;
e) Develop and coordinate the monitoring and reporting system on CHF funded projects on behalf of the HC (in close consultation with Cluster Coordinators and Co-coordinators);
f) Promote coordination with donors that allocate funding to humanitarian programmes beyond the South Sudan CHF;
g) Ensure regular communication and information sharing with stakeholders on South Sudan CHF related issues;
h) Provide support to PUNOs, IOM and NGOs throughout the allocation process as required;
i) Facilitate periodic external evaluation in line with the global agreement on evaluation requirements for CHFs;
j) Act as the secretariat to the Advisory Board;
k) Compile the consolidated annual report of CHF operations, and
l) Coordinate with the AA as needed on CHF fund administration issues.
UNDP’s role in the joint Technical Secretariat will be to undertake the following activities:
a) Assume programmatic and financial accountability for funds received from the Administrative Agent;
b) Undertake capacity assessments of implementing NGO partners;
c) Prepare and sign Project Partnership Agreements (PPAs) and Project Documents for NGO implemented projects, in accordance to the decisions of the HC under the Standard Allocation and the CHF Reserve mechanisms;
d) Together with OCHA, undertake orientation and training for NGOs with regard to the administrative, programmatic and financial procedures applicable to the South Sudan CHF;
e) Ensure timely fund disbursement on a quarterly basis to NGOs in line with the disbursement schedules in the signed PPAs;
f) Liaise with Cluster Coordinators, Co-coordinators and CHF Participants as necessary, particularly in relation to monitoring activities;
g) Support project monitoring activities undertaken by the Technical Secretariat;
h) Ensure financial follow-up through regular collection of financial reports based on approved budgets;
i) Maintain information and ensure communication about UNDP disbursements to NGOs;
j) Provide financial reports to the Administrative Agent;
k) Provide consolidated inputs on achievements of the NGO-funded projects to the Annual Report of the South Sudan CHF operation.
The Administrative Agent (AA)
The UNDP MPTF Office, in its capacity as the Administrative Agent of the South Sudan CHF, will undertake the following functions:
a) Conclude the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the PUNOs and IOM, and the Standard Administrative Arrangements (SAAs) with donors;
b) Receive, administer and manage contributions received from Donors;
c) Disburse funds to PUNOs and IOM in accordance with the decisions of the HC;
d) Provide periodic (annual and final) financial reports on the South Sudan CHF Account to the HC, contributing donors the Advisory Board and PUNOs;
e) Provide the HC, the Advisory Board and PUNOs with the statements of donor commitments, deposits and transfers to PUNOs and other financial information related to the South Sudan CHF, available directly from the publicly accessible MPTF Office GATEWAY (http://mptf.undp.org); and
f) Provide necessary information and assist the joint Technical Secretariat as needed on CHF fund administration issues.
Decision-Making
The South Sudan CHF funds will be utilized only for the approved purposes as defined in the approved project documents. The South Sudan CHF has two mechanisms for allocation:
a) A Standard Allocation mechanism, which will be used to allocate the bulk of the South Sudan CHF resources and to ensure funding for priority projects in line with the CAP. Two standard allocation rounds per year will be ensured under this facility;
b) A rapid onset mechanism called the CHF Reserve, which will be used for the rapid and flexible allocation of funds in the event of unforeseen needs.
The HC, in consultation with the Advisory Board, will determine the exact level of the South Sudan CHF Reserve for unforeseen or emergency circumstances, which will be a maximum of 20% of the funds committed to the CHF. The CHF Reserve will serve two purposes:
a) Emergency Response: To enable the HC to respond to unplanned for in-country emergency needs (e.g. natural disasters, displacements, disease outbreaks). This will typically be towards activities not originally included in the CAP or for activities included in the CAP that suddenly become a priority due to localized new emergencies.
b) Ad Hoc Allocations: To enable the HC to respond to critical funding needs of activities within the CAP on a case by case basis. Ad hoc allocations from the CHF Reserve will take place outside the Standard Allocation Process, and will typically be towards under-funded activities in the CAP that may emerge as key priorities during the year.
The detailed steps of the Standard Allocation Process are outlined below:
Step 1: Development of the CHF Allocation Policy Paper – 12 days
Step 2: Launch of the CHF Allocation Process – 1 day
Step 3: Cluster level consultations and reviews- 16 days
Step 4: Cluster Defences and Advisory Board review – 4 days
Step 5: Final Project Submissions – 5 days
Step 6: Approval by HC and acceptance by recipients – 7 days
Step 7: Disbursement of Funds Cycle – 8-15 days (with MPTF Office disbursing the funding to PUNOs within 3-5 days)
The detailed description of the allocation procedures, including the CHF Reserve Allocation are specified in South Sudan CHF Allocation Process Guidelines.
