Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund 

ObjectivesFund scope

With support from an Advisory Board, the cluster leads, OCHA Afghanistan, the Humanitarian Financing Unit (HFU) and an Administrative Agent, the HC directs the strategic and operational focus of the AHF with three key objectives: 

1. To support humanitarian partners (national and international NGOs and UN Agencies) to address the most pressing needs in accordance with humanitarian principles. 

2. To improve the relevance and coherence of humanitarian response by strategically funding assessed humanitarian action as identified in the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) process. 

3. To strengthen coordination and leadership through the function of the HC and the humanitarian cluster system. 

Only humanitarian projects responding to needs identified in OCHA’s HRP are eligible for funding during a AHF allocation. The HRP outlines the strategic and operational plan for the coordination of assistance by UN agencies and NGO partners in Afghanistan and is developed in consultation with the clusters. 

OCHA’s Grant Management System (GMS) is a standard online platform for the management of all CBPFs. AHF partners use this interface to submit project proposals and reports, and the HFU coordinates project review, monitoring and partner performance. The GMS Business Intelligence is a newly developed tool to display the data in a meaningful and useful structure, which will help users to analyse the ongoing business process with a consolidated view. 

The HFU is the managing agent for the CHF, including oversight of the allocation processes and the entire funding cycle, from the opening of an allocation to the closure of projects. It does all this while providing technical support and policy advice to the HC and ensuring compliance with the minimum requirements outlined in the Global Guidelines for CBPFs. With technical assistance from OCHA’s Information Management Unit, the HFU also generates periodic public information products and an annual report at appropriate stages during the year. In addition, AHF projects are often featured in the monthly Humanitarian Bulletin distributed. 

The AHF is administered by the Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in accordance with its financial regulations and rules. Donors contributing to the AHF sign a Standard Administrative Arrangement (SAA), which includes information regarding the terms, conditions and payment modality of contributions. This is a standard agreement that donors use to channel the funding to various UN MPTFs. In addition, the MPTF maintains the publicly accessible GATEWAY with  statements of donor commitments, deposits, transfers and other financial information related to the AHF. 

For additional information and resources on life-saving assistance through OCHA-managed pooled funds, including the Central Emergency Response Fund and the Financial Tracking Service, visit: www.unocha.org/our-work/humanitarian-financing 

Governance

Humanitarian Coordinator

Supported by OCHA and the Humanitarian Financing Unit, the Humanitarian Coordinator is responsible for overall management of the Fund. Additionally, the Coordinator authorizes disbursements; defines the level of emergency reserves; reports to donors; manages Fund monitoring and evaluation processes, and mobilizes resources.

Advisory Board

The Board is comprised of representatives from participating organizations. It supports the Humanitarian Coordinator in steering Fund strategic direction and oversees performance, advises on strategic and policy issues, reviews project accountability and allocation mechanisms and procedures, and serves as a forum for information sharing and donor coordination.

Humanitarian Financing Unit

Responsible for the receipt and management of contributions, the Unit disburses funds to partner organizations in accordance with decisions made by the Humanitarian Coordinator. In addition, the Humanitarian Financing Unit provides periodic financial reports on Fund progress, donor commitments, and deposits and transfers to Participating Organizations.

Administrative Agent

Participating Organizations receive funds through the Administrative Agent, Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) Office. The Administrative Agent is responsible for the receipt, administration and management of contributions from donors, disbursement of funds to Participating Organizations, and consolidation and dissemination of progress reports to donors.

Participating Organizations

Programme implementation is the responsibility of Participating Organizations. Each organization is programmatically and financially responsible for resources received.

GovernanceGovernance arrangements

Projects

Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund

Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund is currently supporting count_projects ongoing projectscount_globalInterregional and count_countries country-specific. This table shows the most recently approved ongoing projects.

All project financial information can be found in the Financials section, including delivery analysis by organization, theme and project; project financial status by country and by theme.

Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund

ResultsFocus on impact and results

Governance, policy and guidance 

The HC determines the AHF’s strategic focus, sets the allocation amounts, approves projects and initializes disbursements. The HC chairs the AHF Advisory Board, which comprises senior-level representatives of donors, cluster-lead UN agencies, NGOs and observing organizations. The core function of the AHF Advisory Board is to support the HC on the strategic focus, ensuring that the standard allocations are in line with the HRP and that the fund’s main objectives are being met. 

Cluster leads support the AHF processes at two levels: 

1. At a strategic level, to ensure there are links between the proposed projects, the HRP and cluster strategies. 

2. At an operational level, to provide technical expertise to the process of project prioritization and evaluation, and to promote sector coordination among humanitarian agencies. 

The OCHA office in Kabul supports and advises the HC on strategic issues, ensuring that the scope and objectives are aligned with the HRP. OCHA’s HFU is the fund’s managing agent, including the coordination and oversight of allocation processes and the entire funding cycle, from the opening of an allocation to the closure of projects, while providing CBPF technical support and policy advice to the HC. The HFU maintains accountability requirements, including risk management and operational modalities, as well as coordination with other units of the OCHA Country Office and regional sub-offices. The HFU also ensures that donor contributions are allocated to projects within an agreed coordination, monitoring and reporting framework, in compliance with the minimum requirements outlined in the AHF Afghanistan Operational Manual and OCHA’s Global Guidelines for CBPFs. 

Allocation process 

Under the direction of the HC, the AHF aims to support the timely allocation and disbursement of donor resources to the most critical humanitarian needs, as defined by the HRP. To meet this goal, the AHF has two inclusive, transparent and efficient allocation processes. 

• Standard allocation: The process through which most of the funds will be allocated to ensure funding for priority projects in line with the HRP. It usually occurs twice a year after the launch of the HRP and following the HRP review, depending on funding levels. 
• Reserve allocation: This is a more streamlined process used for the rapid and flexible allocation of funds set aside by the HC. It takes place as required in the event of unforeseen emergencies or to immediately address strategic humanitarian needs. 

For both allocations, the AHF publishes an allocation strategy paper in line with the HRP sectoral priorities that specifies the sectors and activities eligible for funding, developed in coordination with the relevant clusters. The review committees comprise representatives from clusters, UN agencies, NGOs and OCHA. They evaluate the submitted proposals to ensure projects are strategically relevant, technically sound and aligned with the key priorities of the allocation strategy paper for the HC’s final funding decision. The allocation strategy paper also lists the key administrative, strategic and technical criteria that project proposals must adhere to, such as value for money, monitoring requirements and beneficiary selection, and guidance on cross-cutting issues of security and access, protection mainstreaming and gender responsiveness in humanitarian response. 

The AHF project cycle management process is conducted through OCHA’s GMS, an online platform allowing for better management and institutional memory of all CBPFs. AHF partners use this interface to submit project proposals and reports, and the HFU coordinates project reviews, monitoring and partner performance. 

ContactsPoints of contact