Better Humanitarian Financing - Concept Note

Between now and the end of 2018, OCHA’s Humanitarian Financing and Resource Mobilization Division (HFRMD) will facilitate an exercise to generate fresh thinking about our organization-wide approach to humanitarian financing. In his speech, ‘A Collective Call Towards Innovation in Humanitarian Funding,’ USG Mark Lowcock proposed a fundamental shift from ‘reaction’ to ‘anticipation’ in the global humanitarian response and laid out a six-point policy agendaon how to achieve it. This agenda spans across best practices, emerging approaches, and policy research in humanitarian financing that resonate with the collective commitments of the World Humanitarian Summit and link with broader global frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To inform his speech, the USG also posted a blog and asked OCHA staff to share their views on it.

Therefore, the goal of this exercise is to continue shaping OCHA’s role, priorities, and program of work in humanitarian financing for the next four years (2018-2021). It aims to keep the space open for OCHA staff to engage in learning, designing and piloting concrete ideas as we move towards adopting and promoting the six-point agenda. This note provides the rationale and general description of the proposed exercise.