OCHA Core Contribution 2024-2025
Switzerland’s objective is to support the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) with high-quality funding while advocating for new, more inclusive and forward-looking ways of working to enable an efficient and effective humanitarian response to people in need in accordance with humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law. OCHA is a priority organization for Switzerland.
| Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Global Lebanon |
Culture / development awareness Humanitarian Assistance & DRR Rule of Law - Democracy - Human rights
Culture & recreation
Humanitarian efficiency |
01.01.2024
- 31.12.2025 |
CHF 10’000’000
|
- United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs
-
Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation OTHER SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES
EMERGENCY RESPONSE
Sub-Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation Culture and recreation
Relief co-ordination; protection and support services
Cross-cutting topics Human rights
The project takes account of gender equality as a cross-cutting theme.
The project takes account of democratisation, good governance and human rights as cross-cutting themes.
The project supports partner organisation improvements as a priority
The project also supports partner organisation improvements
Aid Type Core contribution
Project and programme contribution
Project number 7F09570
| Area of responsibility | OCHA is the part of the UN Secretariat responsible for promoting a coordinated international response to humanitarian emergencies. It promotes this goal through five core functions: coordination, humanitarian financing, policy making, advocacy and information management. OCHA’s head, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (USG) and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), chairs the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), the UN’s highest-level humanitarian coordination forum. OCHA manages the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which is the UN’s rapid response fund for new emergencies, and Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs), which enable funding partners to pool their funding in response to particular emergencies. |
| Switzerland's and the organisation's strategic priorities and their coherence |
OCHA’s mandate and priorities aligns with the Strategy for International Cooperation 2021-2024. The strategy considers multilateral cooperation as a cornerstone of Switzerland’s international cooperation and highlights Switzerland’s influential role in promoting important global reform agendas for an efficient, effective and accountable humanitarian system. The institutional partnership with OCHA is part of Switzerland’s systemic engagement with the UN humanitarian architecture and aims to positively influence policies and practices. |
| Results of the organisation's previous engagement |
OCHA made progress towards an anticipative and localized humanitarian response: The CBPFs played a pivotal role in the implementation of the localization agenda: in 2023, local actors received USD 413 million, or 39% of the total amount allocated by all CBPFs, thereby exceeding the 25% global benchmark set at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit. OCHA continued to scale up and mainstream anticipatory approaches to humanitarian action. During the year 2023, CERF disbursed USD 28.5 million for anticipatory funding targeting 700’000 people. |
| Results of Switzerland's engagement in previous phase |
As a result of a longstanding partnership with OCHA and as member of the OCHA Donor Support Group (ODSG), Switzerland enjoys a privileged access to OCHA which allowed to influence policy and practice. Switzerland supported OCHA’s efforts in transforming the current humanitarian system into one that is more people-centred, context-specific and that contributes to community resilience (ex. support to leadership such as through the Peer-2-Peer Support Project). Switzerland achieved considerable results in terms of locally led humanitarian action during the co-chair of the Pooled Funds Working Group (PFWG). |
| Medium-term outcome of organisation's current engagement |
In 2023, OCHA adopted its Strategic Plan 2023-2026 which seeks to contribute, amongst others, to a more localized and people centred coordination architecture through: 1) the Flagship Initiative, which empowers the country-level humanitarian leadership to engage with affected people, local organizations and funding partners to develop context-specific coordination and response solutions, 2) the transformation of humanitarian financing towards more anticipation and localization. |
| Effect in Switzerland |
Switzerland will continue contributing to a coherent system wide UN coordination architecture, which is people centred and localized. Switzerland will increase its share of unearmarked and flexible funding. Switzerland will facilitate and strengthen the capacity and leadership of the humanitarian system to undertake and promote gender-sensitive programming. Switzerland will contribute to a strategic partnership between funding partners and OCHA. |
| Directorate/federal office responsible |
SDC |
| Credit area |
Humanitarian aid |
| Project partners |
Contract partner International or foreign NGO United Nations Organization (UNO) |
| Budget | Current phase Swiss budget CHF 10’000’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF 5’000’000 Budget of the organisation CHF 282’600’000 |
| Switzerland's ranking in the DonorOrder |
9th out of 41 donors (2023) |
| Donors |
The OCHA Donor Support Group (ODSG) is composed of 30 donors. Top 5 donors are US, UK, Sweden, Germany and the European Commission (2023). |
| Coordination with other projects and actors |
The coordination with other donors takes place in the ODSG. The ODSG members have committed themselves to provide political, as well as substantial financial support to OCHA through an annual un-earmarked contribution of at least USD 500’000. |
| Project phases | Phase 1 01.01.2024 - 31.12.2025 (Current phase) |
