The Grand Bargain (Official website)
This is the official website of the Grand Bargain, a unique agreement between some of the largest donors and humanitarian organisations who have committed to get more means into the hands of people in need and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the humanitarian action.
While the Grand Bargain is a separate and independent process from the IASC, the official website is hosted by the IASC structure, and maintained by the Grand Bargain Secretariat.
Grand Bargain Bimonthly updates - November 2020
The November edition of the newsletter includes a 1-page overview of the findings of the survey on the future of the Grand Bargain and next steps, and a short recap of the monitoring exercise to assess the progress made on the priorities definied at the Annual Meeting 2020. The newsletter also covers important updates from the workstreams, including on improvements on the prototype tool to visualise data on the international response to COVID-19, on the potential of pooled funds for localisation, on Data Entry and Exploratory Platform Secondary Data Review project for seven Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC) countries, and the encouraging news that now half of the grant-giving Grand Bargain Signatories – among those many of the biggest donors and humanitarian agencies – have implemented the 8+3 template or are actively considering it. >> Click here to read the newsletter.
The Grand Bargain in humanitarian operations - NOW AVAILABLE IN GERMAN, ENGLISH, FRENCH, SPANISH
Four years into the Grand Bargain process, it is clear that the mechanism is acting as a lever for change and is having a wider impact in terms of a more cohesive, collaborative approach across the international humanitarian aid sector. These are a few examples of the achievements of the Grand Bargain to date that can be translated into practice at country level. >> Click here to read the 1-pager.
Recent news
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Reclaiming Local Civil Society Space - Statement by A4EP, January 2021 -
Covid-19: tracking local humanitarian action and complementary partnerships -
The Programme Based Approach – 10 lessons -
The Grand Bargain in Practice: Belgium reducing the impact of Covid-19 with flexible funding and increased local partnerships -
Independent Review of Individual Donor Assessments in Humanitarian Operations - December 2020
“It is evident that the Grand Bargain is having a wider impact in terms of a more cohesive, collaborative approach across the international humanitarian aid sector – a crucial element in helping drive forward reforms of the whole humanitarian system.”
Quote of the week, 6 July 2020, Grand Bargain Annual Independent Report 2020
As part of the preparations for the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in 2016, the High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing sought solutions to close the humanitarian financing gap. Their report made recommendations to shrink the needs, deepen and broaden the resource base for humanitarian action, and to improve delivery. In relation to the latter recommendation, the report suggested “a Grand Bargain between the big donors and humanitarian organisations in humanitarian aid”. The Grand Bargain, launched during the WHS in Istanbul in May 2016, is a unique agreement between some of the largest donors and humanitarian organisations who have committed to get more means into the hands of people in need and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the humanitarian action. Currently 63 Signatories (25 Member States, 22 NGOs, 12 UN agencies, two Red Cross movements, and two inter-governmental organisations) are working across nine workstreams to implement the commitments.

Belgium reducing the impact of Covid-19 with flexible funding and increased local partnerships
Prompted by the effects of the pandemic, Belgium increased further its flexibility and decided to foster more coordination and collaboration between the Belgian NGOs in the framework of the Covid-19 response.
Australia’s investment in preparedness for a more effective, coordinated and inclusive disaster response configuration options
The Australian Humanitarian Partnership contributes to a more resilient Pacific by supporting and building capacity of local and national responders, and increasing preparedness for early action, two of the Grand Bargain commitments.
Efforts by the Humanitarian Country Teams (HCTs) in 2019
The Grand Bargain Annual Independent Report 2020 demonstrated that the efforts of Humanitarian Country Teams (HCTs), UN Country Teams, NGO and donor fora and individual Signatories have resulted in an array of pilots, initiatives and programmes instituted at country and crisis level in 2019 in support of the core commitments and other areas of the Grand Bargain.
Mercy Corps’ holistic localisation benefits affected people in Syria
To engage with local and national responders in a spirit of partnership and to reinforce rather than replace their capacities, Mercy Corps provided capacity building support to local Syrian NGOs.
Click here to see the stories of the Grand Bargain in Practice>>
Examples of Grand Bargain implementation at country level:
Hover and click anywhere on the map to find out examples of the Grand Bargain implementation. Click here to open the map in a new page. This is not an exhaustive list of examples - for further information, please see the Grand Bargain Annual Independent Report 2020.
Past meetings
The Grand Bargain Secretariat is supported by ECHO and hosted by the Norwegian Refugee Council/NORCAP.