Recent news - Biweekly update from the Grand Bargain

Published Date

15-30 April 2024

  • The Facilitation Group Sherpas (EU/DG ECHO, Germany, OCHA, UNICEF, IFRC, InterAction, and NEAR) met with Ambassador Bessler and Ambassador Koehler on 19 March on the margins of the European Humanitarian Forum in Brussels to advance the localisation agenda in the Grand Bargain by discussing initiatives, challenges, and proposing recommendations. For more information, read the summary note.
     
  • Revised Self-reporting process:  After formal consultation and presentation of the draft proposal of the revised self-reporting, Development Initiative is collating the Signatories' feedback to revise the proposal. Individual and/or wider feedback will be provided on suggested changes. Once updated, the revised version will be shared with the Ambassadors and the Facilitation Group for their final decision. After the self-report is signed off in early May, a presentation will be arranged for the Signatories. The self-reports are aimed to be received by end of June/early July. Further information will be shared in the coming weeks. 
     
  • Caucus on Scaling up Anticipatory Action: Over the past months and following the launch of the caucus on 16 February 2024, there has been a notable increase in interest among Signatories for participating in the caucus. Initially, these Signatories were directed towards engagement via the external advisory group, as the caucus had already been formed. After several discussions and in a commitment to inclusivity, Ambassador Koehler has extended an official invitation to the external advisory group, offering them the opportunity to join the caucus membership. For more information on the caucus, click here. 
     

  • Humanitarian Networks and Partnership Week: A session focusing on Anticipatory Action in the Grand Bargain is scheduled for 7 May, 16:00-17:30 CEST. This session will provide caucus members the opportunity to present the discussions that have progressed thus far and exchange with Signatories and other relevant actors to gather feedback for forthcoming discussions. Register here. 

15-31 March 2024

  • European Humanitarian Forum 2024: On the margins of the forum, the quarterly meeting of the Facilitation Group Sherpas (EU/DG ECHO, Germany, OCHA, UNICEF, IFRC, InterAction, NEAR) with Grand Bargain Ambassadors took place on 19 March. In the presence of Ambassadors Bessler and Ambassador Koehler and co-chaired by DG ECHO and OCHA, the discussion focused on advancing the localisation agenda within the Grand Bargain emphasising the importance of practical solutions for progress. A summary note will be shared with the Signatories in the coming days.
     
  • Risk-Sharing Platform: To bridge the gap between risk analysis and effective delivery, the Grand Bargain Risk-sharing Platform introduced a Risk-sharing Framework, offering foundational principles for adaptable, context-specific application. Encouraged by Grand Bargain, partnerships among entities like InterAction, ICRC, and the Netherlands MFA have spearheaded initiatives to pilot this framework. A notable tabletop simulation involving stakeholders in a fictional setting aimed to test and refine this approach, leading to actionable insights and guidance for real-world application, thereby transforming the traditional methodology of risk management in humanitarian aid. Click here to read the Risk-sharing Framework Simulation Outcome Report.
     

  • A4EP briefing paper: The briefing paper by A4EP highlights the ongoing efforts of women-led organisations globally to advocate for peace, women's rights, and justice, emphasising the importance of meaningful engagement of women in decision-making processes. The paper calls for actions such as enabling civic space, providing support for women advocates, ensuring transparency in funding, and encouraging solidarity among leaders to address these challenges and advance gender equality. Click here to read the briefing paper. 

     

  • From commitment to action: Signatories' best practices of implementation: This section showcases best practices of a Signatory implementing the Grand Bargain commitments and hope these will serve as an inspiration. Do you know of a good practice that could inspire other Signatories? Let us know at gbsecretariat@un.org.

    Observations from the field
    Signatory: Sweden
    Area: Anticipatory Action/Nexus/Localisation

    Sweden's approach focuses on shielding citizens from climate-related shocks, improving environmental sustainability, and fostering inclusivity in social protection, all while contributing to shared prosperity. A recent field visit to Wajir, Kenya by a delegation from the Swedish MFA and Sida highlighted the importance of addressing climate vulnerabilities, building resilience in the face of climate change, and doing anticipatory action across the HDP nexus. Immediate threats, such as water scarcity, land degradation, and extreme weather events, were observed, underscoring the need to integrate anticipatory action into both long-term development and humanitarian support. The visit revealed that implementing anticipatory action in a layered and sequenced manner, along with localised early warning systems and climate risk information sharing, proved to be effective for response mechanisms. A conclusion was also that area-based HDP programming in areas of highest risk and needs, and partnering with multi-mandated organisations could make development better targeted, more security risk-tolerant, and more protective. Sweden emphasised the necessity of long-term sustainable solutions for local community climate change adaptation and advocated for integrating anticipatory climate strategies into social protection programs.

 

1-15 March 2024

  • Self-reporting revision: As part of the self-reporting revision exercise, Development Initiatives (DI), identified potential reportable indicators based on public data, and relevant past indicators. In January and February, they engaged in informal consultations with interested Signatories, Ambassadors, and the Facilitation Group. In early March, Development Initiatives will conduct consultations with groups of Signatories to gather feedback on the draft indicators. Before the meeting, DI will share the draft indicators, allowing time for reflection and preparation. Signatories are strongly encouraged to submit written feedback to DI as this will be the best way to ensure feedback is incorporated. However, these consultations will be an opportunity to provide verbal feedback.

    Read the one-pager outlining the process of the self-reporting revision

  • Caucus on Scaling up Anticipatory Action: Following the launch of the caucus on 16 February, the caucus members  (EU/DG ECHO, FAO, Germany, IFRC, NEAR, OCHA, Oxfam, Save the Children, UK/FCDO, WFP) with the support of the Anticipation Hub plan to meet in early March and focus the discussion on a joint definition and methodology as scheduled in the workplan.

    In case you missed the caucus launch on 16 February:Read more about the problem definition, caucus strategy, and the workplan.

  • The Grand Bargain Secretariat on behalf of NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland, distributed a letter to Signatories stating that NRC plans to reduce branding on provided infrastructure, services, and items to maintain dignity and offer clear, uniform details for accountability. The NRC is seeking to work with donors to establish minimal visibility standards and encourages talks on decreasing competition over branding among humanitarian organisations. If you want to know more about this initiative, please contact Clarissa Crippa, Senior Policy Adviser to the Secretary General, clarissa.crippa@nrc.no.

  • From commitment to action: Signatories' best practices of implementation: This section showcases best practices of a Signatory implementing the Grand Bargain commitments and hope these will serve as an inspiration. Do you know of a good practice that could inspire other Signatories? Let us know at gbsecretariat@un.org.

    SheCan: Advancing financial inclusion for women farmers and entrepreneur

    Signatory: WFP
    Area: Innovative Financing

    Smallholder farmers and micro-entrepreneurs, particularly women in lower-income countries, often struggle to access financial services, which impedes their economic development and ability to withstand climate and economic shocks. This financial exclusion reinforces poverty by limiting access to essential capital. To address this, the SheCan initiative – a blend of investments from crowdfunding, impact investors, and World Food Programme (WFP) support – aims to promote financial inclusion for these groups. With a focus on economic empowerment, particularly for women, SheCan provides affordable capital to selected Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) at rates below the market average and supports them to access diverse funding, thereby incentivising them to serve remote rural areas with affordable, gender-mainstreamed micro-loans.

    Beyond financing, and leveraging WFP's global operations, it delivers tailored technical assistance in financial literacy, digital skills, market access, and climate risk insurance, aiming to reduce both real and perceived risks for these borrowers. Launched in Zambia, Rwanda, and Peru in July 2022, SheCan has already gathered lessons learned, including the importance of cultivating a flexible, scalable business model, evolved from its initial crowdlending focus to a broader capital blending approach. Leveraging institutional knowledge, particularly from WFP's Gender Equality Office, the initiative has established refined success metrics, focusing on gender sensitisation, financial skills and digital service utilization. SheCan adapts its approach to local contexts through collaborative design with local partners and prioritises refining its core model before considering expansion. Collaborative efforts with various stakeholders and the integration of digital tools for financial management have been crucial. These practices have not only advanced financial inclusion but also promoted sustainable economic growth.

15-29 February 2024

  • Caucus on Scaling up Anticipatory Action: Launched on 16 February by Ambassador Koehler, the Caucus on Scaling up Anticipatory Action is co-championed by Germany, OCHA, Save the Children, and WFP, and includes Signatories such as EU/DG ECHO, FAO, IFRC, NEAR, Oxfam, and UK/FCDO. The caucus aims to address challenges in scaling up Anticipatory Action (AA) with a focus on three objectives:

    • Funding commitments are secured to scale up coordinated Anticipatory Action.

    • Caucus members agree on recommendations to improve coordination and cooperation at the international, national, and local level.

      And as a baseline, the caucus members will start working on a:

    • Joint methodology to allow tracking of funds for AA as well as a basis for advocacy (“common understanding”).
       

The outcome document shall be presented at the Annual Meeting 2024 and the Global Dialogue Platform.

Read more about the problem definition, caucus strategy, and the workplan.

  • Facilitation Group Sherpa meeting: The Facilitation Group Sherpas (EU/DG ECHO, Germany, OCHA, UNICEF, IFRC, InterAction, and NEAR) met on 16 January 2024. Ambassador Koehler provided updates on progress in focus area 2, on innovative financing and the nexus. The Grand Bargain Secretariat, on behalf of Ambassadors Mahmood and Bessler, shared updates on localisation and participation. NEAR reported on the National Reference Groups, while Germany briefed on anticipatory action and the caucus launch. Based on these updates, the Facilitation Group, in its advisory capacity, shared recommendations to the Ambassadors and made decisions regarding the Annual Meeting date and accountability strategies. For more information, read the summary note. 

  • Grand Bargain Annual Meeting 2024: The Annual Meeting will take place in person in Geneva on 17 October 2024 at the Sherpa level. More detailed information will be shared in due time. 

  • From commitment to action: Signatories' best practices of implementation: This section showcases best practices of a Signatory implementing the Grand Bargain commitments and hope these will serve as an inspiration. Do you know of a good practice that could inspire other Signatories? Let us know at gbsecretariat@un.org.

    Ensuring quality funding to allow adaptable and timely support 

    Signatory: EU/DG ECHO
    Area: Quality funding

    EU/DG ECHO provides funding mechanisms aiming to deliver adaptable support for unforeseen crises and disasters. These tools are part of an emergency toolbox with two primary features: funding not tied to specific geographical locations and swift disbursement of funds. For instance, this emergency toolbox was deployed in response to earthquakes in Turkey and Afghanistan.

    Within this toolbox, four specific tools are available:

  • The Acute Large Emergency Response Tool (ALERT) which allocates funds in response to a large-scale emergency’s onset (where over 100,000 people or over 50% of the population are affected).
  • The Small-scale Tool, used to assist a limited number of people (below 100,000) affected by a natural or human-induced disaster.
  • The Epidemics Tool, used to respond to and prevent epidemic outbreaks.
  • The contribution to the IFRC Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF).

These tools are part of the EU/DG ECHO approach to efficiently and effectively address diverse emergency situations and provide timely assistance where it is most needed.

1-15 February 2024

  • Webinar Local Leadership Fundamentals: Strengthening Local Actors for Prime Readiness, 1 February, 15:00-16:00, CET. CRS organises a panel discussion to showcase successful resolution of challenges and the evolution of roles within the humanitarian and development sector. The panelists will share their experiences and insights on overcoming challenges and advancing localisation and local leadership in their respective contexts. The discussion will also shed light on the evolving roles and responsibilities of International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs), donors, and local actors as they navigate the process of preparing, transitioning, and sustaining local prime readiness. Click here to register.

  • From commitment to action: Signatories' best practices of implementation: This section showcases best practices of a Signatory implementing the Grand Bargain commitments and hope these will serve as an inspiration. Do you know of a good practice that could inspire other Signatories? Let us know at gbsecretariat@un.org.

    Making humanitarian responses more effective and efficient: Using big data for anticipatory action

    Signatory: DRC
    Area: Anticipatory Action

    DRC’s Foresight model is bringing groundbreaking results in anticipatory action. This machine learning tool predicts forced displacement and guides climate and environmental action. Developed using open-source data from sources like the World Bank, UN agencies, NGOs, and academic institutions, the Foresight model applies over 120 indicators related to violence, governance, economy, environment, and socio-demographics to forecast displacements one to three years ahead in 26 countries.  Primarily intended for DRC’s internal strategic planning and periodic reviews, the Foresight model also contributes to broader humanitarian planning processes such as HRP/HNO. Comparatively, in 15 out of 19 countries assessed, the model proved more accurate than the figures used in humanitarian response plans. Additionally, it can calculate the impact of specific events, like the Taliban takeover or election violence, on projected displacement, supporting contingency planning. DRC has further developed a spin-off model – Anticipatory Humanitarian Action for Displacement (AHEAD) model – which builds on the Foresight methodology but predicts displacement at the sub-national level 3-4 months into the future. This is currently being used for anticipatory action responses in South Sudan and Burkina Faso.

15-31 January 2024

  • The quarterly meeting of the Facilitation Group Sherpas (EU/DG ECHO, Germany, OCHA, UNICEF, IFRC, InterAction, NEAR) took place on 16 January. During the meeting, Ambassador Koehler shared updates regarding anticipatory action, innovative financing, nexus and quality funding, while the Grand Bargain Secretariat provided updates on localisation and participation on behalf of Ambassadors Mahmood and Bessler. Based on their initiatives and plans, the Facilitation Group discussed recommendations to the Ambassadors for the upcoming months. Additionally, they discussed the Annual Meeting date and accountability. More detailed information will be shared in the coming days.
  • Self-reporting process: Development Initiatives (DI) have been mapping existing data and indicators, and having bilateral consultations with selected Signatories, following which they will prepare a preliminary proposal for a revised set of indicators. These will be consulted with all Signatories in February, after which the proposal will be finalised and validated by the Grand Bargain Ambassadors and Facilitation Group Sherpa. The final version of the self-reporting mechanism will be presented to the Signatories by the end of March/Early April, with the submission deadline for the self-report set for June. You are welcome to provide any suggestions to DI directly at Niklas Rieger, Niklas.Rieger@devinit.org. More details will be shared in the coming weeks.

  • From commitment to action: Signatories' best practices of implementation: This section showcases best practices of a Signatory implementing the Grand Bargain commitments and we hope these will serve as an inspiration to others. Do you know of a good practice that could inspire other Signatories? Let us know at gbsecretariat@un.org.

    An innovative way of financing a project to address long-term needs in Goma (DRC)
    Signatory: ICRC
    Area: Innovative financing/Nexus

    The ICRC and partners from across sectors have been exploring and implementing a humanitarian blended finance model in DRC, the Goma West Water Supply Project. This is a CHF 40 million project sequencing grants (Lombard Odier, SIDA, SDC, Slovenia, core funding) to fund some CHF 7-8 million of preparatory works led by the ICRC that in turn enable the World Bank to come in with USD 15 million -with another USD 15 million pending approval- in concessional finance to pay and lead the design and building of the water infrastructure and a financially sustainable operating model. GIZ, funded by USAID (USD 2 million), took on a critical piece of the project, the setting up of the North Kivu Water Authority, reinforcing the localization of the project. The Swedish Red Cross and Congolese Red Cross have been involved at different stages of the project and have notably worked on the socio-economic studies. Goma West is targeting 500.000 beneficiaries, amongst the most vulnerable in Goma City. Very importantly, Goma West has become a blueprint for similar projects in other geographies: Montepuez in Mozambique, Maiduguri in Nigeria, Gao in Mali, Aden in Yemen, Bukavu also in DRC. Through this approach, the ICRC takes on a small but catalytic percentage of the project, improves its investability, which in turn enables the entry of development actors, additional private sector intervention and the exit of the ICRC and humanitarian donors. In brief, while context specificities must be accounted for, this is a replicable innovative approach to partnering and financing, delivering more sustainable impact at scale. Initiated in 2019, the ICRC plans to hand over the lead of the project to the WB and the North Kivu Water Authority in 2024, for water to flow in 2026/2027. 

15-31 December 2023 

  • Engagement at COP28: Ambassadors Jemilah Mahmood and Michael Köhler met with UAE Deputy Minister H.E Sultan Al-Shamsi to discuss locally-led action, more innovation in the Grand Bargain and the inclusion of non-traditional donors within the Grand Bargain process.
  • Over the recent weeks, Grand Bargain Ambassadors participated in various events and meetings, where they called for action, and highlighted the need to translate existing policies into practice: Ambassador Bessler, during the Charter4Change Annual Meeting, shared forthcoming plans and reaffirmed commitment to engaging at country-level, intending to meet the National Reference Group in Türkiye in early 2024. Ambassador Köhler contributed to the panel discussion at the ALNAP launch event "Working across the HDP Nexus: What have we learned?", where he articulated his vision regarding the nexus and the plan to organise a workshop with key stakeholders, including donors and development actors. The objective is to have an honest conversation with decision-makers on why the nexus has not been happening in practice and agree on solutions. Ambassador Mahmood took part in  an exchange between local actors and donors, organised by the UK and US, focused on locally-led inclusive action. During her closing remarks, Ambassador Mahmood suggested continuing these forms of engagement and called for more coordinated approaches among donors. Both Ambassador Bessler and Köhler participated at a meeting on locally-led action organised by Denmark and IFRC on the margins of the Global Refugee Forum. 
  • Links with the IASC: Following an invite from the co-chairs UNICEF and NEAR, the Grand Bargain Secretariat participated at a meeting of the IASC Task Force on localisation to exchange on plans and explore linkages. It proved to be a very constructive discussions, and it was agreed that the Secretariat should regularly participate at the Task Force meetings to foster a stronger collaboration and to ensure that the efforts of both fora build on each other.

  • From commitment to action: Signatories' best practices of implementation: This section showcases best practices of a Signatory implementing the Grand Bargain commitments and hope these will serve as an inspiration. Do you know of a good practice that could inspire other Signatories? Let us know at gbsecretariat@un.org.

    Ensuring that affected people influence decisions
    Signatory: UNHCR
    Area: Participation

    UNHCR invests in engagement and partnership with organisations led by displaced and stateless people as active contributors to the response and works with them to address the barriers to their full and equal participation. To address the latter, UNHCR established an inter-divisional task teamwhich developed a framework to support engagement with organisations led by displaced and stateless persons. Some achievements are a definition of "Refugee-led Organization (RLO)," a partnership tool to channel small grants to RLOs/Community Based Organisations (CBOs), a RLO Innovation fund, and guidance on inclusion of local organisations in coordination structures, amongst others. In view of UNHCR’s commitment to ensure its global policies and processes are informed by the views of people targeted by these policies, in 2022 after a fair and transparent call for application, UNHCR established its first global Advisory Board of organisations-led by displaced and stateless persons from all regions and across Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) characteristics. Prior to that, from 2020 to 2022, UNHCR's Task Team worked closely with an Interim Advisory Group of organizations led by displaced and stateless persons that provided valuable advice and co-developed some of the Task Team's deliverables. Refugee advisory bodies are being replicated in other divisions of UNHCR such as the Statelessness Unit, Refugee Advisory Group (RAG) to the Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP), and at field level, like in Malaysia and Bulgaria.

    Need more information? Contact the Secretariat, gbsecretariat@un.org 

1-15 December 2023 

  • The Grand Bargain Ambassadors and Facilitation Group Sherpas met with the Signatories:  In a virtual meeting on 17 November 2023, the Grand Bargain Ambassadors presented their plans for advancing the Grand Bargain progress collectively in the coming year. The Signatories overwhelmingly welcomed the opportunity for exchange, and shared their own transformative practices they are currently implementing or planning to adopt. To read about the practices they shared, and to see the Ambassador plans, please read the summary note, here.
  • The quarterly meeting of the Facilitation Group Sherpas (EU/DG ECHO, Germany, OCHA, UNICEF, IFRC, InterAction, NEAR) will take place on 16 January 2024, and will be co-chaired by Germany and IFRC. 
  • Anticipatory Action: The Grand Bargain group on Anticipatory Action (Germany, IFRC, FAO, NEAR, OCHA, Oxfam, Save the Children, UK/FCDO, WFP; supported by the Anticipation Hub) convened to review the draft problem statement on anticipatory action. This problem statement was elaborated by the Anticipation Hub based on extensive discussions within the group and incorporating feedback from a dedicated session at the Global Dialogue Platform held in early October. The members of the group are providing feedback in the coming weeks. The draft problem statement will also be shared with the informal advisory group for inputs, although the final version will be approved by the core working group.
  • Self-reporting revision process: As agreed in the Grand Bargain 2023-2026 framework to revise the self-reporting mechanism, the Ambassadors with the support of the Secretariat will launch a process with the aim of having a revised mechanism by spring 2024. The objective is to have more transparency, more accurate and more comparable data. Development Initiatives (DI) and ODI will lead on the technical part of the consultative process and will focus on consulting smaller groups of Signatories. The consultation process will also remain open to all Signatories who want to input on specific indicators. The Ambassadors will be ensuring a steer of the process. The final proposal for the indicators and the self-reporting mechanism will be discussed by the Facilitation Group and the Ambassadors. The Grand Bargain Secretariat shared with the Signatories a one-pager outlining the purpose of the exercise, the roles and responsibilities, the timeline, and the indicators and reporting expected. Read the one-pager, here.
  • Guidance of Community of Practice: As agreed in the Grand Bargain 2023-2026, a light and agile informal space can be established in the form of a Community of Practice. Following the discussion at the Ambassador and Facilitation Sherpa meeting in September 2023, a guidance was developed by the Grand Bargain Secretariat to clarify to the Signatories how to establish a Community of Practice. Read the guidance, here.
  • Charter 4 Change Annual Meeting: Grand Bargain Ambassador Manuel Bessler will engage in a session on stock-taking of localisation policy and practices. He will present to the C4C members and endorsers his plans to advance localisation in the upcoming months and is looking forward to hearing the perspectives of local and national responders. 

  • From commitment to action: Signatories' best practices of implementation: This section showcases best practices of a Signatory implementing the Grand Bargain commitments and hope these will serve as an inspiration. Do you know of a good practice that could inspire other Signatories? Let us know at gbsecretariat@un.org.

    Quality funding to an NGO alliance facilitate swifter response, as well as funding for local actors 
    Signatory: The Netherlands
    Area: Quality Funding/Localisation

    Through an innovative Joint Response model, the Dutch Relief Alliance (DRA) is able to receive reliable, multi-year, and adaptable funding from the government of the Netherlands, and channel 35% of it to local and national actors. According to the catalogue of quality funding practices to the humanitarian conducted by DI and NRC, this funding for the DRA is a multi-year agreement, that can be allocated to any type of humanitarian crisis, allowing flexibility and swift response. The areas of programming are defined by the NGO alliance with some consultation with the government, with reference to HRPs and assessment of need. Through the DRA, the government of the Netherlands also supported capacity strengthening of local and national actors, for example through the Humanitarian Leadership Academy in Yemen, strengthening the capacity of 39 local Yemeni organisations.

    Need more information? Contact the Secretariat, gbsecretariat@un.org 

15-30 November 2023 

  • The Grand Bargain Ambassadors and Facilitation Group Sherpas meet with the Signatories: The virtual meeting will take place on 17 November and will aim to maintain momentum by presenting the Grand Bargain Ambassadors' plans and priorities for the upcoming months. This meeting will also be an opportunity to encourage Signatories to share their transformative practices and plans.
  • New Signatory: The Feminist Humanitarian Network joins the Grand Bargain as the 67th Signatory and will be part of the NGO constituency. The FHN is a global collective of feminist organisations dedicated to transforming the humanitarian system. By joining as a Signatory, the FHN plans to promote uptake of feminist humanitarian principles, power sharing and shifting, access to quality funding in practice, and grassroots feminist actors’ leadership across the Grand Bargain. In addition, the FHN is a new co-lead of the Friends of Gender Group. Read the full description here.
  • Quality Funding in the Grand Bargain: Do you want to know what quality funding is in the Grand Bargain, why it matters, how you can scale it up and what has been achieved since 2016? Read the new one pager here.
  • The Grand Bargain at COP28: Grand Bargain Ambassadors Jemilah Mahmood and Michael Köhler will lead a session on the margin of COP28 on 4 December 2023, focusing on addressing the humanitarian impacts of the climate crisis through effective and efficient aid. This session will bring together some of the Grand Bargain leaders as well as development, climate and financial actors, and emerging donors to discuss:
    • Scaling up anticipatory action to reduce humanitarian needs and minimise losses.
    • Exploring innovative financing methods to address polycrises and bridge funding gaps.
    • Encouraging partnerships between humanitarian and development actors, including international financial institutions, to increase investments in protracted crises using innovative approaches and financing mechanisms.
       
  • Making the most of cash at scale: The Mercy Corps’ new study explores the potential of cash at scale to meet increasing humanitarian needs and deliver people centric response. Read the policy paper here. 
     
  • The failure to fund refugee-led organisations - why the current system is not working, and the potential for change: This study from ODI in collaboration with Development Initiatives (DI), reveals critical insights: Refugee-led organisations (RLOs) play a key role in refugee responses, yet face chronic underfunding. Despite their importance, RLOs experience tokenistic international funding. Read the study here. 
     

  • From commitment to action: Signatories' best practices of implementation: We are pleased to introduce you to a new section of the bi-weekly update. This section showcases best practices of a Signatory implementing the Grand Bargain commitments and hope these will serve as an inspiration. Do you know of a good practice that could inspire other Signatories? Let us know at gbsecretariat@un.org.

    Implementing localisation: incentivise progress with KPIs
    Signatory: Catholic Relief Services
    Area: Localisation

    As of 2020, as part of their localisation efforts, CRS developed key performance indicators collected on an annual basis related to the total value (USD) directly secured by local partners from donors/government due to significant contributions by CRS, and to contributions to capacity strengthening of local partners. In 2022, 126 examples were reported by 26 countries, where local partner capacity was strengthened as a result of significant contributions by CRS, and $116.515M of direct funding to local partners was reported by 28 countries. These cases are not project based but often outside the project cycle or at the initiative level. These KPIs are tracked using an internal annual reporting system. CRS country programs complete online forms per the guidelines on the definitions and data criteria and then information provided is collated into a global dashboard with data disaggregation. CRS applies an opt-in process, i.e. country programs are not required to report on the local leadership KPIs but are something they denote interest and ability to report to each year.

    For more information regarding the KPIs, please contact Amanda Schweitzer, Technical Advisor III for Local Humanitarian Partnerships and Capacity Sharing at CRS (Amanda.schweitzer@crs.org). 

15-30 October 2023

  • Conference on Supporting Local Actors Across the HDP Nexus: Denmark, USAID and IFRC organised a conference on 5-6 October 2023 in Copenhagen to set out a clear, common agenda, including concrete, actionable recommendations for donors and other actors to consider in supporting local actors across the HDP Nexus. Ambassador Michael Köhler delivered opening remarks at the conference, underscoring the timeliness of the event in addressing the pressing need for sustainable, locally-driven approaches in humanitarian responses. He also highlighted the crucial role of localisation within the nexus approach, advocating to shift financing, decision-making, and ownership to local and national actors. On the second day of the conference, Ambassador Manuel Bessler participated in the high-level panel, where he emphasised that we need to operationalise existing agreements (such as the caucus outcomes on the role of intermediaries and the funding for localisation) and scale up best practices in our efforts to implement the Grand Bargain commitments. He noted the need to map out these resources to gain a comprehensive understanding of their collective impact and better inform future strategies. The Conference organisers announced at the event their intention to continue to work on follow up including through a follow-up virtual meeting in the coming months.
     
  • Informal breakfast among Ambassador Manuel Bessler and donors: On the margins of the Nexus-Localisation conference, Grand Bargain Ambassador Manuel Bessler and Dylan Winder, Head of Humanitarian Department at FCDO (UK) co-chaired an informal meeting with donors to have an open discussion on some of the priorities in the localisation agenda and the role of donors and the Grand Bargain in advancing these. The Ambassador and donors shared some existing efforts and good practices aimed at advancing locally-led action and creating space for local and national actors to exercise agency. Ambassador Bessler suggested these good practices should be catalogued with the support of the Secretariat, and shared with local and national actors to assess their effectiveness on the ground and potentially scale them up. As the opportunity for the meeting was welcome by the participants, Ambassador Bessler committed to continue convening these meetings regularly in the coming months also at the working level where relevant, with the support of the Secretariat, and the UK offered to host the next meeting.

  • 11th Global Dialogue Platform: Led by the Anticipation Hub, a session focused on Anchoring Anticipatory Action in the Grand Bargain took place at the Global Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Humanitarian Action, with the support of the co-leads of the Grand Bargain interest group on Anticipatory Action (AA), WFP and Germany, and the Secretariat. The session began with the Secretariat providing an overview of the Grand Bargain process and its achievements and Germany presenting the rationale for including anticipatory action in the Grand Bargain. Anticipation Hub presented a background paper that outlines the barriers and challenges in advancing anticipatory action and how the Grand Bargain can contribute to addressing them. Participants discussed the challenges and the inputs will be used to refine the document, to develop a problem statement that the Grand Bargain will aim to resolve. The interest group will take some time to carefully consider the feedback before reconvening to finalise the document. Click here to read the background document.

  • IASC-Grand Bargain collaboration: On 17 October 2023 the Grand Bargain Ambassadors will join the IASC Operational Policy and Advocacy Group (OPAG) session on collaboration between the IASC and the Grand Bargain. The aim of this discussion is to explore common areas of interest and opportunities for cooperation, particularly on localisation, participation of affected people, and the nexus. 

  • The Grand Bargain in a nutshell: Read the newest 1-pager outlining the role of the Grand Bargain in making the humanitarian sector more effective and efficient here.

1-15 October 2023

  • Grand Bargain Ambassadors and Facilitation Group Meeting: We are pleased to share with you the summary note of the meeting between the Grand Bargain Ambassadors and the Facilitation Group Sherpa of the incoming/remaining and outgoing members (A4EP, ICVA, ICRC, UNHCR) on 5 September 2023 in Geneva, chaired by A4EP, and the meeting of the new Facilitation Group (EU/DG ECHO, Germany, OCHA, UNICEF, IFRC, InterAction, NEAR), on 6 September 2023. The summary note outlines how the Ambassadors will work with the Facilitation Group Sherpas, the role of strengthened Secretariat, what the Ambassadors and the Facilitation Group will prioritise, and what is expected from the Signatories. Click here to read the summary note

  • Conference on Supporting Local Actors Across the HDP Nexus : On 5 and 6 October 2023, a conference on nexus and localisation, co-hosted by IFRC, Denmark, and USAID, will be held in Copenhagen. It aims to set a clear agenda with actionable recommendations for donors and stakeholders in three areas; (1) improve coordination in the HDP nexus, involving local actors from the start, (2) strengthen local actors' capacities for sustainable crisis resolution, (3) maximize funding effectiveness, including climate finance, and ease access for local actors. Ambassador Köhler will deliver opening remarks virtually on day 1, while Ambassador Bessler will participate in person on day 2, and participate in the high-level panel. 

  • 11th Global Dialogue Platform: As part of the conference organised by the Anticipation Hub, a session on ”Anchoring Anticipatory Action in the Grand Bargain” will be held on 12 October, 11:00-12:00 CET, co-organised by the Anticipation Hub, the co-leads of the Grand Bargain interest group on Anticipatory Action, Germany (GFFO) and WFP, and the Grand Bargain Secretariat. This session will seek to introduce the role of the Grand Bargain in scaling up anticipatory action and to have an open discussion on the challenges anticipatory action is facing, and the added value of the Grand Bargain in addressing them. Those inputs will significantly shape the ongoing dialogue within the Grand Bargain process. Click here to register
     
  • A4EP – From surviving to thriving: As a contribution to the Conference on Supporting Local Actors Across the HDP Nexus on 5-6 October 2023 in Copenhagen, A4EP developed a position paper, outlining its perspective and its recommendations of action regarding political commitments, humanitarian policy, funding, decolonising responses, preventing brain drain, and localising discussions on climate and innovation. Click here to read the paper

15-30 September 2023 

  • Grand Bargain Ambassadors and Facilitation Group Meeting: The Grand Bargain Ambassadors Jemilah Mahmood, Manuel Bessler, and Michael Köhler met with the Facilitation Group (FG) Sherpas of the incoming/remaining and outgoing members on 5 September 2023 in Geneva. They agreed on the working modalities between the Ambassadors and the FG and reaffirmed the commitment to meet quarterly, in person when possible (taking the opportunity of existing meetings, such a Global Refugee Forum, European Humanitarian Forum, etc.). With the elevation of the Facilitation Group at the Sherpa level for a more streamlined and politically oriented decision-making process, the strengthened Secretariat will assume more responsibilities from January 2024. Discussions during the meeting centered on setting priorities for achieving impact by 2026 and effective measurement of implementation, including revising the self-reporting process. A detailed public summary will be shared with the Signatories in the coming days, along with the TORs for the Ambassadors, Facilitation Group, and strengthened Secretariat.

  • Ambassadors meeting with the IASC Secretariat: The Grand Bargain Ambassadors met with the Head of the IASC Secretariat to explore avenues for fostering collaboration between the two organisations, particularly on participation and localisation. The objective is to establish continuous communication between the two organisations and identify a joint vision based on comparative advantages of both fora. A dedicated session on the Grand Bargain is scheduled during the IASC OPAG Meeting on 17 October.

  • Ambassadors Jemilah Mahmood & Manuel Bessler meeting with local and national actors: Based on a letter by Charter4Change, Ambassadors Mahmood and Bessler met with the members to discuss the recommendations from local and national actors. These recommendations encompass strengthening accountability for localisation commitments, implementing global localisation commitments at the country level, consulting with local actors on specific action priorities to remove obstacles, and emphasising the leadership of local actors in guiding the Grand Bargain. Ambassadors and Charter4Change members agreed to meet regularly moving forward. 
     
  • Ambassadors meeting with ERC Martin Griffiths: ERC Martin Griffiths and Grand Bargain Ambassadors Jemilah Mahmood, Manuel Bessler and Michael Koehler met virtually and reaffirmed the commitment to the Grand Bargain. They recognised the Grand Bargain as a valuable platform for addressing challenges that the humanitarian sector is facing at a political level. They agreed that moving forward they will meet regularly to exchange information, and join forces on localisation, quality funding, participation of affected people, and fostering partnerships with diverse stakeholders, such non-traditional donors, development actors, and innovating financing mechanisms.

  • Ambassador Bessler meeting with Workstream 2 Sherpas: Ambassador Bessler met with the Sherpas of the workstream 2 Co-convenors, Denmark and IFRC, which was an opportunity to discuss the efforts of the workstream so far, and proposals from the workstream for the new iteration of the process, including  a possible community of practice on localisation, building on the workstream’s existing work. The Ambassador and Sherpas agreed to meet again to discuss concrete next steps.

  • Anticipatory Action: The Grand Bargain group on anticipatory action (FAO, Germany, IFRC, NEAR, OCHA, Oxfam, Save the Children, UK, WFP) agreed to engage the Anticipation Hub as a technical advisor to the group to ensure the discussion build on existing efforts. An ‘external observer group’ will be created for those Signatories who are interested in the topic and would like to be informed of the developments and potentially input into the work. As a next step, the core group will be looking at a problem statement and agreeing which challenges make most sense to be addressed in the Grand Bargain.
     
  • Grand Bargain 2023-2026 Framework in French and German: Thanks to the support of EU/DG ECHO, the French and German versions of the Grand Bargain 2023-2026 framework are available. Read the French version and the German version.

  • Implementation of the Grand Bargain commitments in 2022: The Annual Independent Report 2023 highlights concrete examples of how Signatories have advanced and made progress in implementing the commitments. We are pleased to present a visual compilation showcasing many of these. Click on the bubbles to see how Signatories put their commitments into action in 2022.

 

15-30 August 2023

  • Anticipatory Action: As a key focus of the Grand Bargain for the period 2023-2026, an initial conversation was held among a few Signatories that expressed an interest. This discussion aimed to explore potential approaches for advancing anticipatory action within the Grand Bargain. Next steps include mapping the specific issues that prevent advancing the progress and scale up of anticipatory action.
  • Facilitation Group Handover Meeting: The Grand Bargain Ambassadors and Facilitation Group will meet on 5 September 2023 in Geneva, which will be followed by outgoing members (A4EP, ECHO, Germany, ICRC, ICVA, OCHA and UNHCR) handing over to the incoming Facilitation Group (ECHO, Germany, IFRC, InterAction, NEAR, OCHA and UNICEF). The main objective will be to define some of the upcoming priorities that will need more political attention, and working on a concrete roadmap. The discussions will be based on the outcomes of the Annual Meeting.
  • Have you read it? In June 2023, the Annual Meeting gathered the Signatories to take stock of progress and served as an opportunity to agree on the operationalisation of the new iteration of the Grand Bargain. As Jan Egeland’s tenure as EP came to and end and the community thanked him for having committedly championed and advanced progress in a number of areas, the Ambassadors took over their new roles – Jemilah Mahmood, Manuel Bessler and Michael Köhler – who will be responsible to champion the progress in the Grand Bargain for the next three years. Read here the summary of the Annual Meeting 2023 and here the actions that Signatories committed to in the year to come.

15-30 July 2023

  • New Ambassadors: As the tenure of EP Jan Egeland ends, new Ambassadors Jemilah Mahmood, Manuel Bessler, and Michael Köhler were introduced at the Annual Meeting. While the trio will be overseeing the advancement of the broad Grand Bargain commitments, each will also be responsible for specific issues. Jemilah Mahmood will be overseeing the advancement of progress on participation of affected people, Manuel Bessler on localisation and quality funding, and Michael Köhler on quality funding, the nexus approach and innovative approaches, including anticipatory action, to respond to some of the challenges that the sector is facing. They are actively working on identifying their priorities and specific objectives over the summer. Read the press release here.
  • New iteration of the Grand Bargain: After an inclusive and consultative process on the new iteration of the Grand Bargain, the Signatories endorsed the proposal in June 2023. Read more about the Grand Bargain beyond 2023 here
  • Facilitation Group: The current and incoming Facilitation Group (incoming members for 2023/24: UNICEF replacing UNHCR, IFRC replacing ICRC, InterAction replacing ICVA, and NEAR replacing A4EP) convened to discuss the future course of action within the new framework of the Grand Bargain. They also initiated discussions on the official transition with the new Facilitation Group and Ambassadors, scheduled to take place in September.
  • Annual Meeting 2023: On 19 and 20 June, the Signatories gathered together to present their achievements and commitments for the upcoming three years and discuss the new focus areas of the new iteration (anticipatory action, innovative financing and multi-sector collaboration). The Facilitation Group encourages the Signatories to proactively initiate caucuses or other types of discussions to drive progress. As per the new iteration, the Signatories are empowered to start caucuses or communities of practice, or any other collective efforts needed to drive progress. Please reach out to the Secretariat if you have questions. Read the summary of the Annual Meeting here.
  • The energy is high - the Signatories are welcome to start action! During the Grand Bargain Annual Meeting the Signatories put forward actions and commitments that extend beyond June 2023. Please find here the overview of the actions and commitments made by each Signatory. The page will be regularly updated to add new actions as relevant (do share them with the Secretariat), and track the progress and implementation of these actions and commitments throughout the year.

15-30 May 2023

  • Facilitation Group: The Facilitation Group is having the final rounds of constituency consultations in May on the proposal on the future of the Grand Bargain, and will hold a retreat in Berlin on 24 and 25 May to finalise the proposal on the future of the Grand Bargain and discuss the operationalisation of the new iteration of the Grand Bargain.
  • Annual Meeting 2023: Registration for the Annual Meeting on 19 and 20 June 2023 is now open. Please note that participation is open only the Signatories. Please make sure to register before 6 June 2023, COB - the instructions were shared in a separate message. In case you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact the Secretariat.
  • Annual Independent Report 2023: Signatories have fact-checked the draft of the report, and ODI will finalise it in the coming weeks. Publication is expected ahead of the Annual Meeting in early June.
  • Sahel Regional Fund (SRF): A new regional humanitarian fund governed by leading international and national NGOs and hosted by DRC, has recently began its operational phase. In line with Grand Bargain commitments, the main purposes of the SRF are to provide predictable, flexible, and long-term funding for international and national humanitarian NGOs, to implement integrated multi- sector and cross-border response, to strategically and inclusively engage with local stakeholders and first responders and to support a more principled and effective response by using data and evidence as drivers for interventions. Find more information here.
  • Localisation in practice: As part of Centre for Humanitarian Action's “Strengthening Programme and Policy Relevant Capacities of Humanitarian Actors in Germany” (SPreAD) project, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, they developed a paper which addresses humanitarian Project Cycle Management (PCM) as one of the structural barriers that hinder the realisation of equitable partnership. Click here to read the paper. 
  • Signatories, contact us! If you have any examples of good practices and change that you have been achieving, or ways of using the caucus outcomes, which you would like to highlight to other Signatories ahead of the Annual Meeting, please reach out to us, gbsecretariat@un.org.

1-15 May 2023

  • Self-reports: This year, 94% Signatories submitted self-reports for 2022 by the deadline (61 out of 66 Signatories), which once again demonstrates commitment and active engagement by the Signatories. The analysis of the findings from the self-reports will be published in the Grand Bargain Annual Independent Report 2023. Read the self-reports here.
  • Facilitation Group: The Facilitation Group members are working to finalise the proposal on the future of the Grand Bargain by early May. The Facilitation Group will meet with their constituency the first half of May to receive a last round of questions and comments regarding the proposal, with the aim of presenting it at a virtual meeting with Signatories to seek endorsements later in May. At the end of May, the Facilitation Group will meet at a retreat in Berlin to discuss the operationalisation of the new iteration of the Grand Bargain.
  • Workstream 2 Localisation: As part of the Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week (HNPW), Workstream 2 has co-organised with the Charter for Change, a panel event on Accelerating Localisation: Connecting with and accelerating locally-led humanitarian networks and platforms to look at efforts, good practices and challenges in linling locally-led networks and platforms to formal inter-agency processes of UN, NGOs and donors.
  • Trócaire: Launched its report which captures learnings from Trocaire’s pilot and initial rollout of the pre-positioned humanitarian funding model in five countries: Sierra Leone, Malawi, Rwanda, Myanmar and Nicaragua. This model has been seen to have a strong impact on advancing localisation. Read the report here.
  • Christian Aid: The paper Letting go of control: Empowering locally led action in Ukraine shows how Christian Aid partners in Ukraine worked with local community groups to run transformative, community led programming. The paper focuses on case studies of both survivor and community led response and another cash approach called flexible small grants. Read the paper here.

15-30 April 2023

  • Annual Meeting: This year’s Annual Meeting on 19 and 20 June 2023 will mark the end of the Grand Bargain 2.0 and will be an important opportunity to review the progress achieved. At the same time, it will be the occasion to formally agree and start the next iteration of the process with all Signatories. While we’ll share a detailed agenda in the coming weeks, you can read more about the format here.
  • Annual Independent Report 2023: Following the successful submission of the self-reports (94% submitted) and completion of individual interviews, the research team (ODI) is currently finalising the report draft, which will be released in June 2023 ahead of the Annual Meeting. As in previous years, the report will be shared with the Signatories in late May for factual review.
  • Have you read it yet? Chaired by EP Jan Egeland and Hibak Kalfan (Executive Director, NEAR), the Principals of the caucus on Funding for Localisation met to endorse the three recommendations that were put forward by the technical members to strengthen efforts to reach the 25% target funding to localisation and national actors.

A monitoring framework is being finalised and will be circulated in the coming weeks. Read more about it here.

  • Advancing on overhead costs: Development Initiatives (DI), in partnership with UNICEF, developed a paper that discusses current donor approaches to overheads and how they can be improved to support both national and international organisations in the humanitarian delivery process. Read the discussion paper here.
  • Humanitarian Networks & Partnerships Weeks: This year the conference will be held in hybrid format, from 17 to 28 April 2023 (17-21 April remote, 24-28 April face-to-face at the CICG in Geneva). Several sessions will be dedicated to topics related to the Grand Bargain commitments (localisation, quality funding, participation, cash coordination). Read the programme.

1-15 April 2023

  • Caucus on funding for localisation: On 30 March 2023, the Principals of the Grand Bargain Caucus on Funding for Localisation (USAID, DG-ECHO, Denmark, OCHA, UNHCR, Save the Children, IFRC, A4EP and the Northwest Syria NGO forum – chaired by EP Jan Egeland and Hibak Kalfan, NEAR) met to endorse three recommendations put forward by the caucus to strengthen efforts to reach the 25% target. A monitoring framework is being finalised and will be circulated in the coming weeks.  
  • Future of the Grand Bargain: Following the constituency consultations (donors, UN agencies, ICRC/IFRC, NGOs, local and national actors) and the meeting on the margins of the European Humanitarian Forum with the EP and Facilitation Group Principals (Germany, EU/DG ECHO, UNHCR, OCHA, ICRC, ICVA, A4EP), there was a general agreement on the importance of continuing the Grand Bargain, stressing that the momentum needs to be maintained, and the platform reenergised. It was acknowledged that the proposal developed on the future of the Grand Bargain by the Facilitation Group provides a good foundation to define key clear milestones, based on the suggested objectives in the proposal. EP Jan Egeland took the opportunity to emphasise the importance of accelerating progress until the Annual Meeting in June 2023. Concrete results are expected to be delivered on localisation, quality funding and risk sharing.
  • Facilitation Group: At the teleconference meeting on 27 March, Facilitation Group members agreed on the next steps on the future of the Grand Bargain with the finalisation and presentation of the proposal to the Signatories expected in mid-May 2023.  
  • European Humanitarian Forum in Brussels: The 20-21 March summit brought together humanitarian actors to discuss several issues of the sector. The Grand Bargain commitments and references to the platform were prominent throughout numerous sessions, demonstrating the continued importance of the Grand Bargain to deliver more efficiency and effectiveness for humanitarian aid. Some of the key statements related to the Grand Bargain commitments:
    • Donors that already provide multi-year and flexible funding testified to the advantages of such funding, allowing the humanitarian system to respond quickly and efficiently to sudden crises, as well as saving money by reducing administrative costs for both donors and implementers. It was noted that quality funding also allows better coordination and increased localisation.
    • EU/DG ECHO launched its guidance note “Promoting Equitable Partnerships with Local Responders in Humanitarian Settings” which is aligned and translates the Grand Bargain commitments on localisation into concrete action. Access the guidance here.
    • EU/DG ECHO, IRC and VOICE brought attention to the importance of implementing the outcomes of the Grand Bargain caucus on quality funding. They presented the outcomes and shared practical ways of how they are already operationalising them. The only way to achieve transformative change is for all humanitarian actors to replicate those practices and ensure they are embedded within their institutions as well. Find the necessary resources on the caucus on quality funding here.
  • ICVA Annual Conference: During its 2023 edition of its Annual Conference, ICVA dedicated a session on the future of the Grand Bargain, beyond June 2023. We collected the highlights of this session:
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    • The need to continue the Grand Bargain as an inclusive and unique platform for advancing humanitarian effectiveness and efficiency was emphasised during the session, noting the progress made in recent years, but also stressing that much remains to be done. It was mentioned that the Grand Bargain has to be the space to make collective decisions and that the political will needs to be maintained.
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    • Panelists shared concrete practices of their implementation of the Grand Bargain commitments. UNHCR shared examples on how they are becoming better partners, the European Commission noted the increase in quality funding they provide to their partners, Oxfam hightlighted the ongoing discussions on changing their policy to ensure overheads for local partners, while the Tamdeen Youth Foundation from Yemen mentioned progress made at country-level to support local and national actors and the increasing use of cash instead of in-kind. However, it was also noted that the implementation of the Grand Bargain at country level has been mixed, and that the success will only be achieved if every Signatory does its share.
  • In case you missed it: We published some of the ways the Signatories are translating the commitments of the Grand Bargain into concrete actions. Find below a few examples: 
    • European Commission:

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    • The Netherlands :

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    • CAFOD :

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15-31 March 2023

  • Facilitation Group: Members of the Facilitation Group (Germany, EU/DG ECHO, UNHCR, OCHA, ICRC, ICVA, A4EP) have finalised the proposal for the future of the Grand Bargain and are in the process of consulting their constituencies (donors, UN agency, NGOs, Red Cross & Red Crescent Movement, Local and National actors) in order to obtain inputs and to refine the final proposal.
  • European Humanitarian Forum: On the margins of the European Humanitarian Forum in Brussels, an informal dinner on 20 March is organised with EP Jan Egeland and the Facilitation Group Principals to discuss the future of the Grand Bargain, the potential challenges encountered during the constituency consultations, and the way forward to finalise the process on the future.   
  • Caucus on funding for localisation: NEAR ED Hibak Kalfan and EP Jan Egeland invited the members of the caucus on funding for localisation to the closing meeting of the caucus at the Principal level on 30 March to take stock of the progress made, endorse the outcome document and agree on the next steps.
  • Localisation in UNHCR-led coordination structures: As part of its localisation commitment, UNHCR developed a guidance for its staff to ensure the engagement and inclusion of refugee-led organisations and local organisations in coordination structures and planning cycles. Read the guidance.
  • News from the Signatories: At ICVA’s Annual Conference on 17 March 2023, a session on the future of the Grand Bargain will be held, with a virtual keynote from EP Jan Egeland, and contributions from Kelly Clements (UNHCR), Predrag Avramovic (EU Delegation), Marta Valdès Garcia (Oxfam), moderated by Jeremy Rempel (ICVA). More information here.
  • Did you miss it? The Grand Bargain Secretariat developed a guidance providing an overview of the Grand Bargain commitments and priorities, its main achievements, and concrete ways to implement them in the daily work at the operational level. Click here to read the guidance.

1-15 March 2023

  • Facilitation Group: The Facilitation Group members are working on the last round of revisions and suggestions of the draft proposal for the future of the Grand Bargain after June 2023. The revised proposal will serve as a basis for constituency consultations, which should take place in the first half of March 2023.
  • Risk Sharing Platform: Based on the strong evidence gained in 2022 through the Risk Sharing Platform and the report “Risk Sharing in Practice”, co-leads (The Netherlands and ICRC) aim to drive the development of a framework to enhance risk acceptance sector-wide through the Platform. Click here to know more about it.
  • The Grand Bargain at country-level: With the aim of translating the results achieved into the Grand Bargain and strengthening the linkage with the country-level, the Grand Bargain Secretariat developed a guidance providing an overview of the Grand Bargain commitments and priorities, its main achievements, and concrete ways to implement them in the daily work at the operational level. Click here to read the guidance.
  • Charter4Change recommendations: The Charter4Change (C4C) Coalition convened its 2022 Global Annual Conference on January 24th-26th 2023 with a Session on the Grand Bargain Caucus on Funding for Localisation. Based on the discussions, they developed recommendations targeting both members of the Grand Bargain Caucus and the wider range of Grand Bargain Signatories as they take forward efforts on funding for localisation. Click here to read the recommendations.

15– 28 February 2023

  • New Signatory: Pan American Development Foundation joins the Grand Bargain as the 66th Signatory. >> Click here to read why they decided to become a Signatory.
  • Annual Independent Report 2023: We are pleased to introduce the research team, who will be responsible for analysing the self-reports and authoring the Grand Bargain Annual Independent Report 2023:

Lead researcher – Victoria Metcalfe-Hough, HPG Research Associate / Independent Consultant. Vicki was the lead researcher and author of the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Grand Bargain annual independent reports. She has over 20 years of experience in leading and delivering policy and operational responses in crisis contexts. She spent over ten years in the UN system in the field and at headquarters developing and implementing strategic aid responses; formulating and rolling-out policy; building consensus among military, political, security and aid actors; advising senior decision and policy makers in the UN and member states on matters of international humanitarian and human rights law; and leading operational teams in high-risk environments. In recent years, Vicki has led a series of complex research programmes including a collection of studies for the UN Secretary-General on his sustaining peace and prevention agendas; published research on protecting civilians in armed conflict, on humanitarian aid and counter terrorism measures, forced displacement and migration; on the triple nexus; and supported inter-agency policy development and implementation. She has also spoken widely in the media and policy fora.

Coordinator/Researcher – Wendy Fenton, Coordinator, Humanitarian Practice Network (HPN). Wendy has 40 years of operational, management, evaluation and advisory experience in humanitarian and development programming for both donors and NGOs. She worked as coordinator and researcher on the previous four Grand Bargain annual reports. Wendy led the secretariat for the High-Level Panel on humanitarian cash transfers and managed subsequent research looking at the opportunities and obstacles to implementing the recommendations. She also manages the Humanitarian Practice Network at ODI which serves as a platform for humanitarian practitioners to share their learning and experience.

Researcher – Farah Manji, HPG Research Associate. Farah has over 13 years of research, policy, and programmatic experience with the World Bank, Overseas Development Institute, Research and Evidence Facility, and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace focused mainly on IDP, refugee and returnee issues. Farah is based in Nairobi and has worked in East Africa and Lebanon. She speaks English, Kiswahili and Modern Standard and Lebanese Arabic.

Research support – Zainab Moallin, HPG Research Officer. Zainab recently joined ODI from ALNAP, where she conducted a literature review and managed the practitioner and government survey components of the State of the Humanitarian System report (SOHS). Prior to that she worked in the non-profit sector with Standing Together’s Faith and Communities programme and on Care International UK’s advocacy initiatives. Zainab has also founded and organised Somali youth initiatives in the UK and successfully fund-raised for them. She is fluent in English and Somali.

  • The Grand Bargain in practice: As part of the Grand Bargain’s commitments, participation is the one, which can shift the power to the communities. In humanitarian operations, the Signatories have been implementing their commitments through different approaches: examples from various actors, such as the UNRWA, International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Food Programme, and the Norwegian Refugee Council have been developing community-driven programmes showing evidence that participation is happening. Read the examples in the article How do humanitarian organisations ensure affected people are part of the decision-making?
  • A4EP: A4EP calls on Signatories to put their commitments into action in the earthquake response in Türkiye and North West Syria. >> Click here to read their statement
  • Did you miss it? Here is the video explaining why reaching the 25% target of humanitarian funding to local and national actors is essential to make humanitarian aid more efficient and effective.

1– 15 February 2023

  • Facilitation Group update: Following the Facilitation Group and EP office Sherpa-level meeting on 30 January 2023 on the future of the Grand Bargain, the Facilitation Group will organise constituency consultations in February to continue the discussion on the Signatories’ views on the Grand Bargain beyond June 2023.
  • Caucus on funding for localisation: At the end of the last year, the caucus co-chairs developed draft roadmaps looking at individual and collective action required to reach the 25% target of direct and as direct as possible funding to L/NAs. After several bilateral meetings with individual caucus members, a group meeting is planned on 7 February 2023 to close the loop on the discussion on methodology and tracking, to discuss the collective SMART roadmap and to agree on next steps. The caucus is set to close in early March. Why is the target of 25% of humanitarian funding to local and national actors so important? >> Click here to watch the video
  • Self-reporting process: Deadline for submissions is 16 February 2023, COB.
  • Did you miss it? Here is an overview of how the Signatories are implementing the caucus outcomes, and the list of endorsers.

15 – 31 January 2023

  • Facilitation Group: Teleconference on 18 January 2023, to discuss the next steps of the process on the future of the Grand Bargain, and the dates of the Annual Meeting in June 2023.
  • Grand Bargain Workstream 2’s subgroup on Financing: Event open to all on 19 January 2023 15.00-17.00 (CET) on humanitarian financing data system to take stock of existing humanitarian data tracking system, increase knowledge and understanding of various humanitarian data tracking systems across the sector and to increase awareness of those contributing and managing humanitarian data tracking system on what is missing and what data users want to be able to see tracked Register here.
  • A4EP: The paper Shrink the needs, A Grander Bargain is no longer an option but a necessity has been released. This paper focuses on the future of the Grand Bargain, the necessity of shrinking the needs and finding solutions for equitable partnership and quality funding to local and national actors, the opportunities missed under the Grand Bargain 2.0, and the way forward. Read the paper here
  • Webinar on Grand Bargain self-reporting: Event on 26 January 2023 for a virtual Q&A session with the researchers who will be drafting the Annual Independent Report, ODI.
  • Workstream 6 (Participation Revolution): Meeting on 31 January 2023 (agenda to be confirmed).

1 – 15 January 2023

  • First letter of 2023 from Eminent Person Jan Egeland: Sharing the Grand Bargain’s achievements, what still needs to be done, the priorities for the next semester, and what the future of the Grand Bargain could look like. Read the letter.
  • Endorsement of caucus outcomes: Signatories have until 15 January 2023 to endorse the caucus outcomes. Access the outcome documents.

15 – 31 December 2022

  • Future of the Grand Bargain: Facilitation Group members are working on different options based on the feedback received in the survey in August/September 2022 and constituency consultations in autumn 2022, and will inform the Signatories of the next steps and opportunities for feedback in January 2023

1 – 15 December 2022

  • Caucus on funding for localisation: Meeting of smaller groups of caucus members based on the role (donor / intermediary) to discuss solutions to increase direct funding to local and national humanitarian actors; followed by a caucus meeting on 15 December 2022   
  • Workstream 6 (Participation Revolution): Meeting on 15 December 2022 (agenda to be shared)

15 – 30 November 2022

  • Caucus on funding for localisation: Meeting on 17 November 2022 will focus on the presentation of data, main trends and challenges and the caucus members will start discussing on way forward
  • Workstream 6 (Participation Revolution): Meeting on 17 November 2022 (agenda to be shared)
  • Implementation of caucus outcomes: Meeting on 21 November 2022 with all Signatories. The champions and members of the caucuses on quality funding and role of intermediaries will present key agreed elements of the caucuses, and how they are planning to implement the outcomes. The Signatories will be encouraged to endorse the outcomes and implement them as well.

1 – 15 November 2022

  • Facilitation Group: Teleconference on 9 November 2022, to discuss the sensitisation and implementation of the outcomes of the various caucuses, and the consultative process on the future of the Grand Bargain.
  • UN constituency: Consultation on 8 November 2022, to discuss the future of the Grand Bargain and updates
  • State of Humanitarian System Report: presentation by ALNAP on 9 November 2022 on the findings in relation to the Grand Bargain commitments. >> Click here to watch the recorded session

15 – 31 October 2022

  • Caucus on funding for localisation: Meeting on 24 October 2022, to take stock of progress, discuss preliminary findings of the primary data collection, and identify common challenges. 
  • The Workstream 6 (Participation Revolution): Meeting on 20 October 2022
  • Donor constituency: Consultation on 20 October 2022, to discuss the future of the Grand Bargain and updates on the caucuses

1 - 15 October 2022

  • The findings of the survey on the future of the Grand Bargain are published here.
  • Facilitation Group: Teleconference on 10 October 2022, to discuss the sensitisation and implementation of the outcomes of the various caucuses, and the consultative process on the future of the Grand Bargain.
  • As of 1 October 2022, UNHCR has taken over as the Chair of the Facilitation Group for October and November 2022.
  • ICRC and the Netherlands released the report that they have committed to produce at the 2021 Grand Bargain Annual Meeting, "Risk Sharing in practice: success stories, enablers, and barriers to risk sharing in the humanitarian sector". Find the full report her

15 - 30 September 2022

  • EU/DG ECHO joined the caucus on funding for localisation 
  • Facilitation Group teleconference took place on 26 September 2022, with a focus on the findings of the survey on the future of the Grand Bargain and next steps in the consultation process
  • Joint meeting between the workstream 6 (Participation Revolution) and the IASC AAP Task Force on 27 September 2022, under the auspices of the CHS Alliance

1 - 15 September 2022

  • UN constituency consultation took place on 2 September 2022
  • The meeting of the Caucus on funding for localisation took place on 7 September 2022 | Read the update and strategy here
  • The meeting of the members of Workstream 6 (Participation Revolution) took place on 13 September 2022 
  • Future of the Grand Bargain: The timeline for the consultation process was shared with the Signatories | Find the timeline here
  • Information session on the National Reference Groups (NRGs) took place on 15 September 2022 | Reach out to gbsecretariat@un.org for more information ​

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