Facilitation Group 2019-2020: Workplan
As we start our tenure as the Facilitation Group 2019-2020, we wanted to share with you some of our upcoming plans and priorities for our collective efforts for a more efficient and effective humanitarian system. First of all, we would like to inform you that the deadline for the submission of self-reports will be 14 February 2020. We will communicate the details as soon as they are available.
Secondly, as you’ll see in the attached workplan, building on the achievements of the previous Facilitation Group, we set out three objectives for the next year:
1) Strengthen collective accountability. The Annual Meeting 2019 demonstrated a reinvigorated commitment to the Grand Bargain by the 61 Signatories. Together we put forward 15 collective and more than 40 individual action points to scale up existing successes and address the challenges that are blocking the progress of the Grand Bargain.
These priorities will set the ground for collectively pushing our efforts forward in the year to come. Successes to build on include advancing localization by focusing on quality in partnerships and support, through capacity development, engagement of women and youth organizations, and analysing how we share risks appropriately; focusing on cash coordination, inclusive participation, and working towards the improvement of cost management and enhancing the quality of cash funding; and scaling-up the adoption of the 8+3 reporting template. In relation to remaining challenges, unlocking an increase in quality funding has been linked to collective progress on several commitment areas to increase necessary trust, including transparency, reduced management costs and joint needs assessments.
Many of you have already followed up on both your individual and collective action points. During our tenure, we will support you to monitor the progress of the action points to ensure accountability and a foundation for the Annual Meeting 2020. Please do look back to the action points you committed individually, and those we agreed to collectively, and proactively start implementing them to be able to reflect the follow-up in the Annual Independent Report.
2) Maintain political momentum. We remain committed to an open and inclusive communication through the Grand Bargain Secretariat. We will share dates, plans and developments both on the website and in the bimonthly newsletter, where we also hope to read your individual achievements and planned activities.
3) Take the Grand Bargain from policy to practice. We would like to use the upcoming year to support the roll-out of the Grand Bargain commitments at regional and country level, and to raise awareness in operational contexts of the positive change we are delivering together. Your role is especially important in identifying and championing the initiatives being implemented by your organisation as a contribution to the wider effort, both through your annual reporting and by updating the Secretariat on notable progress. On that note, we’d also ask you to support our communications across your own organisation. We know that the Grand Bargain can seem distant to operational colleagues – if you can reinforce success through your own internal leadership and communications then we are more likely to achieve our shared goals.
Spring 2021 will soon be upon us – together we can make sure that after five years of the Grand Bargain we can look back and point at the tangible progress we achieved together to improve humanitarian aid for the people in need.
With best wishes,
Gareth Price-Jones, Executive Secretary, SCHR
The Grand Bargain Facilitation Group Chair, on behalf of
The Grand Bargain Facilitation Group 2019-2020 – ECHO, ICRC, OCHA, SCHR, UK, OCHA, WFP