IASC Working Group - draft summary of 10-11 March 2015 meeting

FUTURE OF HUMANITARIAN FINANCING

Mr Brian Lander, WFP, facilitated this session and stressed that the Working Group had an opportunity to discuss what could be recommended to the High-Level Panel established by the UN Secretary-General to explore ways to address the humanitarian funding gap.  

Ms Sandra Aviles, FAO presented the main findings of the report on the “Future of Humanitarian Financing” prepared by CAFOD, World Vision and FAO under the work plan of the IASC Task Team on Humanitarian Financing.   She highlighted three key challenges:  a demand for humanitarian funding that exceeds the supply due to the limited number of donors, a financial architecture that creates huge inefficiencies, and a system that is not effectively connected to other aid flows, for instance remittances or development aid.    The report proposes ways to address these challenges: a new division of labour, improved cost-effectiveness of programming, referring to other actors when appropriate, increase development investments, embrace the diversity of financing actors, commit to subsidiarity and prioritise national-led response. The Good Humanitarian Donorship has received the report with great interest.

The Working Group endorsed the report and agreed to submit it to the High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Funding with a cover note from the Chair of the WG to be circulated to the WG for comments.