By Puru Shah
On May 15, 2015, the UN General Assembly held a special session during which they passed a resolution on ‘Strengthening emergency relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in response to the devastating effects of the earthquake’. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointed out that The Nepal Earthquake Flash Appeal launched by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is currently only 14 per cent funded. He requested foreign donors to provide more aid so that emergency relief and shelter can be provided to affected victims before the monsoon season starts (UN News).
The UN Flash Appeal is one of the more important relief funding requests for Nepal that is not very well understood. This post will include a guide for dummies that will briefly describe what the UN Flash appeal is, who makes this appeal, who coordinates relief action, the amount requested, the amount received and how the funds will be utilized.
It also includes graphs and charts to explain total funding received and requested per UN cluster and its recipients within respective clusters.
The bar graph below shows total funding received and requested per cluster (12 in total).
Of US$423 million requested, only $66 million (15.7%) has been received so far, as shown in the pie chart below.
The bar graph below shows the donors who have contributed to the UN Flash Appeal so far.
On May 15, 2015, the UN General Assembly held a special session during which they passed a resolution on ‘Strengthening emergency relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in response to the devastating effects of the earthquake’. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointed out that The Nepal Earthquake Flash Appeal launched by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is currently only 14 per cent funded. He requested foreign donors to provide more aid so that emergency relief and shelter can be provided to affected victims before the monsoon season starts (UN News).
The UN Flash Appeal is one of the more important relief funding requests for Nepal that is not very well understood. This post will include a guide for dummies that will briefly describe what the UN Flash appeal is, who makes this appeal, who coordinates relief action, the amount requested, the amount received and how the funds will be utilized.
It also includes graphs and charts to explain total funding received and requested per UN cluster and its recipients within respective clusters.
Flash Appeal For Nepal
On April 29, 2015 a flash appeal was made for US$415 million to respond to the humanitarian needs of 8 million Nepalis affected by the earthquake, over the next three months. This has since been revised to US$423 million. As of May 17, only 15.7% of flash appeal funds have been received. This includes $15 million from Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
The bar graph below shows total funding received and requested per cluster (12 in total).
Of US$423 million requested, only $66 million (15.7%) has been received so far, as shown in the pie chart below.
The bar graph below shows the donors who have contributed to the UN Flash Appeal so far.
A Dummy's Guide to The UN Flash Appeal
What is a UN Flash Appeal?
According to the UN, "A flash appeal is an inter-agency humanitarian response strategy to a major disaster that requires a coordinated response beyond the capacity of the government plus any single agency. The appeal addresses acute needs for a common planning horizon, normally up to six months."In case of Nepal, the appeal has been made to address growing humanitarian needs that include food, drinking water, shelter and medication for the next three months.
Who Makes Flash Appeals?
According to the UN, "The United Nations Resident and/or Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC) triggers the process in consultation with the humanitarian country team (HCT, comprising UN and non-UN partners and actors) and the affected government (though not depending on permission of the government)."In case of Nepal, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC) for Nepal Jamie McGoldrick along with other humanitarian partners made this appeal on April 29, four days after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on April 25, 2015. The UN HC works with government, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and affected communities. UN OCHA office in Nepal supports the HC.
Who is UN OCHA?
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) is the leading UN agency responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies.Among its many activities, OCHA publishes updates and situation reports on its reliefweb.int. It also tracks relief funding received from foreign donors via Financial Tracking Service (FTS). In addition, it publishes openly available data sets on Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) website.
"The Financial Tracking Service (FTS) is a global, real-time database which records all reported international humanitarian aid (including that for NGOs and the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, bilateral aid, in-kind aid, and private donations)." (UN OCHA)
What Are UN Clusters?
The UN has created nine thematic clusters, each led by a UN agency which is accountable to the UN Humanitarian Coordinator. This avoids unpredictable humanitarian responses and response gaps in some areas. The nine clusters, together with their lead agencies, are:- Nutrition (UNICEF)
- Health (WHO)
- Water/Sanitation (UNICEF)
- Emergency Shelter (UNHCR/IFRC)
- Camp Coordination/Management (UNHCR/IOM)
- Protection (UNHCR/OHCHR/UNICEF)
- Early Recovery (UNDP)
- Logistics (WFP)
- Emergency Telecommunications (OCHA/UNICEF/WFP)
Are Flash Appeal and CERF Different?
"The CERF is a stand-by fund established by the United Nations General Assembly to enable more timely, reliable and equitable humanitarian assistance to those affected by natural disasters and other types of emergency. Only UN organisations and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) can access the CERF grant and loan elements, by mandate of the GA.
The CERF is a funding mechanism, pooling resources from donors for humanitarian response, and the flash appeal is the strategic plan and list of projects that CERF (and bilateral donors) should fund." (UN OCHA)
In case of Nepal, $15 million from CERF was contributed to flash appeal funds.
The chart below shows the funds received and remaining for the 20 largest recipients of flash appeal funds.
In case of Nepal, $15 million from CERF was contributed to flash appeal funds.
The chart below shows the funds received and remaining for the 20 largest recipients of flash appeal funds.
Flash Appeal Funds Received & Requested Per Cluster
Now that we have a fairly good idea of what UN flash appeal is, who UN OCHA is and what UN clusters are, we will review the recipients in each cluster. Specifically, we will review the funds received and remaining per recipient in each cluster.This section will include charts to represent total funding received and requested in each of the following eight clusters.
- FOOD SECURITY
- SHELTER AND NFIs
- Water & Sanitation (WASH)
- HEALTH
- EDUCATION
- EARLY RECOVERY
- PROTECTION
- COORDINATION
Since several field reports from affected remote areas in Nepal have indicated that food, shelter and seeds are among the most needed immediate relief items, pay special attention to the funding for the first two clusters.
Also pay attention to the funding for education cluster since a report by UNICEF has outlined that education for nearly 1 million children is in jeopardy due to the earthquakes in Nepal.
Since these bar graphs are self-explanatory, I will not go into any detailed commentary about its recipients.
Since these bar graphs are self-explanatory, I will not go into any detailed commentary about its recipients.
1. FOOD SECURITY
2. SHELTER AND NFIs
3. Water & Sanitation (WASH)
4. HEALTH
5. EDUCATION
6. EARLY RECOVERY
7. PROTECTION
8. COORDINATION
Now you have a better understanding of what a UN flash appeal is, agencies involved in providing humanitarian relief and why flash appeal is so crucial for recovery of a country after a disaster. The funds received through flash appeal are channeled through humanitarian agencies to provide urgent relief such as food, shelter, water and medical care among others. In addition, it also provides funds for early recovery projects.
Below are more resources for your detailed study. In order to review each of the projects funded by flash appeal funds, see the dataset, "List of Planned Projects (grouped by standard sector), with funding status of each" on FTS website.
Data Source: FTS Website for UN Flash Appeal. See below.
More Resources
Puru Shah is a team member of One Stop Portal. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science (Electrical) from Trinity University in San Antonio, USA.
No comments:
Post a Comment