Challenges of resource mobilization and transparency in humanitarian operations and new FTS launch

Background:
More money was committed by donors in 2016 than any other year - a record $12.6 billion was received.However, faced with ever-growing demands, the funding gap last year remains a staggering $9.5 billion. This gap threatens vital operations in some of the world’s worst crises, risking the lives, well-being and dignity of millions.

This session is for you if: You are a donor or work with the UN, NGOs or other humanitarian organizations. You are a user of the Financial Tracking Service (FTS) and are interested to hear how it is improving.

Expected outcomes:
The funding requested for 2017 will support vital humanitarian operations in 33 countries which could translate into life-saving food assistance to people on the brink of starvation in the Lake Chad Basin and South Sudan, provide protection for the most vulnerable people fleeing violence and terror in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and enable education for children whose schooling was disrupted by El Niño. This session is intended to help participants better understand:
• Humanitarian funding trends and patterns over the past years;
• How and where humanitarian financial contributions are channeled and the processes which humanitarian partners use to identify requirements;
• The importance of transparency in reporting to support accountability to all humanitarian stakeholders, from donor taxpayers to those in need;
• How the improved FTS and its new functions will support humanitarian partners to make better decisions in allocating humanitarian contributions.

Key Messages:
1. A recognition that funding and financing in line with Humanitarian Response Plans (HRPs) is the best investment to address people’s needs in humanitarian crises. Our humanitarian response plans are evidence-based, comprehensive, prioritised and ready to implement. They are reliable, effective and efficient investments.
2. For the humanitarian community to demonstrate its ability to change, to build on existing tools and mechanisms to further strengthen international humanitarian response and to address all essential humanitarian needs without exception; recognition that all involved are accountable to people in need when humanitarian plans are underfunded or not implemented.
3. Expressions of solidarity with people in need - and the commitments made at the World Humanitarian Summit - must be turned into meaningful action. The humanitarian community is already transforming to ensure a better, faster and more effective delivery of aid, including through the Grand Bargain and the New Way of Working.
4. A recognition that to ensure transparency and accountability, all actors must report regularly and in detail on the funding they give or receive, and how these funds are used; this reporting underpins our collective capacity to make well-informed decisions and helps to demonstrate the our progress towards the commitments that we have made.