On 12 October, PHAP and the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) hosted the second session of the learning stream on humanitarian funding for NGOs. Close to 200 individuals participated actively in the live event, featuring both presentations from UN agencies and NGOs and an opportunity for questions and discussion.

In order to provide participants with an overview of how some of the main UN agencies structured their partnerships with NGOs, two speakers from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) presented their agencies’ procedures and processes in this area. Fatima Sherif-Nor, Head of the Implementing Partnership Management Service at UNHCR, began with an overview of how the agency’s partnerships had expanded over the past decade, with partner expenditure now at around 40% of total UNHCR expenditure, followed by an introduction how UNHCR partnerships were handled in practice.

Fatima was followed by Kenneth Hansen from Faros, an NGO that provides shelter for unaccompanied minors in Greece, who shared his own experience becoming a partner with UNHCR, as well as his recommendations for other NGOs pursuing such partnerships.

Marcus Prior, Head of NGO Partnerships in the Partnerships, Advocacy & Coordination Division at WFP, presented his agency’s procedures for funding and partnering with NGOs. He also outlined WFP’s commitment to implementing its commitments made during the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.

The final brief presentation was delivered by Cecilia Roselli, Institutional Partnership Advisor at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), who focused on how international NGOs should approach UN partnership frameworks, providing clear recommendations for how to improve such partnerships.

If you missed the event, you can access video and audio recordings at phap.org/12oct2016

Learning stream on humanitarian financing

This event was the second session of five live interactive online learning events in the learning stream on humanitarian financing that ICVA and PHAP are organizing with the purpose of demystifying the complex humanitarian financing landscape and to provide NGOs and humanitarians with a stronger understanding of the different funding streams.

Upcoming sessions

• 10 November 2016: Pooled funding – how can NGOs engage?
• 6 December 2016: Bilateral funding – trends, challenges and opportunities for NGOs
• 27 January 2017: Private funding – a growing source for NGOs?

Recordings of past sessions

• 15 September 2016: Humanitarian financing – realities and emerging trends for NGOs
• 12 October 2016: UN humanitarian funding – demystifying NGO access