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Appeal
Rapid Response Fund 2015 – GRRF15
Total Appeal Target: US$ 1,200,000
(US$1,178,000 for the RRF & US$22,000 for the RST)
Balance Requested from ACT Alliance: US$883,300
(US$867,000 for the RRF & US$16,300 for the RST)
Geneva, January 19, 2015
Subject: Request for ACT’s Rapid Response Fund and Rapid Support Team Contributions
The Rapid Response Fund (RRF) is a global fund of the ACT Alliance administered by the ACT secretariat. The Rapid Support Team (RST) is a team of persons who can be rapidly deployed to an emergency location to assist ACT members in an emergency response. Funds for the RRF and RST are provided by ACT Alliance members and non-members on the basis of an annual appeal.
In 2014, 14 RRF projects valued at US$773,000 were approved. Coincidentally, in 2013 as well, 14 RRF projects valued at US$772,000 were approved, so disbursements from the RRF have been stable in the past two years.
The RRF appeal continued to enjoy a good funding coverage in 2014, like in past years and was funded at 84%. The 2014 RRF appeal closed with a balance of US$316,765. Already in the first weeks of January, ACT has approved RRF projects in India and Malawi to the value of US$147,000 with another probable payment request on the way. Therefore, we are gradually nearing utilization of the 2014 balance.
[A] RAPID RESPONSE FUND – Appeal target for 2015 is US$1,178,000. Balance carried forward from 2014 is US$311,000. Therefore amount requested for 2015 is US$867,000.
1. PURPOSE
The purpose of the RRF is to provide one-time financial resources to a member or members of the ACT Alliance, normally in the first days following a small-scale emergency, to facilitate the member(s)’ immediate small-scale emergency response in saving lives, over a time period not to exceed three months. The response will be gender-sensitive. The emergency could be of a rapid onset nature (e.g., earthquake or flood) or of a complex humanitarian character (e.g., refugee or internal displacement situation, resulting from breakdown of social, political and economic systems). On an exceptional basis, RRF funding can be requested to respond to a slow-onset emergency.
New: Since 2013, the RRF budget includes US$6,000 to support monitoring of RRFs, with the inclusion of forum members and the ACT secretariat. In 2015, this has been increased to US$10,000. This reflects the strategic priorities of the secretariat to strengthen monitoring processes for RRFs.
2. CRITERIA AND PARAMETERS FOR USE
Criteria:
• The RRF must be channeled towards life-saving actions related to the emergency (e.g., food, nutrition, health, water/sanitation, clothing, shelter, household kits, psychosocial activities, and necessary transport/logistics, staff and support costs).
• RRF activities must be completed within three months.
• RRF requests must be made in accordance with ACT Alliance policies and principles.
• The RRF request should be submitted within two days of the occurrence of the emergency, and will be approved within 24 hours of receipt by the ACT secretariat.
• RRFs will be used in small-medium scale emergencies, where a one-time transfer of RRF funds combined with locally available resources will be sufficient to meet the needs of that emergency. An RRF is usually not followed by an appeal proposal.
• In cases where the RRF leads to an appeal (e.g., if the magnitude of the emergency is greater than originally thought), then the initial RRF funding will be treated as a funding advance. This means that once funds for the appeal are received, the ACT secretariat replenishes the advance from Appeal funds until the full amount has been recovered.
• RRF funds may be used to cover the cost of replenishment of a member’s in-country stocks which were used in the emergency response.
• Only one RRF per emergency will be issued. Accordingly, when there is more than one ACT Alliance member in the country, there should be consultation within the forum/among members prior to the RRF submission being sent to the ACT secretariat.
• The RRF request should be sent by the forum or endorsed by all ACT members in a country where no forum exists.
Who may request RRF funding:
• Any ACT Alliance member from the global south and The Lutheran World Federation
• which is planning to implement an emergency response in the affected country
• which has signed the Membership Cooperation Agreement and is in good standing (e.g., positive compliance with reporting requirements from previous ACT emergency response), and
• which requires additional financial resources for the emergency response.
Amount:
• The maximum RRF per emergency will be US$ 60,000.
• In emergencies where needs may be greater, where there are several members implementing emergency response activities and/or where US$ 60,000 may not suffice to carry out effective initial response, a higher amount may be proposed and authorized as an RRF to a limit of US$ 100,000, at the discretion and on the exceptional approval of the ACT Alliance general secretary.
• Any unspent balance from the RRF implementation must be returned to the ACT secretariat.
• Funds available to the ACT secretariat to administer the RRF are limited. Utmost care, coordination and consultation will be checked by ACT secretariat staff with forums/members requesting the RRF to ensure the wisest utilization of these funds.
• The ACT secretariat encourages, and welcomes, contributions from interested members towards a specific emergency and specific RRF (in addition to members’ annual contributions to the global RRF fund), in order to maintain sufficient funds in the global RRF fund.
Reporting by members who receive RRF funds:
• At the end of the first month following the emergency, the forum/requesting member(s) will submit a situation report (sitrep) to the ACT secretariat, using the ACT sitrep format (Annex 8). Forum/members are encouraged to accompany the sitrep with photos and human interest stories.
• A final report (narrative and financial) will be prepared by the requesting member(s) and submitted to the ACT secretariat within 60 days of completion of RRF activities, following the ACT appeal and RRF reporting guidelines (see Annex 10) and ACT appeal and RRF financial report format (see annex 10.1).
• Expenditure will be reported against the original budget headings. The US$ equivalent MUST be shown alongside with local currency reporting as was done in the budget.
• An audit report is required by the ACT secretariat if one member receives US$ 50,000 or more for an RRF. The audit report should be submitted within 90 days of completion of RRF activities.
• If a member receives less than US$ 50,000, an audit report does not need to be submitted to the ACT secretariat. However, the member must include the RRF funds in the annual audit of the member organization. Income and expenditure incurred on the RRF should be clearly distinguished and identifiable from the annual audit report. While ACT will not be requesting these audit reports on a regular basis, the member must be able to produce the annual audit report upon request by the ACT secretariat.
• In cases where the RRF leads to an appeal (e.g. if the magnitude of the emergency is greater than originally foreseen by the ACT forum/members), the RRF will be understood to be an advance and will be reimbursed to the global RRF fund from the appeal funds.
Reporting by the ACT secretariat:
• The ACT secretariat will prepare and disseminate a summary report (narrative and financial) to the alliance on the use of RRF funds for the period January to December of a given year. The ACT secretariat annual audit report will include the RRF.
• The above reports will be disseminated to all members within six months of the completion of the year.
• In the case that funds were contributed by a member towards a specific RRF project, final financial and narrative reports (including audited financial statements where applicable) that are received from the requesting member(s), will be shared with the ACT funding member.
For the full document, please click here.
