In May 2021 the Governing Board approved this revised Humanitarian Policy. Endorsed by the EPHR (Emergency Preparedness & Humanitarian Response) Reference Group and the Technical Working Group for ACT humanitarian reform, the policy is designed to enable an effective ecumenical response that saves lives and maintains dignity whilst strengthening the resilience of affected communities and accountability to people and communities affected by crises. The five reform areas set out in the revised policy are:
- Rapid Response Fund (RRF) will be expanded to cover small and medium-sized crises
- Appeals will be re-focused to large-scale and protracted crises and Emergency Steering Committees established for all major crises
- A consortia approach will become an integral part of the ACT Humanitarian Mechanism
- EPRP – joint programming at forum/country level will be incentivised
- Humanitarian financing of the secretariat will include direct costings at appeal level
The RRF is ACT’s main mechanism for locally-led response and its primary purpose is to provide resources to national members of the Alliance in the first days following an emergency. Requesting members are required to apply the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) and Sphere in the design and implementation of RRFs. The RRF is a unique fund that demonstrates the commitment of the Alliance to localisation.
Collectively, these reforms are designed to reposition our work to ensure we are delivering on the humanitarian objectives set out in our Global Strategy. We are in the process of developing revised tools and templates for RRF and ACT Appeals as well as operational guidance, scheduled to be piloted in Autumn 2021, with wider adoption planned in early 2022.
ACT Humanitarian Policy rev 2021 English
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