OCHA

Eritrea

Philippines

Highlights 2011

OCHA supported the RC/HC in developing briefing notes/advocacy messages for meetings with the Regional Directors Team in Johannesburg and Nairobi in July and December 2011. The same messages were shared with CRD.
The RC/HC CERF report was compiled and submitted on time.
Two national staff attended workshops in 2011. The GIS/Database Officer attended a CERF training in Nairobi and ICT training in Bangkok. The Senior Admin and Finance Associate attended an ERR training in Sweden and IPSAS training. The latter carried out a three-month surge mission with OCHA Somalia.

OVERVIEW 2011

In early 2011, substantial changes occurred in the relationship between the UN and the Government of the State of Eritrea, with important implications for future UN-Government cooperation.

In January 2011, the Government informed the UN that it would discontinue the UN Development and Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2007-2011 by the end of June 2011, and that it would not be renewed. The reason was the Government’s desire to curb dependence on foreign grant-in-aid/financial assistance in line with its self-reliance policy. Effective from 1 July 2011 to the end of 2012, UN assistance would be limited to health, water supply and sanitation, for which an interim cooperation framework was signed in July 2011. The Government planned to review the framework by the end of April 2012, with a view to expand it, allow it to continue in its present form or cancel it. However, this is yet to be accomplished.

Over 75 per cent of activities in the UNDAF 2007-2011 were humanitarian. Therefore, despite the Government’s discontinuation of the CAP in 2006, the UN Country Team (UNCT), with OCHA’s support, was able to address critical humanitarian concerns within the UNDAF.

OCHA found creative ways to fulfil its mandate. It kept a strong focus on advocacy, contingency planning, information management and CERF funding. Between 2006 and 2010, Eritrea benefited from more than $20 million in CERF funding.

In the face of dwindling funding opportunities, CERF has become a key resource for addressing critical humanitarian needs in Eritrea, especially in health and nutrition. Due to the uncertainty surrounding UN programming in early 2011, the UN Country Team in Eritrea opted out of the CERF Underfunded Emergency process. With this decision, and the Government’s announcement to discontinue the UNDAF beyond 2011, OCHA and the UNCT lost two key coordination tools essential in addressing critical humanitarian needs. Following the agreement of an interim cooperation framework with the UN, the UNCT regained its confidence and ability to implement programmes using CERF funding in 2012.

Given the restrictive environment within which the UN was allowed to operate, it was difficult for OCHA to register any major achievements against priorities set for 2011. However, a modest contribution was made in supporting the HC’s advocacy agenda and assisting visiting missions, including that of the Director of OCHA’s Coordination and Response Division in September 2011.

Regarding local development, the GIS/Database Officer and the Senior Admin/Finance Associate attended training workshops outside Eritrea. The office in Eritrea supported the Horn of Africa crisis, organizing a three-month surge mission of its Senior Administration and Financing Associate to the OCHA Somalia office in the last quarter of 2011. OCHA Eritrea ensured that the RC/HC CERF report for 2010 was submitted to the CERF secretariat on time. Although under-resourced, OCHA has proved itself an invaluable part of the UNCT, leading to calls for a strengthened OCHA presence in Eritrea from all partners.

In light of the policy changes, a major unresolved issue is the future of UN operations in Eritrea beyond 2012. The Government is determined to implement its self-reliance policy that discourages dependency on external assistance, whether from the UN or other donors. A review is expected before the end of April 2012. OCHA and the UN’s ability to operate effectively in Eritrea will depend on the review’s outcome.

WORKPLAN 2011

GOAL 1: A more enabling environment for humanitarian action.
Objective 1.2 Relationships strengthened with a wider group of operational partners and other relevant actors in advanced humanitarian action.
INDICATOR	The UNDAF and UNCT Workplan reflect humanitarian principles, issues and relevant humanitarian priorities, as identified by the UN Country Team. They clarify an appropriate division of labour/distinction between the UN’s political and humanitarian efforts.
ACHIEVEMENTS	Opportunities for strengthening humanitarian action were substantially reduced. This was due to the discontinuation of the UNDAF in June 2011, the phasing out of international NGOs’ operations in 2011, and reduced funding opportunities for humanitarian and development assistance.

GOAL 2: A more effective humanitarian coordination system
Objective 2.1 Effective mechanisms that manage and support accountable humanitarian coordination leaders.
INDICATOR	Percentage of agenda issues addressed by strategic-level HCT that are submitted by operational level inter-cluster coordination mechanisms.
ACHIEVEMENTS	The Government is the sole implementing partner for all humanitarian and development programmes, and it prefers to deal with partners on a bilateral basis. On the Government’s request, international NGOs phased out their operations in 2011, and most donors stopped funding programmes in Eritrea. Hence opportunities for effective coordination outside the UN Country Team no longer exist.
INDICATOR	Percentage of agenda issues addressed by strategic-level HCT that are submitted from operational-level inter-cluster coordination forums.
ACHIEVEMENTS	Following the discontinuation of the UNDAF process in June 2011 and limitation of UN support to health, water supply and sanitation, the UN was only authorized to deal with the Ministries of Finance (for coordination), Health and Water & Environment for technical coordination. The Government handles all operational-level issues, with the UN role reduced to that of provider of resources.
INDICATOR	Percentage of inter-cluster, cluster and cross-cutting recommendations issued by HCT that are implemented at the operational level.
ACHIEVEMENTS	Decisions by the HCT (or UNCT in Eritrea’s case) are not taken into account at the operational level, because all projects (humanitarian and development) are implemented through Government structures.
Objective 2.2 An OCHA capable of responding quickly with clear triggers for establishing, phasing and drawing down operations.
INDICATOR	Country Office Strategy developed, including planning indicators in consultation with partner Government and CRD.
ACHIEVEMENTS	Following the CRD Director’s mission to Eritrea in September 2011, drawdown plans for the OCHA Eritrea office were shelved due to the country’s fragile food-security situation. The future of OCHA’s presence in Eritrea is intimately linked to future UN-Government cooperation.
Objective 2.3 A more predictable and scalable suite of OCHA services and tools to support leaders and partners in response preparedness, humanitarian response and transition.
INDICATOR	Percentage of key OCHA tools (contingency plans, UNCT Workplan, sit reps, briefs) using sex- and age-disaggregated data.
ACHIEVEMENTS	Access to data for planning remains a challenge. The report of the rapid nutrition assessment (using MUAC) conducted during the second round of the nationwide Vitamin A distribution in November 2011 has not been released. 100 per cent of CERF projects consist of sex- and gender-disaggregated data. Most proposals target children under age 5, and pregnant and lactating women.
Objective 2.4 A more systematic humanitarian programme cycle (needs assessment and analysis, joint planning, fund-raising and resource allocation, and monitoring and evaluation).
INDICATOR	Needs-assessment plan developed and endorsed by HCT.
ACHIEVEMENTS	Not applicable. Inter-agency assessments have not been allowed in Eritrea since 2006 due to access restrictions.
INDICATOR	Percentage of projects in the funding mechanism (UNDAF, Workplan) coded with the Gender Marker.
ACHIEVEMENTS	The Gender Marker was not yet rolled out.
INDICATOR	Percentage of total projects submitted prioritized as “high” in compliance with HCT-endorsed methodology.
ACHIEVEMENTS	100 per cent of CERF projects, and funds are prioritized using UNCT-endorsed criteria. Given Eritrea’s vulnerable food-security situation, the UNCT has continued to prioritize health, nutrition and food aid to refugees and maternity waiting homes for CERF funds.