About the Regional Humanitarian Fund for West and Central Africa (Niger envelope)

The Regional Humanitarian Fund for West and Central Africa (FHRAOC) builds on the success of the model of Common Humanitarian Funds for countries with the aim of extending them to more varied contexts, such as the Sahel crisis, and in a more cost-effective manner. The Regional Humanitarian Fund for West and Central Africa (hereinafter "FHRAOC") will:

  • Support the humanitarian response in countries where the establishment of a CBPF is not optimal;
  • Support a coherent humanitarian response to regional emergencies, promote cross-border collaboration and synergies between country envelope allocations;
  • Expand access to direct funding for NGOs, including national and/or local organizations;
  • Promote global initiatives that benefit from the quality of aid and humanitarian response.
  • The FHRAOC, based in the OCHA Regional Office for West and Central Africa, manages country envelopes which will be activated or deactivated according to humanitarian needs, available resources and donor commitments. The activation of a data payroll envelope will be approved by the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) on the recommendation of OCHA after consultation with a range of stakeholders, including donors and operational partners.

The conditions for opening an envelope include:

  • A formal and explicit request from the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) to the ERC;
  • A strong rationale based on the scale of humanitarian needs, operational requirements and coordination capacities;
  • Donor engagement that achieves a specified minimum contribution threshold; And
  • The commitment of the CH to ensure appropriate governance and management of funds with the support of an Advisory Committee.

As is currently the case for CBPFs, a minimum threshold of financial commitments, adapted to the country context, will be established in order to activate a country envelope. This will help avoid dilution of resources and ensure that they are sufficient to support a strategic allocation in a given country.