Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF) Operational Manual, February 2018

Introduction

  1. In February 2017, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator launched the NHF – a Country-based Pooled Fund (CBPF) managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – in support of life-saving humanitarian and recovery operations in Nigeria.

  2. Under the leadership of the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) for Nigeria, the NHF is supporting the timely allocation and disbursement of donor resources to the most critical humanitarian needs defined in the Nigeria Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).

  3. The NHF provides an opportunity for donors to pool their contributions to deliver a stronger collective response. It supports in-country relief organizations to reach the most vulnerable people and ensures maximum impact of limited resources:

  • Inclusive and promoting partnerships: Funds are directly available to a wide range of relief partners. This includes international, national and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), UN Agencies and Red Cross/Red Crescent Organizations.

  • Timely and flexible: It supports the delivery of an agile response in a fluid emergency.

  • Efficient and accountable: It minimizes transaction costs and provides transparency and accountability.
    Recipient organizations are thoroughly evaluated and relief projects are monitored with regular reporting on achievements.

  1. Like all CBPFs, the NHF is designed to complement other humanitarian funding sources, such as bilateral funding and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)1 .

  2. This Operational Manual defines the country-specific rules and regulations of the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF). It describes the governance arrangements, allocation modalities, priorities, and accountability mechanisms of the Fund, as well as the roles and responsibilities of partners and stakeholders involved in NHF processes.

  3. This manual is issued by the HC and endorsed by the Advisory Board (AB) to:

i. Provide clarification and instructions for partners and stakeholders involved in NHF management, policy and governance;

ii. Describe the steps and requirements of allocation processes with the aim of enhancing timely and strategic allocation decisions;

iii. Guide Partners, Sector Co-leads and members of Strategic Review Committees at sector level;

iv. Describe the accountability and risk management framework of the NHF.

  1. This manual is based upon and compliant with the Global Guidelines for Country Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs), the global rules and regulations that apply to all CBPFs.