Country-Based Pooled Funds and the Grand Bargain

Investing in Humanity

Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs) play a key role in delivering the “Grand Bargain” (GB), a set of reforms to improve the humanitarian financing system which was agreed by aid organizations and donors during the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit. CBPF allocations are fully flexible in-country, support the highest priority projects of Humanitarian Response Plans (HRPs) and adhere to humanitarian principles. They incentivise wider inclusion of humanitarian partners in coordination mechanisms and are the largest source of direct funding for national and local actors. They also improve transparency, promote multi-sectoral cash programming, contribute to better reporting practices and help to minimize transaction costs.

CBPFs are un-earmarked and fully-flexible in country
Grand Bargain work stream 8

CBPFs enable donors to maximize the value, flexibility and reach of unearmarked humanitarian funding:

  • CBPFs ensure allocations are needs-based, prioritized through inclusive and transparent processes under the leadership of Humanitarian Coordinators, and support the delivery of HRPs.

  • CBPFs provide timely funding to promote early action and mitigate the impact of crises on communities and their livelihoods.

  • CBPFs increase funding directly accessible to local and international relief organizations, leveraging comparative advantages and encouraging collective ownership of the response.

  • CBPFs enable new and diverse donors to respond to complex emergencies. They provide an optimal solution for donors that are unable to directly fund or assess implementing partners.

In volatile contexts where programmatic focus and priorities shift rapidly, access to flexible funding through CBPFs has given partners the ability to innovate and tailor solutions to specific challenges. For example, in 2016, the Syria Humanitarian Fund supported the construction of underground “bunkerized” hospitals in besieged areas to protect patients and medical staff from airstrikes and shelling.