Humanitarian Response Fund – Ethiopia: annual report 2013

The HRF funding strategy during the first half of
2013 was to prioritize livelihood interventions, by
linking beneficiary targeting between livelihood
and ongoing emergency nutrition activities in
order to enhance the sustainability of the
humanitarian response. This strategy was
revised during the mid-year review of the HRF
as a low funding balance required prioritization
of urgent humanitarian needs.
Fifty-three projects valued at US$ 27.9 million
and covering a wide range of emergency
response activities were funded, including postarrival
assistance to thousands of Ethiopians
from Saudi Arabia and Yemen, support to
malnourished children and the displaced,
national and regional vaccination campaigns,
emergency WASH projects and ensuring
humanitarian air services. The Fund ended the
year with a balance of only US$ 5.7 million, the
lowest level in several years. Contributions of
US$ 2.2 million received in December from the
Governments of Sweden and Switzerland
increased the end of year balance.
During the year, the HRF was the first point of
response for unforeseen emergencies,
particularly during the unprecedented large
scale return of Ethiopian migrants deported from
Saudi Arabia in November. The HRF was the
first to quickly redirect the first tranche of funds
from unexpended costs of a previous allocation
provided to support similar protection services to
Ethiopian migrants stranded in Yemen. A total of
US$ 2.5 million was allocated to the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) to
provide post-arrival assistance including food,
non-food items (NFIs), health services and
temporary shelter in Addis Ababa, as well as to
cover the costs of onward transportation and
small reintegration cash grants.
As part of a broader strategy by OCHA and
humanitarian/development partners to reestablish
presence in the area, the HRF funded
a nutrition-sensitive livestock intervention in Fik
(Nogob) zone in Somali Region. Access to the
zone was restricted for international partners for
the last two years following a security incident
that involved a WFP staff. The project aimed to promote recovery of livestock conditions and
thereby improved the nutrition status of the
widely pastoralist communities.
The HRF supported its first stand-alone
Education in Emergencies (EiE) project in
conflict-affected areas of Meyu and Kumbi
woredas of East Hararge zone, Oromia Region.
The activities provided access to basic
education to 7,676 school-age children out of
which 37 per cent were girls.
In collaboration with the Department for
International Development (DFID), the HRF
Section developed the Business Case and LogFrame.
The adoption of the Log-frame will
strengthen OCHA’s partnership with donors and
also potentially inform a standardized
accountability framework for all Country-Based
Pooled Funds (CBPF).
Staff support to other CBPF programmes,
Emergency Response Funds (ERF) and
Common Humanitarian Funds (CHF), was
provided by the HRF during the year. The HRF
Manager supported the CHF Somalia
management for six months, while the
Monitoring officer provided extended support to
the ERF in Syria. Such missions are encouraged
as it promotes experience sharing between
different CBPFs.
As part of the UN Board of Auditor’s (BoA)
global exercise, the HRF hosted a mission by
the BoA to conduct a performance audit on
OCHA’s strategic engagement with
implementing partners. In 2013, Ethiopia was
one of the case studies of the BoA to inform its
report to the General Assembly. The main
purpose of the visit was to examine the Fund’s
programmatic mandate and management
system. Some members of the team also visited
projects in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and
People’s Region (SNNPR).
Other major activities delivered with HRF
funding include:
? 17,225 children with Severe Acute
Malnutrition (SAM) in Outpatient
Therapeutic Programmes (OTPs) and
an additional 877 children suffering from SAM with medical complications in
Stabilization Centers (SCs) were
treated. A further 53,456 children, 7,242
elders and 60,987 pregnant and nursing
mothers with Moderate Acute
Malnutrition (MAM) also received
treatment;
? 115,022 households were provided with
seed and tubers and some 20,850
households were targeted for livestock
interventions;
? 11,530 migrants deported from Saudi
Arabia and 780 migrants from Yemen
were provided with post arrival lifesaving
assistance.
All applications were appraised for conformity
with ERF guidelines and alignment with HRF
priorities – emergency response, coordination
considerations and cost effectiveness.
Applications meeting the basic requirements
were circulated to the respective clusters for
review by Cluster leads and key sector partners
to ensure technical quality, sound methodology
and adherence to national/sectoral guidelines
and regional priorities. Revised applications
were then forwarded to the Review Board for
funding recommendations. The HRF Review
Board made funding recommendations for each
project based on the proposal’s merit,
conforming to agreed priorities and strategies
and in addressing identified emergency needs.
OCHA submitted the Board’s recommendation
to the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) for
approval.