The Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF) supports activities and projects that have been prioritized as the most urgent and strategic to address acute unmet emergency and humanitarian needs and to respond to emerging needs. It also funds interventions to fill the highest priority gaps, for example, projects targeting people with disabilities or projects addressing the needs of affected children. Projects must be aligned with sector priorities outlined in Humanitarian Response Plans (HRP) and Flash Appeals, the operating principles included in the UHF Annual Strategy and the specific allocation strategy papers. 

Once a new emergency hits the country or critical gaps in the core humanitarian response need to be addressed, the UHF will undertake a consultation and analysis process to elaborate an allocation strategy paper for a call for proposals. The allocation strategy paper is developed in collaboration with partners, clusters/sectors, the UHF Advisory Board and the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) in close consultation with the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT). Project proposals are prioritized and vetted within clusters/sectors through the Strategic Review Committee (SRC) and then recommended to the UHF Advisory Board for comments and final approval by the HC [1&2]. UHF funds are channelled through partners (national and international NGOs, the UN and Red Cross Movement) that are best-placed to deliver prioritized activities in accordance with the agreed strategy and humanitarian principles in a timely and effective manner. 

The UHF has two allocation modalities:

The Standard Allocation modality is the process through which most funding is channelled to priority activities within the HRP. 

The Reserve Allocation is used for rapid and flexible funding in the event of unforeseen emergencies or to address emerging humanitarian needs. At times, it can respond to specific humanitarian situations necessitating a coordinated response outside the Standard Allocation. 

The selection of projects will be underpinned by the HCT-endorsed strategies and frameworks on critical cross-cutting issues such as protection, accountability to affected populations and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. 

Project proposals must be submitted online through the Grant Management System (GMS) by the specified deadline and in accordance with the criteria indicated in the allocation strategy paper. 

A Strategic Review Committee (SRC), composed of relevant sectors and clusters coordinators, thematic advisors and OCHA, conducts a strategic review of proposals based on a scorecard for project prioritization and technical criteria. Short-listed proposals will be submitted to the Advisory Board for comments and preliminary HC’s approval. After that, the Review Committee will conduct technical and budget reviews and will work with the applicant organizations to revise the proposals. Final project proposals will be submitted to OCHA HQ for budget clearance and grant finalization. 

Monitoring and Reporting

The challenging environment in which the Fund will operate necessitates robust but flexible mechanisms for monitoring, verification and assurance for project activities. All recipient organizations will be expected to provide a realistic monitoring and reporting framework in all proposals. As part of its management functions, OCHA’s Humanitarian Financing Unit will leverage the monitoring and reporting capacity of established coordination structures in-country, including OCHA field offices.
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[1] The HC, under exceptional circumstances, can approve reserve allocations and notify the AB post factum.
[2] Exceptions to this timeframe can be made by the HC based on prevailing circumstances.

Allocations