Our funding
To secure principled and effective humanitarian response across the oPt, we rely on the generosity of donors.
Much of our funding is secured through contributions earmarked by donor states and the European Commission specifically for OCHA oPt. In addition, a number of donors provide unearmarked support to OCHA globally. We also welcome contributions from the private sector, foundations and individuals.
We would not be able to effectively carry out our mission of humanitarian coordination and advocacy to improve the lives of vulnerable Palestinians without the sustained generous contributions received from our partners.
Specially Designated Contributions
Donors can choose to fund humanitarian projects that are implemented by third parties (UN partners and NGOs). These Specially Designated Contributions (SDCs) are not included in the annual budget plan as they do not have a direct link to OCHA’s activities. OCHA channels this income to third parties in the form of grants. The most common SDCs are:
- Country-Based Pooled Funds.
- United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Mission Accounts: Member States deposit funding with OCHA, which is then used to deploy their nationals on UNDAC missions.
- Protection Standby Capacity and Gender Standby Capacity projects: This covers the Norwegian Refugee Council’s management and deployments of senior protection officers and senior gender advisers, as well as related training programmes.
Flexible Funding
To enable the allocation of funds where and when they are needed, contributions must be flexible. Therefore, an important part of OCHA’s resource mobilization strategy is to secure a healthy balance between earmarked and unearmarked funding from donors and, where possible, to secure those commitments on a multi-year basis for greater predictability. OCHA also works with its partners to sustainably and meaningfully diversify its donor base.
Some donor policies allow, or favour, the allocation of unearmarked funding to humanitarian organizations in return for corporate-performance commitments, and an expectation that funds will be internally allocated where they are most needed, including during a sudden-onset emergency. This results in greater operational flexibility and security while allocating funding, especially at the start of each year.