Democratic Republic of the Congo Pooled Fund

Assistance Strategy

Terms of Reference

The objectives of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Pooled Fund (DRCPF) is to support the timely allocation and disbursement of donor resources to the most critical humanitarian needs in the DRC under the overall oversight and coordination of the Humanitarian Coordinator.

The DRCPF is intended to improve humanitarian outcomes by providing committed funds earlier than under previous arrangements; strengthening the planning and coordination process; tying the funding allocation to the Action Plan; broadening participation in the Action Plan; channelling funds towards the most urgent needs; and by ensuring that funds are available for rapid responses to unforeseen circumstances. To achieve these objectives, the DRCPF has been designed to accommodate the following principles:

• The DRCPF should operate as a single fund;
• Donors should make commitments and transfer money to the DRCPF as early as possible;
• The DRCPF should use the Action Plan as its primary allocation tool;
• The Humanitarian Coordinator should make use of existing experience, knowledge, network and competencies of UN agencies;
• Allocation and disbursement procedures should be rapid and transparent;
• There should be no overall additional reporting burden on recipients;
• The DRCPF should maintain a reserve for rapid response to unforeseen circumstances;
• The operation of The DRCPF should meet acceptable fiduciary standards.

The Humanitarian Coordinator is responsible for the allocation of funds based on priority needs and absorptive capacities. In allocating funding, the Humanitarian Coordinator may request advice from the Pooled Fund Board, comprising representatives of donors, the UN, NGOs and others as deemed necessary. The Pooled Fund Board ensures that the activities funded under the DRCPF are harmonized with those funded bilaterally by the donors. The Humanitarian Coordinator is also supported by the Administrative Agent and a joint OCHA/UNDP Technical Support Unit ensuring general oversight of the Pooled Fund.

There are two mechanisms for allocating funds:

• A standard allocation mechanism, used for allocating the bulk of the DRCPF resources and ensuring early funding for priority projects.
• A rapid onset mechanism, used in the event of unforeseen needs or emergency circumstances. No more than 10% of committed funds is kept aside for the Rapid Response Reserve.

To support uniform and consolidated financial reporting, the DRCPF is administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in accordance with its financial regulations and rules. UNDP serves as the Administrative Agent (AA) on behalf of the Participating UN Organizations. For participating NGO, funds are channelled through UNDP performing an additional oversight function as a Participating UN Organization.