Advocacy and resource mobilisation - OneResponse

Funding for cluster coordination
In accordance with the Inter-Agency
Standing Committee (IASC) decision
in July 2009, funding for nationaland
sub-national-level cluster
coordination should be included in all
Flash Appeals and Consolidated
Appeals. The following guidelines
generally apply:
� Make provision for cluster
�
coordination as a stand-alone
project.
Include the provision in the
emergency education section of
the Appeal.
� Narrative for the proposal can
be drawn from the ToR for
Cluster/Sector Leads at Country
Level (see section 2.2).
Advocacy and resource mobilisation
Managing cluster coordination
funding
In addition to budgeting for cluster
coordination costs, early provision will
need to be made for how allocated
funding will be managed.
As the cluster is not an ‘organisation’, it
cannot receive funding, therefore
arrangements will have to be made with
the CLA(s) or another cluster partner
agency for channelling the funding
through them.
This may involve a contract agreement
between the donor and this cluster
partner, which would ultimately take
responsibility for managing, and reporting
on, the disbursement of the funds.
� There is no generic budget – draw guidance from previous CAPs.
Arguments to support funding coordination include cluster coordination as a
common service, and the need for dedicated coordination capacity.
Typical costs might include: coordination staff, office and meeting costs,
information management (IM), joint needs assessment costs, transport,
communications and advocacy, training and capacity development.
Prioritising projects for inclusion in funding appeals
As information about cluster partner funding becomes available, the Coordinator
will need to take steps to identify the most critical and under-funded education
needs for which funding has not already been committed. A process of selection
may then be required, to determine which projects will be included by the cluster
in pooled funding appeals, and which will be identified as the cluster’s priority
projects.
Selection of cluster projects can be a sensitive process, particularly when projects
proposed by the CLA(s) are also under consideration. Furthermore, some cluster
partners will be unfamiliar with the restrictions and criteria for funding.
An inclusive and structured approach to strategic response planning (as set out in
section 7.3) will help to facilitate an open and objective process for project
selection. The response planning process covers much of the necessary
groundwork in prioritising needs, identifying gaps, and agreeing project selection
criteria.
May 2010 | 259