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Self Report 2017

The self-report on WHS Commitments below is organized according to the 24 transformations of the Agenda for Humanity. It is based on commitments pledged at the time of report submission. Click on the 'Expand' symbol to expand each section and read the reporting inputs by transformation.

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3A
Reduce and address displacement

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • Australia commits to the 'Political Communiqué for the World Humanitarian Summit'.


  • Policy
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Australia acknowledges the global public good provided by countries and communities which are hosting large numbers of refugees, and commits to providing host countries and communities increased financial, political and policy support with refugees and/ or IDPs.
  • Financial
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Australia commits to a new approach to addressing forced displacement that not only meets immediate humanitarian needs but reduces vulnerability and improves the resilience and self-reliance of refugees and IDPs. It commit to implementing this new approach through international and national programmes, and by taking the necessary political, policy, legal and financial steps required for the specific context.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Australia commits to actively work to uphold the institution of asylum and the principle of non-refoulement. It commits to strengthen and implement national, regional and international laws and policy frameworks that strengthen the protection of refugees and IDPs, such as the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala convention) or the Guiding Principles on internal displacement.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Australia commits to collectively work towards a strengthened international framework for predictable and equitable responsibility sharing in response to large-scale movements of refugees.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind

  • Australia commits to measurably reduce internal displacement in a safe and dignified manner, including by working towards a target of 50% by 2030, with the aim of achieving durable solutions for IDPs.


  • Policy
  • Leave No One Behind

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to a new approach to addressing forced displacement that not only meets immediate humanitarian needs but reduces vulnerability and improves the resilience, self-reliance and protection of refugees and IDPs. Commit to implementing this new approach through coherent international, regional and national efforts that recognize both the humanitarian and development challenges of displacement. Commit to take the necessary political, policy, legal and financial steps required to address these challenges for the specific context.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Acknowledge the global public good provided by countries and communities which are hosting large numbers of refugees. Commit to providing communities with large numbers of displaced population or receiving large numbers of returnees with the necessary political, policy and financial, support to address the humanitarian and socio-economic impact. To this end, commit to strengthen multilateral financing instruments. Commit to foster host communities' self-reliance and resilience, as part of the comprehensive and integrated approach outlined in core commitment 1.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Commit to actively work to uphold the institution of asylum and the principle of non-refoulement. Commit to support further accession to and strengthened implementation of national, regional and international laws and policy frameworks that ensure and improve the protection of refugees and IDPs, such as the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol or the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala convention) or the Guiding Principles on internal displacement.
  • Leave No One Behind

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    The commitments to reduce and address dispalcement strongly align with Australia's humanitarian, development, security and foreign policy priorities.

  • Achievements at a glance

    Since 1 July 2015, Australia has granted visas to over 22,000 people displaced by conflict in Syria and Iraq. In 2016, Australia also committed AU$130 million over the next three years to address the needs of forcibly displaced people globally, including a 25% increase in core unearmarked funding to UNHCR (AU$75 million); AU$45 million to support refugees and displaced populations and host communities in Afghanistan and Pakistan; and AU$10 million to the UN Peacebuilding Fund to address the causes of conflict. Australia provided a further AU$10 million to WFP to support displaced populations in Afghanistan. Building on the objectives of the Jordan and Lebanon Compacts, Australia finalised the design of our three-year AU$220 million Syria humanitarian package, including a resilience focus on education and livelihoods in Jordan and Lebanon. Australia provided direct support to UNHCR and IOM for their role in developing the Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Through existing reporting and assessment channels.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    No major obstacles encountered.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    In 2017, Australia will conclude multi-year funding agreements with some of our key humanitarian partners, including UNHCR. These will include specific multi-year commitments to provide core unearmarked funding - in return for multi-year strategic planning and ensuring multi-year funding is passed onto implementing partners as well. Implementation of our Syria package will be ongoing in 2017, and we will continue to engage in the development of the Global Compacts, including through direct support to UNHCR and IOM. Australia will continue to provide high levels of resettlement with places increasing from 13,750 in 2016-17 to 16,250 in 2017-18.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑IDPs ☑ Refugees

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Platform on Disaster Displacement

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑3B - Address the vulnerabilities of migrants and provide more regular and lawful opportunities for migration ☑ 3C - End statelessness in the next decade ☑ 5C - Invest in stability ☑ 5D - Finance outcomes, not fragmentation: shift from funding to financing

3D
Empower and protect women and girls

Joint Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • Australia commits to the United Nations Population Fund joint statement on 'Accelerating Efforts to Save Lives, Protect Rights and Dignity and Leave No one Behind'™.


  • Policy
  • Leave No One Behind
Partners: UNFPA

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • Australia commits to the 'Political Communiqué for the World Humanitarian Summit'.


  • Policy
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

  • Australia commit to apply a gender marker to all humanitarian funding providing by the Australian Government - to ensure gender issues are considered at all stages of the program cycle.


  • Policy
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Australia commits to empower women and girls as change agents and leaders, including by increasing support for local women-led groups to participate meaningfully in humanitarian action.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Australia commits to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the Outcome documents of their review conferences for all women and adolescent girls in crisis settings.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Australia will ensure that humanitarian programming is gender responsive.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind

  • Australia will fully comply with humanitarian policies, frameworks and legally binding documents related to gender equality, women's empowerment and women's rights.


  • Policy
  • Leave No One Behind

  • On behalf of the MIKTA group of countries - Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and Turkey - Australia commits to work closely with local and national women's groups to provide them with practical support to increase their capacity to deliver in humanitarian settings.


  • Capacity
  • Leave No One Behind

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Empower Women and Girls as change agents and leaders, including by increasing support for local women's groups to participate meaningfully in humanitarian action.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the Outcome documents of their review conferences for all women and adolescent girls in crisis settings.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Ensure that humanitarian programming is gender responsive.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Fully comply with humanitarian policies, frameworks and legally binding documents related to gender equality, women's empowerment, and women's rights.
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Consistent with existing policy settings.

    Australia recognizes that when humanitarian action does not take into account the differences between women, girls, boys and men, it results in unequal access to humanitarian relief; increased rates of sexual and gender based violence; and inadequate engagement of women, girls and boys in program design and delivery.

  • Achievements at a glance

    Australia’s Humanitarian Strategy (2016) includes a number of guiding principles aimed at protecting people and reducing violence against women.

    In partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Australia supports the prepositioning of sexual and reproductive health, and gender based violence supplies in disaster-prone countries across the Indo-Pacific region.

    Australia also funds International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF) to deliver the Sexual and Reproductive Health Program in Crisis and Post-Crisis Settings (SPRINT initiative), which aims to improve national capacity and implementation of sexual and reproductive health services in humanitarian crises. By the end of 2016, SPRINT had responded to 71 humanitarian crises and reached over 890,000 people with crucial services, including in response to recent disasters in Solomon Islands and Fiji in 2016.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    We are following up on each individual commitment made through existing reporting and assessment channels.

    Together with New Zealand, Australia has developed a new Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for humanitarian responses to rapid onset disasters in the Pacific. The framework emphasizes the importance of ensuring all data collected is disaggregated by sex, age and ability.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    Australia requests all data submitted by partners to be disaggregated by sex, age and disability to ensure we can assess the gender equality and social inclusion dimensions of our responses. Collecting and verifying data can be challenging in a crisis.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    We will continue to work with partners to implement gender-sensitive humanitarian programming, recognising the additional risk of physical, sexual and other forms of violence facing women and girls with disabilities.

    Australia has committed to apply a Gender Marker of 80 percent to all humanitarian funding provided by the Australian Government – to ensure that gender issues are considered at all stages of the program cycle.

    Australia will continue to support work to strengthen data collection and analysis prior, during and after situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies to better track and improve responses.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Empower and protect women and girls', what would it be

    Ensure that women are well represented in leadership roles, decision making, planning and evaluation at all levels. Support capacity building of women’s leadership and address underlying barriers to participation.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Accountability to affected people ☑ Disability ☑ Gender ☑ Social protection

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action ☑ Commitment to Action: Transcending the humanitarian - development divide

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑2D - Take concrete steps to improve compliance and accountability ☑ 3G - Address other groups or minorities in crisis settings ☑ 4C - Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

3G
Address other groups or minorities in crisis settings

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • Australia commits to the 'Political Communiqué for the World Humanitarian Summit'.


  • Policy
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Australia commits to working with international and regional partners to promote policy and practice to improve disability inclusion in humanitarian action.
  • Advocacy
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Australia is pleased to endorse the Charter for Disability Inclusion in Humanitarian Action and commit to practical action towards its implementation.
  • Policy
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Australia will commit resources to support people with disabilities to gain greater independence and inclusion in their communities. This includes through support to the International Committee for the Red Cross Special Fund for the Disabled to support physical rehabilitation for people with disabilities in post-conflict environments.
  • Financial
  • Leave No One Behind

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Disasters and conflict can increase the prevalence of disability, and create additional barriers in the physical environment. Of the estimated one billion people living throughout the world with a disability, 80 percent live in developing countries where they are disproportionately represented among the most disadvantaged.

  • Achievements at a glance

    Australia was proud to champion the Charter for Disability Inclusion in Humanitarian Action (The Charter) at the World Humanitarian Summit.

    Together with New Zealand, Australia has developed a new Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for humanitarian responses to rapid onset disasters in the Pacific. The framework emphasizes the importance of ensuring all data collected is disaggregated by sex, age and ability.

    The new Australian Humanitarian Partnership enables the Australian Government and six Australian NGOs to respond to humanitarian crises globally and to support local Pacific communities to take a leadership role in preparedness, risk reduction and resilience efforts. A key priority across the partnership is elevating the role of people with disability in decision-making.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Australia will ensure all humanitarian, disaster risk reduction and early recovery assistance is designed and implemented in accordance with
    - Article 11 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
    - DFAT Humanitarian Strategy (2016),
    - Development for All 2015-2020: Strategy for strengthening disability-inclusive development in Australia’s aid program, and
    - Australia-New Zealand Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    Australia requests all data submitted by partners to be disaggregated by sex, age and disability to ensure we can assess the gender equality and social inclusion dimensions of our responses. Collecting and verifying data can be challenging in a crisis.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Australia will advocate for the Charter, and will aim to ensure that people with a range of abilities are active participants in the planning, design and implementation of humanitarian assistance.

    Australia will also support work to strengthen data collection and analysis prior, during and after situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies to better track and improve the situation of people with disabilities.

    In 2017–18, Australia will build global capacity to collect and analyse disability data through our disability data partnerships with UN Statistical Division, UNICEF, and the UN Washington Group on Disability Statistics.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Address other groups or minorities in crisis settings', what would it be

    Programming that makes people with a diverse range of disabilities active participants in planning, design and implementation can empower people with disabilities to access to humanitarian assistance on an equal basis with others.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Disability ☑ People-centred approach

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑4A - Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

4A
Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • Australia commits to the 'Political Communiqué for the World Humanitarian Summit'.


  • Policy
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

  • Australia commits to broaden and adapt the global instruments and approaches to meet urgent needs, reduce risk and vulnerability and increase resilience, without adverse impact on humanitarian principles and overall action.


  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • Australia commits to ensure regional and global humanitarian assistance for disasters complements national and local efforts.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • Australia commits to increase investment in building community resilience as a critical first line of response, with the full and effective participation of women.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

  • Australia commits to reinforce national and local leadership and capacities in managing disaster and climate-related risks through strengthened preparedness and predictable response and recovery arrangements.


  • Capacity
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • Australia commits to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible.
  • Policy
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • Commit to reinforce national and local leadership and capacities in managing disaster and climate-related risks through strengthened preparedness and predictable response and recovery arrangements.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • Commit to increase investment in building community resilience as a critical first line of response, with the full and effective participation of women.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • Commit to ensure regional and global humanitarian assistance for natural disasters complements national and local efforts.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • Commit to increase substantially and diversify global support and share of resources for humanitarian assistance aimed to address the differentiated needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises in fragile situations and complex emergencies, including increasing cash-based programming in situations where relevant.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Responding to recommendations in the Office of Development Effectiveness’ Cyclone Pam evaluation (see attached), Australia committed to develop a definition of localisation which it can share with its implementing partners.

    Australia has committed to the World Humanitarian Summit Grand Bargain commitment to make principled humanitarian action as local as possible and as international as necessary, better addressing the needs of affected populations by engaging with local and national responders in a spirit of partnership and aiming to reinforce rather than replace local and national capacities.

  • Achievements at a glance

    Some of Australia's achievements include:
    - Funding the Australian Red Cross (AU$36.5 million from 2015-19), Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AU$50 million from 2016-21) and Australian NGO Cooperation Program to strengthen preparedness and response capacity of NGOs and government and build resilience of Indo-Pacific countries.
    - Funding a Humanitarian Leadership Program managed by Save the Children and Deakin University that trains Pacific humanitarian officials.
    - Funding the IPPF to manage the SPRINT initiative, which builds the capacity of national governments to integrate sexual and reproductive health (SRH) into disaster management policies, and builds the capacity of local NGOs as first responders to provide vulnerable women, men and children with lifesaving SRH services.
    - Pre-positioning Australian Civilian Corps disaster risk management specialists in disaster management agencies in Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga, and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    - Australia is working with Pacific states, NGOs, regional organisations and research partners to define priorities and opportunities for localisation.
    - Localisation monitoring is included in the Australia-New Zealand Monitoring & Evaluation Framework for Sudden Onset Disasters in the Pacific.
    - Localisation of decision-making and directness of funding exist on a continuum. Australia will support initiatives which advance along this continuum, measuring these initiatives towards implementation of its localisation commitment.
    - DFAT is accountable to the Australian public for the expenditure of their tax dollars. We do this through due diligence checks, regular partner meetings, monitoring and reporting on our partnerships and contractual obligations.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    - The current global definition of localisation is too narrow and fails to capture Australia's significant localisation activities.
    - Broadening understanding of Australia’s commitment to reform - transfer decision-making and leadership of humanitarian action to local and national actors.
    - Measurement of localisation of humanitarian assistance requires multiple perspectives and a holistic, integrated and qualitative approach.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Australia will adopt a differentiated approach to humanitarian localisation according to context.

    Australia will continue to invest in country based pooled funds.

    Australia will work with the Humanitarian Advisory Group, Australian Red Cross, Pacific states and other stakeholders on a regional definition of localisation.

    Australia will advocate for localisation with its partners, and will form partnerships with national and international organisations and agencies to support humanitarian localisation.

    Where it makes sense and informed by due diligence and public financial management assessments, Australia seeks to use country systems, consistent with international commitments.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems', what would it be

    For Australia, localisation means recognizing, respecting and strengthening leadership and decision-making by national actors in humanitarian action, in order to better address the needs of affected populations.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Accountability to affected people ☑ Country-based pooled funds ☑ Disaster Risk Reduction ☑ Gender

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Grand Bargain

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑3D - Empower and protect women and girls ☑ 4C - Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides ☑ 5A - Invest in local capacities

4C
Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • Australia announced its intention to join the GAHI and commit $450,000 to the initiative over three years to 2019.


  • Financial Contribution
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

  • Australia commits to the 'Political Communiqué for the World Humanitarian Summit'.


  • Policy
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

  • Australia commits to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes.


  • Policy
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

  • Australia commits to broaden and adapt the global instruments and approaches to meet urgent needs, reduce risk and vulnerability and increase resilience, without adverse impact on humanitarian principles and overall action.


  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

  • Australia commits to enable coherent financing that avoids fragmentation by supporting collective outcomes over multiple years, supporting those with demonstrated comparative advantage to deliver in context.


  • Financial
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Australia commits to work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Australia recognizes early recovery is vital to arrest and begin to reverse the decline in an affected country’s/region’s development trajectory (caused by a natural disaster, or humanitarian crisis) and to lay the foundations (or sustain minimum services) for recovery / reconstruction and development activities.

  • Achievements at a glance

    The new DFAT Humanitarian Strategy commits to further support the transition from humanitarian relief to longer-term recovery and development:
    - It prioritizes early recovery efforts to resuscitate basic services (health, education and infrastructure), markets and livelihoods, and protecting the vulnerable, immediately after a disaster or crisis; and
    - Will provide technical assistance to partner organisations and governments to assist early recovery efforts; including exploring the option of seconding specialist DFAT staff and/or members for the Australian Civilian Corps to the Early Recovery Cluster (and others) to enhance the timely recovery of the affected country.

    Australia committed AU$220 million over three years to respond to the Syria crisis. The package includes humanitarian funding to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon; and education, small-scale livelihoods and innovative pilot projects to support Syrian refugees and host communities.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    The Performance Assessment Framework in the 2016 Humanitarian Strategy outlines how DFAT will assess its effectiveness, including the three key result areas described for early recovery. This includes actively learning so as to produce a more effective future humanitarian response. Early Recovery is a key component of the work being undertaken in the joint Australia / New Zealand Humanitarian Monitoring and Evaluation Framework project, to harmonize how we can work better in the Pacific. DFAT funded an Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Australia's Response to Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    DFAT's early recovery investments will help to localise a post-crisis response by empowering local actors, including women and children, people with disabilities and other marginalised and vulnerable groups and supporting the local private sector, particularly small to medium enterprises, to get back on its feet.

    FRANZ (France and New Zealand partners) will continue to support long-term resilience building activities.

    DFAT will develop guidance notes to assist DFAT Country Programs and Partners to implement key components of the Humanitarian Strategy.

    DFAT will continue to fund evaluations on the effectiveness of Australia's humanitarian responses.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Innovation ☑ Refugees ☑ Social protection

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Grand Bargain

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑4A - Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

5A
Invest in local capacities

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • Australia commits to the 'Political Communiqué for the World Humanitarian Summit'.


  • Policy
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Australia commits to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
  • Financial
  • Invest in Humanity

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Responding to recommendations in Office of Development Effectiveness’ Cyclone Pam evaluation (see attached), Australia committed to develop a definition of localisation which it can share with its implementing partners.

    Australia has committed to the World Humanitarian Summit Grand Bargain commitment to make principled humanitarian action as local as possible and as international as necessary, better addressing the needs of affected populations by engaging with local and national responders in a spirit of partnership and aiming to reinforce rather than replace local and national capacities.

  • Achievements at a glance

    Some of Australia's achievements include:
    - Funding the Australian Red Cross (AU$36.5 million from 2015-19), Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AU$50 million from 2016-21) and Australian NGO Cooperation Program to strengthen preparedness and response capacity of NGOs and government and build resilience of Indo-Pacific countries.
    - Funding a Humanitarian Leadership Program managed by Save the Children and Deakin University that trains Pacific humanitarian officials.
    - Funding the IPPF to manage the SPRINT initiative, which builds the capacity of national governments to integrate sexual and reproductive health (SRH) into disaster management policies, and builds the capacity of local NGOs as first responders to provide vulnerable women, men and children with lifesaving SRH services.
    - Pre-positioning Australian Civilian Corps disaster risk management specialists in disaster management agencies in Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga, and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    - Australia is working with Pacific states, NGOs, regional organisations and research partners to define priorities and opportunities for localisation.
    - Localisation monitoring is included in the Australia-New Zealand Monitoring & Evaluation Framework for Sudden Onset Disasters in the Pacific.
    - Localisation of decision-making and directness of funding exist on a continuum. Australia will support initiatives which advance along this continuum, measuring these initiatives towards implementation of its localisation commitment.
    - DFAT is accountable to the Australian public for the expenditure of their tax dollars. We do this through due diligence checks, regular partner meetings, monitoring and reporting on our partnerships and contractual obligations.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    - The current global definition of localisation is too narrow and fails to capture Australia's significant localisation activities.
    - Broadening understanding of Australia’s commitment to reform - transfer decision-making and leadership of humanitarian action to local and national actors.
    - Measurement of localisation of humanitarian assistance requires multiple perspectives and a holistic, integrated and qualitative approach.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Australia will effectively build the capacity of national governments, civil society and local communities to prepare for and respond to disaster.

    Australia will adopt a differentiated approach to humanitarian localisation according to context.

    Australia will work with the Humanitarian Advisory Group, Australian Red Cross, Pacific states and other stakeholders on a regional definition of localisation.

    Australia will advocate for localisation with its partners, and will form partnerships with national and international organisations and agencies to support humanitarian localisation

    Where it makes sense and informed by due diligence and public financial management assessments, then Australia seeks to use country systems, consistent with international commitments.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Invest in local capacities', what would it be

    For Australia, localisation means recognising, respecting and strengthening leadership and decision-making by national actors in humanitarian action, in order to better address the needs of affected populations.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Accountability to affected people ☑ Country-based pooled funds ☑ Disaster Risk Reduction ☑ Gender

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Grand Bargain

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑3D - Empower and protect women and girls ☑ 4A - Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems ☑ 4C - Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

5D
Finance outcomes, not fragmentation: shift from funding to financing

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • Australia commits to the 'Political Communiqué for the World Humanitarian Summit'.


  • Policy
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

  • Australia commits to enable coherent financing that avoids fragmentation by supporting collective outcomes over multiple years, supporting those with demonstrated comparative advantage to deliver in context.


  • Financial
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Australia commits to promote and increase predictable, multi-year, unearmarked, collaborative and flexible humanitarian funding toward greater efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of humanitarian action for affected people.
  • Financial
  • Invest in Humanity

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to enable coherent financing that avoids fragmentation by supporting collective outcomes over multiple years, supporting those with demonstrated comparative advantage to deliver in context.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Commit to promote and increase predictable, multi-year, unearmarked, collaborative and flexible humanitarian funding toward greater efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of humanitarian action for affected people.
  • Invest in Humanity
  • Commit to broaden and adapt the global instruments and approaches to meet urgent needs, reduce risk and vulnerability and increase resilience, without adverse impact on humanitarian principles and overall action (as also proposed in Round Table on "Changing Lives").
  • Invest in Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    The multi-year approach to funding and planning of humanitarian partners and crises is aligned to Australia’s Aid Policy (specifically the focus on ‘building resilience: humanitarian assistance, disaster risk reduction and social protection’). DFAT’s Humanitarian Strategy and World Humanitarian Summit and Grand Bargain commitments, all of which advocate for adopting new, innovative approaches to situations of protracted crises that build resilience by bridging the divide between humanitarian and development efforts, as well as providing significant unearmarked funding.

    Australia’s strong commitment to core, non-earmarked funding demonstrates confidence in our multilateral partners and our support to efficient and effective humanitarian assistance.

  • Achievements at a glance

    Australia is already a significant provider of core funding for humanitarian organisations. In 2016 Australia was the 4th largest unearmarked funding donor to UNOCHA (82% of Australia's total funding is unearmarked); the 11th largest funder of ICRC overall and 5th largest funder for unearmarked; 12th largest funder to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF); and 12th largest core funder to UNHCR.

    Australia’s major multi-year partnerships with multilaterals all have significant unearmarked funding and rely on standard reporting, making them highly efficient both for the agency we are supporting and in terms of internal management overheads.

    Australia continues to support country-based pooled funds (CBPF).

    Australia committed AU$220 million over three years to respond to the Syria crisis. The package includes humanitarian funding to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon; and education, small-scale livelihoods and innovative pilot projects to support Syrian refugees and host communities.

    Australia funded the Australian Red Cross (AU$36.5 million from 2015-19).

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Through existing reporting and assessment channels.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    Recent donor earmarking trends have damaging effects on smaller donors like Australia who are left paying for agencies’ less attractive administrative costs.

    The visibility of core funding support is a priority for Australia to support our case to political decision-makers, and to be helpful for our government in order to be in a position to increase flexibility of humanitarian funding.

    A move towards a transparent methodology for allocation of core resources would be helpful to increase flexibility of humanitarian funding.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Australia is continuing to demonstrate its commitment to core funding of partner agencies, expanding to multi-year commitments. Australia will finalize new multiyear agreements with CERF, UNHCR and ICRC.

    Australia is developing multiyear planning to respond to other humanitarian crises in Africa, Middle East and Asia.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Finance outcomes, not fragmentation: shift from funding to financing', what would it be

    The CERF and country-based pooled funds are indispensable to coordinated delivery of life-saving assistance – whether it is responding rapidly to immediate need, or providing critical support to underfunded crises. Australia’s multi-year contribution to the CERF reflects our commitment to delivering humanitarian assistance through the most effective and efficient means.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Central Emergency Response Fund ☑ Country-based pooled funds

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑New Way of Working ☑ Grand Bargain

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑5A - Invest in local capacities ☑ 5E - Diversify the resource base and increase cost-efficiency

5E
Diversify the resource base and increase cost-efficiency

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • Australia commits to the 'Political Communiqué for the World Humanitarian Summit'.


  • Policy
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Australia commits to increase substantially and diversify global support and share of resources for humanitarian assistance aimed to address the differentiated needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises in fragile situations and complex emergencies, including increasing cash-based programming in situations where relevant.
  • Financial
  • Invest in Humanity
  • Australia commits to the Grand Bargain.
  • Policy
  • Invest in Humanity

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to increase substantially and diversify global support and share of resources for humanitarian assistance aimed to address the differentiated needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises in fragile situations and complex emergencies, including increasing cash-based programming in situations where relevant.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Commit to promote and increase predictable, multi-year, unearmarked, collaborative and flexible humanitarian funding toward greater efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of humanitarian action for affected people.
  • Invest in Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Australia has experience supporting our delivery partners to use cash based responses in humanitarian settings.

    DFAT’s Humanitarian Strategy (2016) included a recommendation to include cash transfers as a humanitarian programming option (for relief and early recovery) where appropriate, based on case-by-case analysis.

    DFAT sees cash-based transfers as important mechanisms to empower crisis-affected people and to catalyse economic activity in the aftermath of a disaster.

  • Achievements at a glance

    Australia has committed to increase cash-based transfers as a humanitarian option, as appropriate based on case-by-case analysis.

    In the Pacific, the delivery of cash transfers to crisis and disaster-affected populations has mostly been small scale, although there are examples following Tropical Cyclones Winston, Pam and Evan.

    DFAT funded two assessments (Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Australia's Response to Cyclone Pam and Cash Transfer Programming in the Pacific: A Feasibility Scoping Study) which had a focus on cash in our recent regional humanitarian responses. The Tropical Cyclone Winston impact evaluation dispels concerns that money will be ‘misspent’.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Through existing reporting and assessment channels. As above, DFAT also funded two recent assessments.

    DFAT is accountable to the Australian public for the expenditure of their tax dollars. We do this through due diligence checks, regular partner meetings, monitoring and reporting on our partnerships and contractual obligations.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    DFAT aid management systems are currently limited in their capacity to capture cash programming, this will be improved in 2017.

    The above DFAT funded reports found: generalizing feasibility is fraught due to the uniqueness of each country and the nuances between islands and rural urban differences; and there is an immediate need to invest in baseline information on market supply chains and performance and to make this information available to decision makers. Both reports show that cash based assistance is not only feasible, it is already featuring in responses. However, outside of Fiji, it is very much in its infancy, and there is little evidence of preparedness or planning incorporating the use of cash.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Australia will continue to draw on evidence, lessons learned and global good practice concerning the use of cash transfers in humanitarian situations to build the resilience of communities and markets in our region.

    DFAT will work with its partners, including the private sector, to consider cash transfer programming as an appropriate humanitarian response option and when relevant, aim to provide cash transfers at scale.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Cash ☑ People-centred approach ☑ Private sector ☑ Social protection

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Charter for Change ☑ Grand Bargain

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑4A - Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

Attachments

  • Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Australia's Response to Cyclone Pam (2017)
    Transformation - 4C | Accountability to affected people
  • Cash Transfer Programming in the Pacific - A Feasibility Scoping Study (2016)
    Transformation - 4A, 5E | Cash | Charter for Change, Grand Bargain