Country-based Pooled Funds (CBPFs) are multi-donor humanitarian financing instruments established by the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) and managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) at the country level under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC). While OCHA has managed humanitarian pooled funds at the country level since 1995, CBPFs are rooted in the 2005 Humanitarian Reform and the Secretary-General’s report “In larger freedom”, which calls for predictable and flexible humanitarian funding to meet the needs of vulnerable communities.
The purpose of the Handbook is to ensure a coherent approach to the strategic and operational management of all CBPFs. The Handbook defines management arrangements that enhance quality and accountability to UN Member States, donors, beneficiaries, and humanitarian partners, including those receiving CBPF grants. The Handbook elaborates the OCHA Policy Instruction on CBPFs, which describes the objectives, management and governance arrangements for all OCHA-managed CBPFs. The Handbook contains a set of annexes developed to guide and support OCHA Country Offices in the management of CBPFs.
This Handbook presents additional technical guidance, processes and tools that must be adopted by each CBPF as minimum standards. While funds are required to comply with this Handbook, they retain the flexibility to build upon the requirements and adopt additional mechanisms that allow better responsiveness to each country context.
