In recent years, pooled funding has become one of the go-to solutions to enhance the effectiveness of humanitarian action; due to their success, the numbers and levels of financing managed by these funds have significantly increased. In 2021, contributions to the OCHA-managed Country-based Pooled Funds reached 1 billion USD and served as the largest source of direct financing to local and national actors. The proliferation of funds and their relative weight in terms of humanitarian financing has led to increased attention to their impact and potential. There is therefore an opportunity for the International Council of Volunteer Agencies (ICVA) to take stock and catalogue the range of existing pooled funds, consolidate the learning produced thus far and identify areas for further research.

The consultancy has a double purpose. It aims 1, to provide ICVA members with a catalogue of existing pooled fund opportunities in selected countries and 2, to inform ICVA’s future research and advocacy approach with a focus on accessibility and the quality of financing for ICVA members. As ICVA members include both international and national/local NGOs, the review will focus on general accessibility and quality issues, zooming in on different needs and expectations as appropriate.

Given the variety of existing financing mechanisms, the review will define pooled funds as multi-donor humanitarian financing mechanisms aiming to provide a flexible and response source of financing for multiple actors engaged in humanitarian responses. It will consider any financing vehicle constructed to aggregate funds from two or more institutional donor governments for a defined purpose and that is relevant and accessible to at least two ICVA members working in humanitarian contexts.