Når nødhjælpen skal hurtigt ud: Ny fond i det britiske Danida

The UK’s Rapid Response Facility (RRF) was established by the Department of International Development (DFID = det britiske Danida) after a critical independent assessment of its operations by Lord Ashdown.

The report highlighted the way in which agencies had to produce hasty and often highly speculative proposals in order to get funding for emergencies, saying they could then find themselves locked (fastlåst) into a course of action which might not be the most effective.

RRF was set up in March this year with a total of 33 organizations declared to have a proven record of response and pre-qualified to benefit from its funding. All that was needed was a suitable (passende) emergency.

That trigger came last week when the Sierra Leone government declared a national crisis as the death toll rose in the cholera outbreak, which has also hit neighbouring Guinea.

After a discussion with Sierra Leone President Ernest Karoma to find out what was needed, the UK’s secretary of state for international develop-ment (udviklingsminister), Andrew Mitchell, decided to release the RRF.

“Basically because this is a good situation for it,” a DFID spokesman told IRIN. “There are a lot of NGOs working in Sierra Leone who needed a quick source of supplies and funds, and we could also use our private sector contacts to get things to them”, added he.

Just over three million US dollar (ca. 18 mio. DKR) is being made available.

Once the initial decision had been made, things moved fast. Agencies on the RRF “approved list” which had a presence in Sierra Leone and expertise in water and sanitation were invited to apply for funds.

“Because they are pre-qualified, it makes it a much quicker turnaround. We know them and we are confident that they know what they are doing”, said the DFID spokesman.

“Fast”