Sweden is the single largest donor of unearmarked core support to the UN humanitarian bodies. Sweden also allocates significant amounts of flexible funding to humanitarian country programmes or emergency appeals, and to pooled funds, which have been softly earmarked at the country level on the basis of global humanitarian needs. Today we meet SRSG Mami Mizutori, head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), the first discussion in this series of interviews on the importance and values of unearmarked core support. Why is unearmarked funding important and what has Sweden’s unearmarked aid achieved? And how can less earmarking save more lives? We have talked to some of the organisations receiving unearmarked core support from Sweden.
SRSG Mizutori, humanitarian needs have been increasing, while funding has not been made available at the same speed – international support is more important than ever. Why is flexible funding important for UNISDR?
Flexible funding is a lifeline for UNISDR, as the institution is 99.2% funded through annual voluntary contributions, with the exception of one post currently funded from the United Nations Regular Budget. Unearmarked funding is therefore vital to ensure UNISDR’s ability to achieve its mandate under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. This work is critically important in an era of increasing disaster risk accelerated by climate change, poorly planned urbanization in hazard-prone areas, environmental degradation and rising inequality. Disaster risk reduction reduces the loss of life and livelihoods lost due to disasters. Unearmarked funding is a prerequisite for the organization to be strategic and responsive in the delivery of its results to effectively implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.[1] The flexibility provided by unearmarked funding enables UNISDR to focus on the strategic result areas, affords smooth and effective operational delivery, significantly reduces transaction costs related to contributions, and allows for forward planning, including the ability to attract and retain high-quality human resources. Ultimately, unearmarked funding is a vote of confidence in the ability of an organization, in this case from Sweden to UNISDR, to achieve its vision and programme of work as a whole, and we are very proud to receive this recognition from Sweden.
How has Sweden’s flexible funding made a difference to UNISDR?
Sweden’s flexible funding has made a tremendous difference to UNISDR enabling the organisation to be increasingly focused and results-based, while giving Sweden and other donors visibility on the whole of UNISDR’s work. Thanks to unearmarked donors, UNISDR can develop multi-year Strategic Frameworks and Work Programmes. which ensures stability and continuity in our work fulfilling our mandate. UNISDR monitors and evaluates its implementation regularly including through our annual report, which gives donors and all of our partners a broad purview of the organization and allows UNISDR to identify best practices and mitigate any risk related to program implementation.
What are your top examples of where Sweden’s flexible funding has been crucial to UNISDR?
Sweden’s flexible funding enables innovation. When UNISDR envisaged the first ever open-source Global Risk Assessment Framework, to provide all countries, particularly least developed countries with multi-hazard risk information, UNISDR was able to finance the conceptual design of this effort through unearmarked funding from donors such as Sweden.
Sweden’s flexible funding ensures continuity of services, for example, UNISDR has been providing the services of its disaster risk reduction knowledge sharing platform, PreventionWeb, to the global community since 2007. This site offers a range of knowledge products and services to facilitate the work of DRR professionals, but heavily earmarked funding can result in delivery gaps that make the provision of such services extremely difficult.
Sweden’s flexible funding provides catalytic support, as the vote of confidence provided by Sweden in UNISDR’s programs, encouraging other donors to finance UNISDR through various types of funding. This was notable in the development of the Sendai Framework Monitoring system, which was initiated through unearmarked funding and finalized with projectized support.
Sweden’s flexible funding also allows UNISDR to respond rapidly as needs arrive from UN member states in supporting their implementation of the Sendai Framework, thus enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of UNISDR’s work and provides operational flexibility, as UNISDR can use unearmarked funding to deliver its programmes without distributions linked to project funding, enhancing its value.
What types of disaster risks and challenges will UNISDR handle in the coming years and will UNISDR be able to address these challenges through flexible funding from Sweden?
UNISDR will continue working, with support from Sweden, in the coming period to support communities to understand their risk exposure, reduce and prevent risks, and strengthen resilience through multi-hazard disaster risk management. Key risk drivers heightening disaster risk exposure in the coming period include climate change, population growth, unplanned urbanization, environmental degradation, and rising inequality. UNISDR will continue to provide key actors and stakeholders at all levels and sectors with the tools, information, platforms, technical expertise and incentives to translate the Sendai Framework into concrete actions to achieve UNISDR’s vision: the substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses for a sustainable future. At the same time, we will ensure that inclusivity will be ensured when moving forward the disaster risk reduction agenda with special attention to those who are most vulnerable including women, children, older persons, and persons living with disabilities.
Why is unearmarked funding important for the disaster risk reduction agenda?
Unearmarked funding, particularly multi-year, has been found in many instances to have greater impact, especially when addressing social and environmental change agendas. For a topic like disaster risk reduction, which must be addressed through such actions as capacity building, research, policy change, and development and use of risk assessments, a longer-term vision is required. To achieve our vision, the substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses for a sustainable future, UNISDR relies on the logic of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, agreed by all UN Member States. The Sendai Framework outlines the actions that must be taken over the course of 15 years and UNISDR works to accelerate implementation of these actions across stakeholders and sectors. This longer-term horizon further requires flexible funding to achieve greater impact.
[1] The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 is the global agreement on disaster risk reduction. It was agreed at the World Conference on 18 March 2015 and adopted by all United Nations (UN) Member States through UN General Assembly Resolution 69/283.