About the Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund

The Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund (EHF) is one of the principal sources of humanitarian financing in Ethiopia. Since its establishment in 2006, the Fund has responded to disasters triggered by natural causes, such as droughts, floods and outbreaks of disease, as well as complex conflict-related crises. The EHF aims to support the timely and flexible disbursement of funds to the most critical humanitarian needs in the context of the annual Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) and also unpredicted emergency needs. The EHF provides funding to international and national non–governmental organizations and UN agencies.

Objectives of the EHF
The core mandate of the EHF is to allocate funding to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity based on humanitarian needs and priorities identified at the country level. By providing timely, coordinated, and principled assistance, the EHF enhances the effectiveness and accountability of the humanitarian response. The EHF promotes partnership and diversity in humanitarian efforts by providing catalytic funding to a variety of humanitarian organizations to complement and support the response and their engagement in Fund governance. While addressing humanitarian needs is the primary goal of EHF, localization is recognized as a secondary aim. The EHF strives to advance localization, aligning with the Grand Bargain commitment to making principled humanitarian action “as local as possible and as international as necessary”.

How the EHF works
The EHF is a coordinated, flexible and principled humanitarian financing mechanism with emphasis on emergency readiness, emergency response and anticipatory financing. The EHF has two windows for allocating funds: Standard Allocation and Reserve Allocation. The Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) allocates funding through a consultative process, based on identified humanitarian needs and priorities at the country level. Inclusiveness, flexibility, timeliness, efficiency, partnership, transparency and value for money are the principles which underpin the use of the EHF. Donor contributions to the EHF are un-earmarked.

Resources
About the EHF dashboard
HC vision paper