Regional Humanitarian Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean

The Latin America and the Caribbean Humanitarian Fund (LAC HF) is one of OCHA’s newest Regional Humanitarian Funds. It was established in 2024, with initial Country Envelopes in Colombia and Haiti. The Fund is operationally managed by a Humanitarian Financing Unit based in Panama City. 

The Regional Humanitarian Fund provide a flexible and cost-effective way to expand pooled funding to more countries, with modalities that are scalable to needs on the ground. The Fund aims to benefits of the Country-Based Pooled Fund (CBPF) model to a wider range of situations in a more cost-effective manner, tailored to the specific needs of populations prone to recurring climate shocks, disasters, violence and migration, among other concerns. In particular, the LAC HF aims to:

• Save lives, reduce suffering, and uphold human dignity by addressing humanitarian needs and priorities at local and national levels. It provides timely, coordinated, and principled assistance. The Fund aims to enhance the effectiveness and accountability of humanitarian efforts and make funding more predictable in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Support local partners by increasing their access to funding, fostering fair partnerships, involving them in Fund governance, and building their capabilities. This helps local and national actors gain recognition and improve their performance. 

Like all CBPFs, the LAC HF is designed to complement other humanitarian funding sources, such as bilateral funding and the Central Emergency Response Fund. 

LAC HF builds on the success of the CBPFs and mirror many of their practices. It operates in line with the CBPF global guidelines and is governed by the same protocols. The Fund can include both Regional and Country Envelopes as appropriate to the needs and disaster profile of the region and available funding. While the Fund opened with Country Envelopes in Colombia and Haiti initially, it can include: 

• More Country Envelopes that enable donor contributions to be earmarked at country level for sustained response to significant and protracted needs. The Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC) in consultation with an Advisory Board (consisting of national NGOs, international NGOs, UN agencies and donors) determines the use of resources based on established priorities. Country Envelopes can be opened and closed based on needs on the ground. They can also transition into CBPFs, should needs increase, or take over the functions of CBPFs which are phasing out.
• Regional Envelope that enables donor contributions to be earmarked at the regional level for allotment to Country Envelopes by decision of the ERC based on the request of RC/HCs and RCs (as is done for CERF). Once regional funds are allotted to the country level, they would be managed and overseen by the RC/HC or RC in country, in consultation with national Advisory Boards. While Country Envelope funding is deployed through allocations, Regional Envelope funding is deployed through allotments to different Country Envelopes in the region, managed in turn under the leadership of the respective RC/HC or RC through allocations.

How to contribute

OCHA encourages donors to contribute to the Fund, highlighting its role in advancing the localization agenda. The Fund seeks to attract new financing from traditional donors, Member States from the LAC Region, the private sector, and the in country civil society.

• Governments, corporations and foundations wishing to contribute to the LAC HF directly or through the Country Envelopes in Colombia and Haiti can directly contact ocha.donor.relations@un.org
• Individuals can donate online via UN Crisis Relief.

- For Colombia: UN Crisis Relief/Colombia Humanitarian Fund 

- For Haiti: UN Crisis Relief/Haiti Humanitarian Fund