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| UNOCHA Financial Tracking Service | |
|---|---|
| Name | UNOCHA Financial Tracking Service |
| Formed | 1993 |
| Jurisdiction | United Nations Secretariat |
| Headquarters | Geneva |
| Parent agency | United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
UNOCHA Financial Tracking Service
The UNOCHA Financial Tracking Service provides centralized data on international humanitarian aid flows, coordinating reporting among United Nations agencies, donor states, non-governmental organizations, international financial institutions, and United Nations Development Programme. It aggregates commitments, pledges, and disbursements for appeals and emergencies, informing actors such as the European Commission, United States Agency for International Development, International Committee of the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, and the World Bank. The service supports planning for crises including the Syrian Civil War, Hurricane Katrina, Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, and the Yemeni Civil War.
The Financial Tracking Service operates as a repository and analytics platform within the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, linking datasets from Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs regional offices, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, International Organization for Migration, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and bilateral donors such as the Government of the United Kingdom, Government of France, Government of Germany, Government of Japan, and the United States Department of State. It produces consolidated figures used by Humanitarian Coordinators, Resident Coordinators, OCHA field operations, Cluster Approach leads, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and multilateral pooled funds like the Central Emergency Response Fund. The platform informs appeal processes such as the Consolidated Appeals Process and the Humanitarian Response Plan.
Established in the early 1990s, the service emerged amid major crises including the Rwandan Genocide, the Balkans conflict, and large-scale displacement following the Gulf War. It developed alongside institutional reforms in the United Nations system, including the creation of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the evolution of humanitarian financing mechanisms like the Central Emergency Response Fund and the Good Humanitarian Donorship Initiative. Over time it integrated reporting from actors such as Caritas Internationalis, Save the Children, Oxfam International, World Vision International, International Rescue Committee, and national disaster management agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Japan International Cooperation Agency. Technological upgrades aligned it with platforms and standards used by organizations including ReliefWeb, Humanitarian Data Exchange, UN-SPIDER, and the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.
The service collects incoming and outgoing finance records through standardized reporting templates submitted by entities such as donor states, multilateral development banks, United Nations agencies, and international non-governmental organizations. Entries capture categories aligned with international frameworks used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee, the International Aid Transparency Initiative, and reporting requirements linked to the Grand Bargain compact and the Oslo Humanitarian Conference. Methodology incorporates reconciliation of pledges, commitments, and disbursements, classification by cluster sectors like Health Cluster, Protection Cluster, Food Security Cluster, and geographic tagging to crises such as Haiti earthquake response, South Sudanese Civil War, and Somali Civil War. Quality control involves cross-checks with financial reports from European Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank, and audit outputs from donors including the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
Outputs include searchable databases, downloadable datasets, regular reports, crisis dashboards, and ad hoc briefings used by Humanitarian Country Teams, United Nations Security Council briefings, International Monetary Fund analyses, and donor coordination meetings. The service publishes consolidated appeal tracking for instruments like the Flash Appeal and the Regional Refugee Response Plan, as well as thematic reviews used by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and civil society networks such as the International Council of Voluntary Agencies. Tools support transparency initiatives promoted by entities including the World Economic Forum and inform policy dialogues at fora like the World Humanitarian Summit.
Primary users are United Nations bodies, donor governments, international non-governmental organizations, local NGOs registered with national authorities, philanthropic foundations including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, multilateral banks, and private sector partners engaged in humanitarian supply chains like DHL and Maersk. Secondary stakeholders include academic researchers at institutions such as Harvard University, London School of Economics, Johns Hopkins University, and think tanks like the Overseas Development Institute and the Center for Global Development, as well as legislatures and oversight bodies in donor capitals including US Congress and European Parliament committees.
The Financial Tracking Service has increased transparency of humanitarian financing, improving coordination during crises like Horn of Africa droughts, Cyclone Idai, and the Nepal earthquake. It has been cited in evaluations by the United Nations Office for Internal Oversight Services and influenced reform debates at the Global Cluster System and the Grand Bargain negotiations. Criticisms target reporting lags, incomplete coverage of private philanthropy and corporate giving, challenges reconciling multi-year commitments from entities such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and limitations in capturing in‑kind assistance flows tracked by logistics partners like World Food Programme. Academics and NGOs including Humanitarian Policy Group have called for improved granularity, real-time feeds compatible with Emergency Events Database, and better linkage to outcomes measured by organizations like UNICEF and UNHCR.
Governance is embedded within the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs with operational oversight involving donor coordination groups, UN inter-agency mechanisms, and partnerships with International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Funding derives from assessed and voluntary contributions including support from states such as United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Government of Canada, Government of Australia, pooled humanitarian funds, and grants from foundations. Strategic direction is influenced by fora including the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and agreements negotiated in venues like the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Economic and Social Council.