Q&A Strategiske partnerskap med norske humanitære organisasjoner

Svarene publiseres på det språket spørsmålet er stilt/Questions are answered in the language they were posed.

Q1: Please explain more about the budget framework and the flexibility that strategic partners can expect with regards to deviations from the budget in future reporting.

A1: The total budget allocation from Norad and a tentative annual allocation for each year will be agreed upon when entering into the agreement, subject to approval from the Parliament. This serves as the basis for further follow-up.

Any adjustment of the agreed annual allocation must be approved by Norad.

Partners will be requested to submit an updated budget overview for each year, with brief explanations of significant changes. Norad will approve this in writing.

The budget template for strategic partners consists of budget lines such as totals per country and thematic sector/outcome (See the sheet entitled “SPA summary budget” in the budget template). The partner will have the possibility to annually reallocate funds up to 20% between thematic budget lines and up to 30% between country budget lines, without prior approval from Norad. The possibility to reallocate funds combined with overall budget lines gives the partner flexibility to adapt to changes.   This will be further explained in the agreement.

Revised budgets shall only submitted to Norad when the strategic partner anticipates reaching the reallocation limit in the near future, or if the organisation expects to exceed the annual tentative allocation as specified in the agreement.

Note that should a strategic partner wish to allocate funding to new countries, this must be approved by Norad in advance. Unallocated response funds may be also only be used based on upon prior written approval.

Q2: What is the difference between the 20% unallocated response funds in the Strategic Humanitarian Partnership Agreements and the 20% flexible funding in Norad’s Strategic Civil Society Partnership (Plusspartner) Agreements?

A2: Strategic Humanitarian Partners are requested to set aside 20% share of Norad’s contribution to direct program cost as unallocated response funds for new or escalated crisis. The unallocated response funds constitute a reserve fund, integrated into the agreement in order to make it possible to respond rapidly to future humanitarian crises. These funds will be part of Norway’s total response to new or deteriorating humanitarian crises and may only be used with Norad’s prior written approval.

In the Norad’s Strategic Civil Society Partnership (Plusspartner) model, up to 20% of total direct programme costs is defined as flexible funding. These funds can be used for defined thematic target areas in the agreement without prior written approval from Norad, which is a major difference from the Strategic Partnership Agreements.
 

Q3: Please explain how to calculate the unallocated response funds

A3: The budget template for strategic partners includes the formula for calculating the unallocated response funds. However, below is an example illustrating the calculation method:

1. Norad’s contribution to direct programme cost consist of 80% planned activities and 20% unallocated response funds
2. If 80 million NOK represents Norad’s share of the planned activities, we know that 80 million NOK equals 80% of Norad’s contribution to direct programme cost (0,8*X=80 million).
3. Norad’s contribution to direct programme cost (including unallocated response funds) will then be 100 million (X=80 million/0,8)
4. Unallocated response funds will then be 20 million (Norad’s contribution to direct programme cost 100 million NOK minus 80 million planned activities)
   
   

Q4: How are applicants expected to document that their programme contributes to the objectives listed in the “The Government will...” section of Norway’s Humanitarian Strategy?

A4: All applicants are expected to contribute to the implementation of Norway’s Humanitarian Strategy.  Applicants are requested to briefly explain in their application how their programme will contribute to the implementation of a selected number of the concrete objectives in the Strategy’s “The Government will...” sections. Applicants can freely determine where in the application they can suitably include this information.

Q5: Vil kravet om 20% uallokerte midler gjelde for alle innsatser og alle søkere, eller finnes det unntak for dette? Eksempelvis hvis søknaden gjelder støtte til program hvor muligheten for å planlegge for en lengre periode er avgjørende for et godt resultat?

A5: Ordningen med (uallokerte) fleksible responsmidler er en viktig del av de humanitære strategiske partnerskapene. Fleksible responsmidler skal sikre at partnerne og Norad sammen raskt kan respondere effektivt og målrettet på nye kriser. Hvilke behov nye kriser kan innebære, vil være vanskelig å forutse.

I utlysningen stilles det derfor et krav om at en andel på 20 % av budsjettet for direkte kostnader skal være uallokert. Vi har forståelse for at langsiktig planlegging er viktig og derfor kan også partner i stor grad tenke langsiktig for 80 % av midlene det søkes om. Behovet for en rask og smidig respons på humanitære behov gjør det imidlertid nødvendig å reservere 20 % av midlene ved avtaleinngåelse. Disse uallokerte midlene sikrer at Norad sammen med sine strategiske partnere kan møte nye humanitære behov, ukjent ved avtaleinngåelse, effektivt og målrettet.

Imidlertid vil strategisk partner i avtaleforhandlingene, strategisk dialog, årlige møter, søknader om å frigi responsmidler og i sine årlige planer, kunne fremme sin tilnærming til eller ønsker om bruk av responsmidlene.

Formålet med fleksible responsmidler er å muliggjøre en behovsbasert og rask humanitær respons umiddelbart etter den plutselige starten av en humanitær krise, etter en forverring av en pågående krise eller i situasjoner der den strategiske partneren har fått ny humanitær tilgang.

Q6: Vi har oppdaget at det er ulike krav i utlysningsteksten, søknadsskjemaet og veilederen (Guidance Note and Q&A) knyttet til resultatrammeverket. Skal resultatrammeverket kun inkludere indikatorer på outcome-nivå?

A6: Ja, det er ikke krav om at resultatrammeverket (eller tilsvarende beskrivelse av planlagte resultater) skal inkludere indikatorer på lavere nivåer enn for outcomes. Vi har korrigert dette i søknadsskjemaet, der det feilaktig ble informert om at indikatorer også skulle oppgis for outputs.

Q7: As this call for proposals is for humanitarian assistance only, can we use the sector ‘Emergency Response’ in the budget section ‘direct program cost by sector or outcome’ or do we need to break it down by sector?

A7: Norad requires that applicants break down the total budget by sector or outcome in the application. Information, including budget figures, about each of the sectors/outcomes that partners plan to include in their response is vital for appraising the application, for example, in order to obtain an overview of each partner’s areas of expertise and the total portfolio composition.

Q8: We understand that strategic partners will be offered 5-year grant agreements for the period 2025-2029, with annual commitments. It is quite clear that the overall application should consider the whole 5-year period but is this also applicable for the project/country sub-components?

In previous partnership agreements each of the countries included has been required to submit new/updated annual plans on an annual basis. Given the humanitarian nature of the SPA, often with a volatile context and changing needs, the approach with annual plans does make sense. In the current guidance it is mentioned that “Annual plans will merely consist of an updated budget overview with a brief explanations of significant changes,” and as such it is hinting to this system with annual plans being carried forward. However, it is not entirely clear if we are expected in the initial application to submit an annual plan for each project/country sub-component only for the first year, and then submit a new/updated annual plan for each of the following years, or if Norad expects that the country sub-component description covers the whole 5-year period.

Kindly advise on what period project/country sub-components should cover.

A8: The application shall include a description of each sub-component. Partners can freely choose whether the description of an individual sub-component shall cover the full time period of the Strategic Partnership Agreement, i.e. 2025-2029, or shall focus on a shorter time period – however, minimum year 1 (2025) - only. You may, for example, chose to submit a multi-year description if you already have a multi-year country strategy.

Norad will share instructions for the annual plans with partners that are selected for support.

Q9: Please clarify what is expected in terms of quantitative data under ‘expected results’ in the ‘Description of project/programme sub-components’. Are you asking us to provide targeted number of people reached for each sub-component? And if so, should this be given for the entire agreement period or for the first year? It is difficult to provide a target for number of people reached five years into the future in humanitarian crises.

A9: As an absolute minimum, we request applicants to provide targets for the two indicators that are explicitly mentioned in the call for proposals for year 1:

1. Number of persons with humanitarian needs that have obtained assistance and protection, and

2. Percentage of the above that belong to particularly vulnerable groups.

Targets for subsequent years shall be updated in the annual plans. Targets should be provided for each sub-component, when relevant. For example, if you opt to structure your proposals so that each sub-component corresponds with an individual country programme, we request applicants to provide targets for the two above-mentioned indicators for each country. For a sub-component focusing on the international humanitarian system, other targets may be more appropriate.

Q10: We are applying for programmatic funding in line with the Programme Based Approach as well as per the current Strategic Partnership Agreement. This means that the funding provided through the SPA contributes to the overall results of our country programmes. Please confirm that we can present expected results and provide the targeted number of project participants for the whole country programme as per the Programme Based Approach?

A10: Yes, this is fine. However, kindly then also indicate the expected percentage of funding from the strategic partnership out of the total country budget, so that we are informed of the level of results that can be attributed to funding through the strategic partnership with Norad. Total expected financing to the programme based approach should be visible in the budget.

Q11: Similarly, in line with the Programme Based Approach, please confirm that we can provide information on implementing partners for the whole country programme and not just what will be supported by funding through the SPA.

A11: Yes, this is fine. In reports we may require information on implementing partners.

Q12: As well as budget lines such as totals per country and thematic sector/outcome, the budget template for strategic partners also consists of budget lines showing the share transferred to local partners and other levels. The guidance note mentions that the partner will have the possibility to annually reallocate funds up to 20% between thematic budget lines and up to 30% between country budget lines, without prior approval from Norad. What level of flexibility is applied to the budget lines showing the amount transferred to local partners and other levels?

A12: The budget flexibility is meant for reallocations between countries and between thematic sectors/outcomes. The share distributed to/through local partners should not drop significantly compared to the budget. If this share drops significantly compared to the budget Norad will establish a dialogue with the partner. Partners will also be requested to submit an updated budget overview for each year and the share transferred to local partners will be part of that annual approval process.

Q13: Please confirm that plus partners are not required to provide an overall risk analysis as this field is still included in the portal even when we have ticked that we are a plus partner.

A13: We can confirm that organisations that have been approved as Strategic Civil Society Partners (Norad Plusspartners) do not have to submit an overall risk analysis.

Q14: Is it possible to include a few countries in the SPA application that are not included in the first year (2025) allocation?

We will apply for SPA funding in 2025 for a selection of (tier 1) countries. We are also considering the possibility to include a few countries (3-4) in the application for which budget allocation will not be done in the first year. However, depending on the humanitarian situation and related needs, some of the initial tier 1 countries may later be phased out and replaced by other (tier 2) countries. In other words, we would be considering including a total of 9-10 countries in the SPA, 5-6 tier 1 countries for which we would allocate budget for 2025 and 3-4 tier 2 countries that would be considered either in one of the subsequent years, or as part of an approved allocation of the unallocated response reserve funds (20% share of the total proposed direct project cost) in case of a new or escalated crisis. The idea behind the tier 2 countries would be that they, as they are intended to be integral parts of the SPA application, would to a certain extent be preapproved, and would thus only require either an annual plan for one of the subsequent years or a prior written approval if the unallocated response funds were to be requested. We believe this approach would allow for much more flexibility into the SPA to adjust according shifting situations and needs. This flexibility would obviously also assume that we can opt to change the countries for which we submit the annual plans, as per our previous question.

A14: Request for inclusion of new countries in the strategic partnership agreement in later years can be made through 1) request for release for (unallocated) response fund to new and/or expanded crisis situations 2) inclusion in updated annual plans or 3) applications to (potential) new direct call for proposals to SPA partners.