Multilateral Aid Review summary - International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

IFRC is the most far reaching global humanitarian network comprised of 186 National Societies and drawing on some 90 million volunteers worldwide to support operations to deliver assistance to vulnerable people. It carries out relief operations to assist victims of disasters, and combines this with development work to strengthen the capacities of its National Societies. IFRC provide assistance on an annual basis to some 150 million people with an average turnover of over CHF 30 billion (£18bn).

	comment
Contribution to UK development objectives	Strong
	+	Scale and reach of the organisation means that it is a critical humanitarian actor and it is often the first to respond to humanitarian emergencies on the ground.
	+	It is active in all countries with the greatest humanitarian need and contributes significantly to the MDGs through disaster preparedness and response as part of humanitarian assistance as well as significantly to health at a community level.
	_	Capacity of National Societies is very variable.
	+	IFRC has a clear gender policy and promotes gender policies within National Societies.
	+	Climate change adaptation well mainstreamed throughout IFRC.
Organisational strengths	Weak
	+	Cost effectiveness of IFRC is clear in its network of volunteers and scale of presence, and it is striving for cost control in its logistics and decentralising process.
	+	Clear focus on partnership within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.  Positive lead in the Shelter cluster.
	_	Not very good at working in partnership outside the Movement.
	+	IFRC has a clear mandate and strategy and an effective governing body.  Planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting are increasingly being systematised throughout the organisation.
	_	Despite some improvements, performance management is not yet sufficiently embedded at country-level.
	_	Strong financial reporting and systems are in place at secretariat level, but country-level systems more limited.
	_	There is no formal mechanism integrated into the governance structure that allows donors and partner governments to collectively hold IFRC to account, such as a Donor Support Group (which ICRC have).
Capacity for positive change	Uncertain
	_	IFRC have improved following DFID strategic funding to DFID-identified areas of importance such as performance management, but there is still some way to go.
	_	The nature of the organisation as a federation of independent National Societies means that the secretariat has limited influence for continual improvement over the organisation as a whole.