Rapid Response Facility

What is the Rapid Response Facility?

The Rapid Response Facility (RRF) enables DFID to commit to rapid humanitarian funding for pre-qualified partners. This will be done in the first 72 hours following a rapid onset disaster, spike in a chronic humanitarian emergency, or other disasters as deemed necessary. Responding rapidly in humanitarian disasters ensures that more lives are saved and suffering is reduced.

The RRF enables the UK to do this in the most effective way. It enables DFID to work with partners that have a proven record of response. It also ensures, through a robust pre-qualification process, that partners provide high quality results and deliver value for money for UK tax payers and people affected by disasters. Partners who are judged to have performed badly will be removed from the RRF.

The guidance and templates documents for pre-qualified partners are listed on this page. These should be used for all applications for funding from pre-qualified partners listed below. The Secretary of State for DFID authorises the use of the RRF. DFID will confirm activation by the Secretary of State to RRF partners. Applications received without this confirmation will not be looked at or acknowledged.

Pre-qualified partners

The currently pre-qualified RRF implementing partners are:

Action Against Hunger; ActionAid; British Red Cross; CAFOD; Care International; Christian Aid; Concern; GOAL; Handicap International; HelpAge Interational; International Medical Corps; International Rescue Committee; Islamic Relief; MapAction; Mercy Corps Scotland; Merlin; Mine Advisory Group; Oxfam; Save the Children; ShelterBox; Tearfund; World Vision, Thomson Reuters Foundation, BBC Media Action, International Media Support and Internews Europe.

Current Applications

The application process to join the RRF as a pre-qualified partner has now closed. Future opportunities to apply to join the RRF will be annouced on this page.

DFID is currently holding a tender for frameworks to supply various relief items under the RRF. The deadline for expressing interest in this tender has now passed but this is the first such tender, and by no means represents the entirety of what DFID would purchase in a response. Companies will become RRF partners as and when DFID contracts them for humanitarian response. As necessary, DFID will undertake further tenders for frameworks for other items in the future.

Background

The Government's response to Lord Ashdown's review of the UK's humanitarian emergency response set out how Britain's response to man-made and natural disasters would be improved.

One of the key commitments was to establish a facility to provide rapid mobilisation funding to pre-qualified organisations in the first 72 hours following an emergency.

Last updated: 29 Jan 2013