12. Submit your s/EAP to IFRC for funding

Once you are ready to submit, all s/EAPs (narrative and budgets) should be submitted to DREF.anticipatorypillar@ifrc.org and the IFRC Delegation closest to the National Society. IFRC encourages National Societies to submit their s/EAP using the ‘submission’ proforma message, however, this is not compulsory. You will also find some of the suggested IFRC counterparts to copy in the submission email in the proforma template in the toolbox.

Once submitted, the s/EAP will be simultaneously reviewed by the IFRC and the Validation Committee, which is guided by a set of quality criteria (please find them in the toolbox below). There is one set of quality criteria for a full EAP and another set for a simplified EAP. These criteria are publicly available and should be referenced during the development process. They are also introduced in more depth in chapter 4.

The technical review should take no more than 14 days. After the technical review process ends, the consolidated feedback will be sent back to the person / email address who first submitted the s/EAP.

The National Society should respond to all the comments raised as part of the technical review. National Societies should make changes to the narrative s/EAP in tracked changes and provide detailed written responses to the comments in the checklist. By doing so, the Validation Committee can quickly identify what has been revised, making the next review smoother.

The National Society can request an optional feedback call with the Validation Committee. The feedback call is an opportunity to discuss how the s/EAP was developed, what was considered and included or discounted as part of the development process. It can also be a good opportunity to clarify any comments and prioritize what should be addressed for immediate approval and which suggestions can wait for future revisions.

Once the National Society feels confident that they have addressed all the comments, it should resubmit the revised s/EAP, budget and checklist to the IFRC Delegation and the DREF.anticipatorypillar@ifrc.org, copying in the other contacts listed on the “resubmission proforma template” (see toolbox below).

The Global DREF team will then forward the revised versions to the Validation Committee, who will have one week for the follow-up review. Based on the responses provided by the National Society, the Validation Committee may decide to:

• Technically validate the s/EAP
• Technically validate the s/EAP with conditions
• Request further work or clarification from the National Society

If you want more information on the validation process, you can find more detail in the IFRC-DREF guidelines, (please find it in the toolbox).

My s/EAP has been technically validated, what happens next…?

There are a few steps that need to be completed before the s/EAP can be approved. The IFRC Project Manager is responsible for

• Cleaning the s/EAP narrative of tracked changes.
• Sending the s/EAP budget for validation by the IFRC Regional Head of Finance.
• Drafting the summary of the full EAP (a summary is not required for a simplified EAP).

Note that these steps are not sequential, they can be started and progressed simultaneously. Once these steps are completed by the IFRC Project Manager, the package is submitted to the IFRC-DREF Appeal Manager for approval. This step is quick once the package of documents is prepared.

When the s/EAP is approved by the IFRC-DREF Appeal Manager, the codes will be open (including an operational / MDR and project code), and the funds will be allocated to the IFRC Delegation closest to the National Society. The IFRC Regional PMER is responsible for publishing either the DREF/EAP Summary or the sEAP on the appeals page of the IFRC website.

Next, the IFRC Project Manager needs to draft the project  agreement (PA for short) between the IFRC and the National Society. If a Partner National Society has a role in the s/EAP maintenance or activation, it may also be part of the project agreement. For example, in some instances, a Partner National Society may do the procurement on behalf of a National Society or may agree to advance the funds for activation to the Host National Society until the IFRC-DREF funds arrive.

The project agreement outlines the budget for readiness, stock and early action and includes a payment and reporting schedule. The project agreement needs to be signed by the IFRC Head of Delegation and the National Society leadership (and Partner National Society, if applicable). The first transfer to the National Society will include the funds for stock prepositioning and for the first year of readiness and should be transferred to the National Society within ten days after the project funding agreement has been signed. The National Society should prepare and submit the ‘request for payment’ that they normally complete when requesting funds from the IFRC.

If you want more information on the approval process, please see the IFRC-DREF guidelines.

On an annual basis, a National Society should prepare a narrative and financial report on the activities achieved. Submission of this report is contingent for the next transfer of funds for readiness activities.

Changes to an s/EAP can be made at any stage. We recommend that you reach out to the regional IFRC-DREF focal point to discuss the proposed changes. Depending on the size and scope of the changes, the changes could be agreed by the global DREF team, others may need to be agreed by the IFRC-DREF Appeal Manager and others may need to be referred back to the Validation Committee. Once the changes are agreed on, they s/EAP and/or budget should be updated, and the changes announced via an operations update.