13. Activate, revise, and resubmit your s/EAP

If at any stage the preapproved trigger is reached, then the National Society can start implementing their early action activities. The activation needs to be confirmed by the global IFRC-DREF team, and this is done via the Activation template. The Activation template can be prepared in advance (since the early action and budget have been preapproved) and can be updated based on the specific details of the activation when the trigger is reached.

If the National Society would like to activate the s/EAP with a different forecast, trigger or threshold, then this activation needs an exceptional approval, confirmed with the global IFRC-DREF team, the IFRC-DREF Appeal Manager, and / or the Validation Committee. To justify the exceptional approval, a National Society should provide as much detailed information on the event and rationale for changes as quickly as possible to allow time for an efficient approval and smooth activation.

To access the early action budget, the National Society should submit the signed ‘request for payment’ along with the filled activation template to the IFRC Project Manager. The activation template is published on the IFRC website by the IFRC Regional PMER Focal Point.

Under a full EAP, National Societies can plan for two activations. Following the first activation, the National Society does the post distribution monitoring, the lessons learned workshop (you will find more information on evaluations and lessons learned in chapter 9), produces an Activation Report. At this stage (or indeed at any stage) a National Society can make changes to the EAP and budget, based on the recommends emerging from the first activation. If everything went as planned, then the National Society does not need to make any changes to the EAP and budget. Once the report is published, the National Society can then request the second allocation for stock and continue with the readiness activities, while monitoring the forecast in case of a second activation.

Following the second activation of an EAP or the first activation of a sEAP, the s/EAP will end after the operational timeframe, normally three months after the activation. The IFRC Project Manager will revise the end of the s/EAP on IFRC’s Ready and will create an Activation Report (all future pending reports will be cancelled). National Society follows the same process, conducting post distribution monitoring and facilitate a lessons learned workshop. These activities need to be done within the operational timeframe in order to eligible to be funded by the IFRC-DREF.

If it is not possible to do the post distribution monitoring or lessons learned workshop within the operational timeframe, a National Society should consider requesting a no cost extension via an operations update. This request should come before the end of the current operational timeframe. Please discuss this request with the IFRC Project Manager, who can contact the regional DREF focal point, or reach out to the Global DREF team via DREF.anticipatorypillar@ifrc.org.

The National Society also needs to complete the activation report and submit it to the IFRC according to the revised timeframe mentioned above. If you have any questions about the reporting deadline, please consult the IFRC Project Manager or your Regional IFRC-DREF Focal Point. Delays in submitting the activation report may affect the National Society’s ability to access IFRC-DREF funding, so a National Society is recommended to complete the narrative and financial report as soon as possible.

Once you have completed any post-distribution monitoring, lessons learned workshops, or other evaluations (see chapter 9 for MEAL guidance), or if your s/EAP finishes without activating, you should review and revise your s/EAP and budget. Any changes should be made in tracked changes in the original approved s/EAP narrative (no need to rewrite the s/EAP), this will help the Validation Committee to quickly spot any changes made. If the activation went as planned, then no changes need to be made to the s/EAP or budget.

The Validation Committee will have access to lessons learned report shared with IFRC and expect to see how the lessons and recommendations have been incorporated. Be sure to adjust the budget as well based on any changes. Once you have revised your s/EAP and budget, resubmit the s/EAP following the process that begins at step 1 of chapter 12. The process will be the same as it was for the initial submission.