The Danish Emergency Relief Fund (DERF) is a humanitarian funding mechanism launched in May 2017. The DERF provides flexible and rapid funding to save lives and prevent further escalation of suffering in humanitarian crisis situations. It supports acute humanitarian interventions by Danish civil society organisations (CSOs), who have existing presence and capacity in crisis areas, primarily through local partners. The Department of Humanitarian Action, Migration and Engagement (HCE) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (MFA) now intends to contract a DERF-manager for the period 2021-2024 with a possibility for extending the contract beyond 2024.

The services requested for the next phase of DERF (2021-2024) include, but are not necessarily limited to the following:

1) Manage the DERF to ensure that it responds rapidly, effectively and relevant with integrity and flexibility to acute humanitarian crisis situations with a focus on providing emergency relief to affected populations to meet urgent needs and prevent further loss of life or escalation of suffering.

2) Fulfil the objective of the DERF through supporting the humanitarian interventions of Danish CSOs (without strategic humanitarian partnership with the MFA) who have relevant access, capacities and expertise, either through local or national partner CSOs and/or within their own organisation enabling them to respond to the humanitarian needs of people affected by crisis. The DERF can only provide funds to address humanitarian crisis situations in countries included in OECD/DAC-list of countries eligible to receive support.

3) Ensure that DERF supports life-saving interventions through localized humanitarian response and assists particularly vulnerable groups of people, hereunder refugees, IDPs and host communities.

4) Manage the MEAL-function of the DERF to see if interventions financed by DERF are implemented in a flexible, rapid and efficient manner in accordance with DERF Guidelines, common humanitarian standards and principles, and contracts between Danish CSOs and local partners. Field level verification and analysis of selected humanitarian interventions supported by the DERF will be part of the MEAL-function.

5) Manage DERF's reporting, results management and external communication delivering products of high quality, including a DERF webpage which is continuously updated, ongoing grant disbursement reports, annual results- and progress report as well as financial reports to the MFA.

6) Ensure that the DERF is managed in accordance with the humanitarian principles, the Danish strategic for development cooperation and humanitarian assistance (new strategy is expected to be published in 2021), the principle of ‘Leaving No one Behind’ and realisation of the Grand Bargain commitments including localisation of humanitarian action.

7) Manage the funds made available to the DERF in accordance with sound financial management principles in a way that promotes transparency and a high level of integrity.

8) Monitor financial risks and provide financial control of reports received from grantees.

9) Manage a demand-responsive online support function that provides targeted and limited technical backstopping to CSOs that have been granted funds from the DERF.