Geneva: ICRC reinforces financial support to National Society Investment Alliance (NSIA)
Geneva, 12 December 2024 – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pleased to announce that 7.3 million Swiss francs were transferred today to the National Society Investment Alliance (NSIA).
The NSIA is a National Society development fund jointly lead by the ICRC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). It aims at enhancing the sustainable development of National Societies in fragile contexts by providing quality funding to implement projects that can bring about organizational transformation. This injection of resources will ensure that the NSIA can continue to provide medium- to long-term funding to National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, strengthening their institutional capacities and increasing their preparedness, response, resource mobilization and coordination capabilities. This will help National Societies improve the quality of their services and programmes for affected communities, thereby enhancing their role as local humanitarian leaders. Ultimately, it will contribute to more resilient and sustainable humanitarian action.
By investing in the NSIA, the ICRC is delivering on the pledge it made as part of the Grand Bargain at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit to increase its support to local organizations. It also represents a significant step forward in implementing Resolution 4 of the 34th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which recognizes the central role of local actors, calling for “[m]ore sustained investment in national response systems and basic services [which] will deliver stronger partnerships between local and international actors’’.
“We are excited to contribute to the NSIA’s impactful work in promoting the preparedness and resilience of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies," said Olivier Ray, the director of the Department of Mobilization, Movement and Partnerships. "Our investment is focused on strengthening National Societies and fostering community-driven change. We believe that by empowering our primary partners, we can help communities become more resilient to shocks."
This innovative fund is unique in the humanitarian sector. Established in 2018 after the World Humanitarian Summit, the NSIA has proven to be an effective channel for pooling and allocating resources for National Societies, which are responsible for developing, submitting and implementing their projects independently and according to their priorities. NSIA funds go where they matter the most. Since 2019, 13 out of 15 of the highest risk countries have received NSIA funding, for a total of CHF 17 million invested in 78 initiatives. In 2024 alone, 13 National Societies have been supported.
If National Societies are to effectively assist vulnerable people in times of crisis, they need to enhance their long-term operational capacities. Evidently, they must have enough resources and staff, but it is also important to accompany them in their growth as an organization. One of the ways of doing so is by providing them with support for innovative business initiatives that can lead to impactful humanitarian action and bring about system-wide change.
About the ICRC
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.
For more information, please contact:
Amadou Diop, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41227303011, email adiop@icrc.org
Gianmaria Pinto, fund manager, tel: +4178729 20 70, email: NSIA.Office@IFRC.org
or
NSIA Office Online : www.nsia.fund
