About NaCSA

Background

The National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) was established as a "Social Fund" in November 2001 by an Act of Parliament as the successor to the National Commission for Reconstruction, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (NCRRR). NCRRR was a ministerial-level government commission that co-ordinated post-conflict humanitarian, relief and reconstruction assistance and provided oversight to donor-funded projects, including ones financed by the World Bank, African Development Bank (ADB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

NaCSA is governed by a seven-person Board of Directors with a majority drawn from civil society. It is responsible both for completing the remaining tasks of the NCRRR in the areas of humanitarian co-ordination, reconstruction, resettlement and rehabilitation (RRR) and helping to assure a transition from relief to sustained economic growth and development. The "Social Fund" approach has been necessitated by the need to build durable human and technical capacity rapidly in one entity that can then provide effective assistance in multiple sectors in a post-conflict environment marked by extensive physical, institutional and psycho-social damage, weak and destroyed government infrastructure and capacity, and the need to re-establish governance in large parts of the country.

NaCSA funds projects that build physical and social capital, help reduce poverty and promote sustainable development, thereby helping to reduce the risk of renewed conflict. NaCSA does this in several ways, including by using a participatory approach to empower the poor, thereby enabling them to become actively involved in their own development. By working directly with communities, often in remote parts of the country, NaCSA supports government's decentralisation strategy and helps rebuild local governance structures to enable them progressively to take over project identification, approval and implementation responsibilities.

Multi-Sector Presence

NaCSA solicits financial contributions from donors interested in supporting projects in the following key areas:

1. . Agriculture (including forestry and fisheries)
2. Water and Sanitation
3. Shelter
4. Community public works infrastructure (including health, sanitation, education and feeder roads)
5. Environmental protection and management
6. Voluntary resettlement and/or support to internally displaced people, refugees and vulnerable groups
7. Aid to disabled people and groups formed by them and
8. Capacity building.
   

Institutional Structure

NaCSA has three programme "windows" through which donors may channel funds to support reconstruction and development efforts and four support units as follows:

NaCSA Programme Windows

Community-Driven Programme (CDP)
Public Works Programme (PWP)
Micro-Finance Programme (MFP)

NaCSA Support Units

Finance
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E)
Information, Education and Communications (IEC)
Administrative Services