Other technical facilities

UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT) is a £340m technical assistance programme, funded by the UK’s International Climate Finance (ICF). UK PACT supports select ODA-eligible countries with high mitigation potential to increase their climate ambition and implement that ambition more rapidly, more effectively, and more equitably. UK PACT delivers impact through a combination of funding longer-term capacity-building projects and the rapid mobilisation of expertise, through ten bilateral Country Programmes and two regional funds.

SPARC has a significant demand-responsive component, offering operational advice to address evidence gaps on the effectiveness of interventions that support the resilience of agricultural, pastoral and transitional livelihoods in protracted and recurrent crises in the drylands of the Sahel and the Middle East. The programme’s approach uses a process of scoping, summarising, tailoring and disseminating lessons from existing initiatives to support better development practice and evidence-based decision making in policy and programming.

The Social Protection Technical Assistance, Advice, and Resources Facility (STAAR) is a joint initiative of the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office (FCDO)’s Better Assistance in Crises (BASIC) and Gender-Responsive Social Protection (GSP) programmes. The project is dedicated to expanding and improving the effectiveness of investments in both gender-responsive social protection and social protection approaches in crises, including those driven by climate change and extreme weather events. In its final year of operation, STAAR is focussing on supporting the uptake and use of assistance already or currently being provided. We will continue to publish insights, outputs and syntheses from our work - so do follow our LinkedIn and publications page on Socialprotection.org to access these.

The Fund supports the uptake of adaptation and resilience research and existing knowledge into practical applications that meet the current needs of decision makers in Africa and Asia. Funding opportunities are available for short term and small-scale interventions that support the needs of decision makers to adapt to climate change through the use of existing research and evidence. The CLARE R4I Opportunity Fund will source and procure the service of researchers and technical experts to deliver the interventions. Resources are not available for conducting new primary research, and interventions must be completed within a 12-month timeframe.

The Disability Inclusion Helpdesk is a research, advice and technical assistance service for FCDO and HMG. The Helpdesk provides research and advice to FCDO and other UK government departments on disability inclusion in ODA funded policy and programming. It can advise on disability inclusion across sectors and themes, providing support to identify entry points to protect and promote disability rights in strategies, plans, campaigns, programmes and policies in development and diplomatic settings. This includes providing research and advice on disability inclusion in climate, environment, and nature programming and policy, alongside other topics. It takes a rights-based approach to disability inclusion and apply a gender and intersectionality lens in everything it does.

The Work and Opportunities for Women (WOW) Helpdesk provides rapid, flexible, tailored and specialist analysis, guidance and ‘know-how’ to support UK government staff in addressing Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) in policy and programming. The on-demand query service on WEE is available to FCDO and other HMG Department staff working on international Economic Development policy and programmes in relation to ODA eligible countries, across central, regional and country-based locations. It is overseen by FCDO’s Economic Development and Partnerships Directorate. The Helpdesk is currently not considering new requests.