How a humanitarian assistance project is approved

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1. Where a project starts

Proposals are built in a dedicated system rather than sent as correspondence. Field or team users develop them there, entering the required information and uploading the supporting documentation, such as verification of partner land ownership for a construction project (SAMM C12.4.2).

The person who puts a project forward is usually at the embassy. The team user for the partner, normally the chief of the security cooperation organization or a designate, nominates fully developed and coordinated projects to the combatant command (SAMM C12.4.2).

Two conditions attach at that point. Projects need to be executable in the time frame stated, and they must represent the full scope of the requirement rather than a first installment of it (SAMM C12.4.2).

2. The budget submission, and the ceilings inside it

Each combatant command submits an annual assessment and budget package. It is capped against the previous year: "CCMDs must limit the total sum of OHDACA funding requested for HA project funding to 150 percent of the CCMD's previous year initial HA allocation" (SAMM C12.2.5.2).

Projects are then ranked in three priority groups, and each group is itself limited to a percentage of the previous year's allocation: 40 percent, 40 percent and 70 percent respectively. Where a command's prior year allocation was less than $3M, all of its projects may be marked in the top group (SAMM C12.2.5.2).

Two further allowances are held to a tenth of the submission. Funding for unforeseen requirements may not exceed 10 percent of the total budget submittal, and nor may budget requests for construction project scoping visits (SAMM C12.2.5.2).

3. Where the money is meant to go

Prioritization follows need. The manual directs commands to prioritize activities according to the countries and regions where humanitarian need is greatest (SAMM C12.3.3.1).

A quantified limit backs that up. "OHDACA funds invested in partners with high-income economies (non-developing countries) should not exceed 10 percent of the total funds allocated to all CCMDs" (SAMM C12.3.3.1).

Above the income threshold, a project has to argue for itself. Proposals in countries above the per capita threshold require specific justification explaining why it is in the Department's interest to spend these resources there rather than in lower and middle income partners (SAMM C12.3.3.1). Separately, assistance must comply with the restrictions and sanctions imposed by law and policy (SAMM C12.3.3.2).

4. The small project route

Not every project goes through the full approval chain. "MCP are HA efforts under 10 U.S.C. 2561 costing $30,000 or less and do not provide any equipment, supplies or other items to a security force" (SAMM C12.3.2.2).

A combatant command may approve one of these itself, provided the objectives can be achieved at that cost. The relief is procedural only: minimal cost projects "must meet the same legal, policy, coordination, and management criteria" and carry the same assessment and evaluation requirements as any other project (SAMM C12.3.2.2).

One situation removes the shortcut. In the immediate aftermath of a foreign disaster, commands notify the policy office and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency before approving such a project, so that it does not interfere with the wider government response (SAMM C12.3.2.2). What that wider response looks like is described in moving donated supplies and responding to a disaster.

5. Building something

Construction carries three rules a contractor will recognize.

• Supervision is priced in. Work executed by contractors requires a licensed government engineer qualified to make quality assurance inspections, and the estimate must "Include an amount between 8 percent and 15 percent of the construction contract cost for engineer services and oversight" (SAMM C12.3.5.3.2).
• Large projects are built to be divisible. The manual asks that any project approaching $1M be planned so that it is scalable, separated into distinct complete pieces that can be added to a base requirement. The award can then run as a base plus options (SAMM C12.3.5.3.3).
• There is an outer limit on duration. "Construction contracts, considered non-severable service contracts, may have a period of performance of no more than five years", and may not extend beyond the period in which the funds are available for disbursement (SAMM C12.3.5.4).

6. When a project costs more than approved

There is a tolerance, and it is narrow. "CCMDs may fund within-scope project cost increases of no more than 10 percent of the approved project amount" (SAMM C12.6.6.1).

Beyond that, approval has to be revisited. Where actual costs for within scope requirements exceed 10 percent, the command must obtain concurrence at the higher amount before further funds are committed, sending a request with an explanation of the increase (SAMM C12.6.6.2).

Only then does the money move. Commands may fund at the increased amount after concurrence is given and the record reflects the new cost (SAMM C12.6.6.2.4). For a supplier, the practical point is that a variation is a decision taken above the command, on a timetable that is not the site's.

7. The annual cycle

The whole program runs on a fixed calendar. Review of each command's submission is marked complete no later than 1 September, and that product represents the command's program for the year (SAMM C12.4.4.2).

A notice to Congress follows in the same month, covering plans to transfer articles and services to another nation or an international organization for peacekeeping or humanitarian use. "The Congressional Notification (CN) must be submitted prior to execution of the new appropriation" (SAMM C12.2.6.4).

Allocation and distribution close the sequence. Allocations to the geographic commands are issued in a decision memorandum in September, based on policy priorities, the submissions and past execution against performance objectives, and the funds are distributed in October (SAMM C12.2.6.5). Allocations may change when the appropriation bill is enacted, and a revised memorandum then follows.

Key terms

ABS	Assessment and budget submittal, the annual package each combatant command sends. SAMM C12.2.5.2.
MCP	Minimal cost project, at or below $30,000 and providing nothing to a security force. SAMM C12.3.2.2.
SIOH	Supervision, inspection and overhead, priced at 8 to 15 percent of a construction contract.
Umbrella project	Two or more interdependent efforts for one partner, grouped for a single approval. SAMM C12.3.2.3.
Priority group	The ranking that limits how much of a command's request sits at each level of importance.

Every statement above links to the document behind it. The full source list for this piece is on the sources page.

This page describes public United States government programs for general information. It is not legal, regulatory or procurement advice, and it does not address the facts of any particular case.

How Sentfore supports this

An approved project still has to be built, staffed and protected on site. Sentfore provides protective security, facilities support, secure movement and life support around programs in complex environments, and its principals have worked on overseas defense and security programs. Requirements can be sent through the contact page.