Why not Local? Joint INGO Statement on Localization in Humanitarian Action
INGO Statement on the Urgent Need to Accelerate Progress and Accountability towards Local Leadership of Humanitarian Action
Ahead of the Grand Bargain Annual Meeting, 35 CEOs from international NGOs and INGO platforms are issuing a joint statement outlining a call on the international community – notably donor governments, INGOs and UN agencies – to urgently accelerate efforts to promote and demonstrate equitable partnership with diverse local civil society organizations in humanitarian action. The statement emerges from discussions amongst civil society organisations in the Charter4Change coalition, Pledge4Change and other localization networks. It highlights three priorities raised by diverse local actors through the Grand Bargain Caucus on the Role of Intermediaries, the Caucus on Funding for Localisation, the Grand Bargain Risk Sharing Framework and country-level dialogues on localization. Specific attention is given to promoting mutual accountability and attention to equitable partnerships, the ways in which donors and international agencies can shift towards local leadership (or co-leadership) of funding, and partnership approaches to risk management by donors and international agencies with local partners (especially when risk materialize). The objective is not to establish new commitments, but rather to focus senior leadership attention on barriers and enablers to deliver on existing commitments.
The three priorities:
1. Establishing safe processes to promote mutual accountability between international agencies and their local partners; including honest reflection on the extent to which partnerships are equitable and empowering, rather than transactional or top-down.
2. Establish and regularly assess progress against organisation-wide, measurable localisation plans at global and country levels; including actions towards (a) direct access to funding; (b) supporting local partners to take on leadership or co-leadership roles; and (c) resourcing capacity sharing.
3. Implement a partnership-based approach to risk management (‘risk sharing’) for grants and consortia. Beyond investing in local partners’ efforts and systems to prevent, mitigate and manage risks, particular attention is needed to ensure a partnership approach is maintained when risks materialise, so that the costs and consequences do not fall disproportionately on local partners.
The above three issues reflect priorities raised by diverse national and local actors through the Grand Bargain Caucus on the Role of Intermediaries, the Caucus on Funding for Localisation, the Grand Bargain Risk Sharing Framework and country-level dialogues on localisation.i But there remain serious concerns over the gap between the policy or practical recommendations arising from those processes and delivery on the ground.
More than ever, localisation is seen as a priority in on-going major crises such as Sudan, Ukraine, Syria and elsewhere. In a time of funding cuts and spiraling needs, supporting local leadership is the right thing to do, but it will also make the humanitarian system more efficient and effective. Agencies share good practices through initiatives such as the Charter4Change, Pledge4Change, RINGO and Shift the Power. Yet all too often, localisation remains more in the realm of rhetoric with too little action in practice and even less accountability. Globally local actors are estimated to receive directly approximately 1.2% of total humanitarian funding.
National and local actors have advocated for action on these priorities, but there remains a persistent gap between the commitments made at global level and the practices of international agencies on the ground. Accountability for localisation remains weak or absent amongst most donors and intermediary agencies. In fact, at present, some donors actively disincentivise steps towards more equitable partnership. For example, if an INGO adopts a global policy to provide an adequate, fair and consistent level of overheads support to local partners, that INGO may be seen as less competitive by some donors than peers who do not provide their local partners such critical support. As the momentum on localisation and equitable partnerships increase, some INGOs are taking genuine substantive action to change their policies and practices. Others are rebranding sub-granting programmes as ‘localisation platforms’ and deliver top-down local partner training for donor compliance, labelled as ‘capacity strengthening’. As yet, there is no consistent approach by donors to holding INGOs and UN agencies accountable for meaningful action on support to local leadership.
Transformative change requires deliberate action by all, donors, UN agencies, INGOs, national and local actors alike. The undersigned INGOs are compiling examples of actions on the above priorities that we have planned to implement between now and Autumn 2026, the end of the current phase of the Grand Bargain, which will be shared in dialogue about this statement. We recognise that none of us are yet where we need and aspire to be on these issues, and that deeper and more ambitious change is required. To catalyse that change, both within our own agencies and across the wider sector, we invite peer agencies to publish their commitments to act on these issues; local actors to challenge us on what more we could be doing; and donors to translate these priorities into their policy and practice. The time has come for action and accountability.
Signatories:
Erika Lysen: CEO, Act Church of Sweden
Arthur Larok: Secretary General, ActionAid International
Christian Molke: Director / Chairman of the Board, ADRA Germany
Christine Allen: Director, CAFOD
Reintje van Haeringen: Chair, CARE International Executive Committee, CARE International
Andreas Knapp: Secretary General International Programmes, Caritas Austria
Luc Van Haute: Managing Director, Caritas Belgium
Dr. Oliver Müller: International Director, Caritas Germany
David Bainbridge: Executive Director, CBM Global Disability Inclusion
Patrick Watt: CEO, Christian Aid
Heleen van den Berg: CEO, CORDAID
Sean Callahan: CEO, CRS
Jonas Vejsager Nøddekær: Secretary General, Danish Church Aid
Charlotte Slente: Secretary General, Danish Refugee Council
Martin Kessler: Director, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH)
Reintje van Haeringen (Chair, Board of Supervisors) and Tram Nguyen (Chair, Board of Directors), Dutch Relief Alliance
Dr. Thorsten Klose-Zuber: Secretary General, Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e.V.
Cherian Mathews: CEO, HelpAge
Waseem Ahmad: CEO, Islamic Relief Worldwide
Susanne Wesemann: Director, Johanniter International Assistance
Maria Immonen: Director, Lutheran World Federation
Tjada D'Oyen McKenna: CEO, Mercy Corps
Betina Gollander-Jensen: Secretary General, Mission East
Dagfinn Høybråten: General Secretary, Norwegian Church Aid
Jan Egeland: Secretary General, Norwegian Refugee Council
Amitabh Behar: Executive Director, Oxfam International
Šimon Pánek: CEO, People in Need
Maciej Bagiński: President of the Board of Directors, Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH)
Jeremy Konyndyk: President, Refugees International
Inger Ashing: CEO, Save the Children International
Christina Bennett: CEO, Start Network
Tom Dannatt: CEO, Street Child
Nigel Harris: CEO, Tearfund
Caoimhe de Barra: CEO, Trocaire
Chris Lukkien: CEO, ZOA