Celebrating the huge increases in global humanitarian assistance since the start of this century is still the accepted norm in the sector. But recent data shows that the increases are stalling. The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has been increasing rapidly in recent years. Between 2016 and 2017, the number increased from 164.2 million to 201 million people.[1] These are people in need of ‘last resort’ international humanitarian assistance just to cope and survive. During the same period, humanitarian aid budgets increased by just three percent from $26.4 billion to $27.3 billion[2]. Among these people are 70.8 million displaced people, up from 65 million in 2017. Displacement situations have also become more protracted, averaging between 10 and 25 years. [3] Despite the increase in displaced people, the deficits in the budgets of agencies whose mandate is to protect them has been widening annually. Humanitarian crises have also been complex in recent decades, affected by a rise in radical extremism, environmental disasters, and reduced freedom of movement across borders.
Through localisation, government,
civil society, NGOs and affected people themselves should have an increased capacity
in responding to challenges within their own communities. Localisation
increases the effectiveness and immediacy of a response, by leveraging the
flexibility of smaller agencies and community leaders already on the ground.
Excessive programmatic costs are avoided by reducing bureaucracy. Local
responders ensure that root causes are addressed and that interventions remain
relevant long after the international community has moved on to another
humanitarian crisis. And localisation is not only appropriate because it is
effective – it is the only way of working that preserves the dignity of the affected populations. In this video my good friend and colleague Robert Hakiza says it better than anyone else I know:
For another example of "localisation" working see my last blog, in which I talk about the great work being done by our partner organisation "Tomorrow Vijana" in Rwamwanja, Uganda.
The "Grand Bargain" and Localisation
Prompted by emerging trends in
humanitarian crises and humanitarian assistance, in May 2016, representatives
from 18 donor countries and 16 aid organisations (including the UN, the Red
Cross/Red Crescent Movement (RCRCM) and NGOs) agreed a ‘Grand Bargain’ outlining
51 separate commitments to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of
international humanitarian aid. The Grand Bargain has broad targets, with ten
objectives broken into ten work-streams.
Two work-streams touch on what could be referred to as localisation:
Work-stream 2 – More support and funding tools to local and
national responders
Work-stream 6 – A participation Revolution: including
people receiving aid in making the decisions that affect their lives.
A commitment under the Grand Bargain was that 25 per cent of humanitarian aid should be channelled through national and local actors by 2020. It has got off to a slow start -in 2017, 97% of humanitarian aid was dispersed to international responders, with 3% going to national and local responders. Of this 3%, 2.5% was given to national governments, leaving only 0.5% for local and national NGOs or other community led initiatives. (Global Humanitarian Assistance Report 2018 p51)
Localisation in Education in Emergencies
Localisation is particularly important in the education sector. Local communities are better placed than anyone to determine what constitutes a relevant and good quality education for themselves and their children, even in emergency contexts. Communities are best placed to ensure that the education received in an emergency context can be linked to education systems that may have been in place before a humanitarian crisis, and that it will continue effectively when comprehensive solutions to a crisis are realised. Like any other sector, education is more effective, sustainable and appropriate when decision making and control of resources is localised.
Changing the way humanitarian aid is delivered will not be easy. There are structural challenges currently preventing international humanitarian responders localising their work, varying from funding, fundraising and accountability structures, political and diplomatic condiserations to a need for capacity building at the local level. To address these structural challenges strategic steps need to be made now so that the root causes are addressed and not just the symptoms. We need to hold each other, as well as the signatories of the "Grand Bargain", to account and take some bold leaps into the unknown. If these steps are not made now, the gap between the need and the capacity to respond will grow further out of control.
I don't have all the answers as to how to make these changes and address entrenched structural challenges to localisation. At Xavier Project we have been committed to this effort for five years plus. If you believe in localisation, or you are already making concrete, effective steps towards making it a reality, please get in touch, let's share ideas.
[1]
Global Humanitarian Assistance Report 2018 p5
[2]
Global Humanitarian Assistance Report 2018 p9
[3] UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Global
Trends: Forced Displacement in 2015, 20 June 2016
p20
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