Localisation (humanitarian practice)

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Humanitarian Aid being distributed in Haiti US Navy 100125-N-6266K-238 A Red Cross worker picks up a humanitarian box to give to an earthquake survivor in Port-au-Prince.jpg
Humanitarian Aid being distributed in Haiti

Localisation (or localization) is the practice, in humanitarian aid, to give more decision making power and funding to organizations and people that are based in countries affected by humanitarian emergencies.

Contents

The tendency of humanitarian aid agencies to promote Europeans and North Americans into leadership roles, limits the number of leadership positions filled by people with first hand experience of living in an emergency.

The need to localise was agreed upon by governments and humanitarian organizations in 2016, at the World Humanitarian Summit meeting in Turkey. Localisation was promoted by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in 2017, as part of a wider series of reforms called the "New Way of Working".

A target to increase the percentage of global spending on humanitarian aid flowing directly to local organizations to 25% by 2020 was not reached.

Nomenclature

There is lack of consensus between humanitarian practitioners and scholars in defining localisation, with some believing that the definition should vary depending on the country and emergency. [1] : 14 

Most commonly, localisation is understood to mean the practice, in humanitarian aid, of giving donor funding to aid agencies that are geographically located close to an emergency. [2] The practice also includes increasing the number of people from communities affected by emergencies in senior leadership roles at humanitarian aid organizations. [2]

Background

Humanitarian aid agencies tend to employ European and North Americans into senior leadership roles and tend to hire staff from countries more commonly affected by crises into more junior, local roles, blocking local staff from senior leadership roles. [3] This tendency prevents people from local communities from influencing decision making about emergency responses to disasters. [4]

Among humanitarian professionals, there is a widespread perception that increasing localisation will improve the quality of humanitarian aid. [4] Despite the logic of such perceptions, there is a lack of evidence to support the hypothesis. [5] [6] : 69  [1] : 19  [1] : 29  [4] The lack of evidence is a battier to increasing localiastion.

Barriers to localisation include the self-reservation incentives that international humanitarian aid agencies. [1] : 28 

History

Although the importance of local aid agencies is acknowledged by United Nations Resolution 46/182, by 2015, only 0.2% of humanitarian aid funding was allocated to local aid agencies, in contrast to national or international organisations. [7] An emphasis on localisation in the humanitarian sector occurred at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit. [8] At the summit, donor governments struck an agreement, known as the Grand Bargain, to increase that percentage to 25%. [7] In 2017, the practice of localisation was promoted by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in their publication "New Way of Working." [9] From 2016 and 2020 the percentage of funding that flowed to local organisations reduced from 3.5% to 2.1%. [10] [11] In 2020, Degan Ali, described the Grand Bargain as a "failed effort". [12]

In 2020, Kristina Roepstorff of Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg criticised binary approaches localisation that defined people as local or western, noting complex social hierarchies and a risk of shifting power away from western humanitarians towards local elites, disconnected from the communities with needs. [7] In 2021, the European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič was criticized for comments made in an interview with The New Humanitarian in which he suggested the lack of localisation was the result of a lack of capacity amongst local aid agencies. [13] His comments prompted criticisms from the Network for Empowered Aid Response and others who perceive the problem to be a result of those in power not relinquishing it. [13]

Limitations on international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the workload of local organisations, while also increasing safety and health risks to local staff. [4] [1] : 24 

Also in 2021, 60 donors took part in negotiations led by Norwegian diplomat Jan Egeland to create an updated Grand Bargain 2.0 that will contain targets to advance localisation. [14] Donors committed to more reforms, signing the Grand Bargain 2.0 agreement in mid-2022. [3] In October 2022, CARE International, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Plan International, and Save the Children International struck an agreement called the Pledge for Change, committing to only operate in humanitarian crises where local capacity was absent, by 2030. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanitarian aid</span> Material or logistical assistance for people in need

Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Humanitarian relief efforts are provided for humanitarian purposes and include natural disasters and human-made disasters. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. It may, therefore, be distinguished from development aid, which seeks to address the underlying socioeconomic factors which may have led to a crisis or emergency. There is a debate on linking humanitarian aid and development efforts, which was reinforced by the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. However, the conflation is viewed critically by practitioners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aid agency</span> Organization dedicated to distributing aid

An aid agency, also known as development charity, is an organization dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government, between governments as multilateral donors and as private voluntary organizations or non-governmental organisations. The International Committee of the Red Cross is the world's second oldest humanitarian organisation and is unique in being mandated by international treaty to uphold the Geneva Conventions. The Sovereign Order of Malta, established in 1099 as the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, has an unbroken tradition of over 900 years of hospitaller activities, continuing to this day. Even in its modern guise under international law, it was recognized at the Congress of Verona of 1822, and since 1834 headquartered in Palazzo Malta in Rome, decades before the Red Cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations</span> European Commissions department for overseas humanitarian aid and for civil protection

The Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, formerly known as the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office, is the European Commission's department for overseas humanitarian aid and for civil protection. It aims to save and preserve life, prevent and alleviate human suffering and safeguard the integrity and dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. Since September 2019, Janez Lenarčič is serving as Commissioner for Crisis Management in the Von der Leyen Commission, and since 1 March 2023, Maciej Popowski leads the organisation as the Director-General.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanitarian crisis</span> Large threat to the health and safety of many people

A humanitarian crisis is defined as a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or external conflict and usually occurs throughout a large land area. Local, national and international responses are necessary in such events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The New Humanitarian</span> News agency based in Kenya

The New Humanitarian, previously known as IRIN News, or Integrated Regional Information Networks News, is an independent, non-profit news agency. It specializes in humanitarian stories from often overlooked or under-reported regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation</span>

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is an office-level agency in the federal administration of Switzerland, and a part of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Together with other federal offices, SDC is responsible for overall coordination of Swiss international development activities and cooperation with Eastern Europe, as well as humanitarian aid.

There are a number of meanings for the term humanitarian. Here, humanitarian pertains to the practice of saving lives and alleviating suffering. It is usually related to emergency response whether in the case of a natural disaster or a man-made disaster such as war or other armed conflict. Humanitarian principles govern the way humanitarian response is carried out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International</span> International non-profit organisation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Humanitarian Summit</span> 2016 meeting

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In the realm of humanitarian aid, Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) is recognized as an umbrella term for two of the common modalities of assistance for delivering swift and flexible humanitarian aid support to populations affected by various crises, the third being in-kind assistance.

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The CALP Network is an organisation originating in 2005 and officially launched in 2009 as The Cash Learning Partnership, with the objectives of increasing the scale and quality of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) employed by humanitarian agencies around the world to deliver aid. CVA encompasses aid delivered as cash, or vouchers exchangeable for goods and services, directly to recipients, and represents an increasingly significant aid modality amounting to 21% of total international humanitarian assistance expenditure in 2022. CALP works to build CVA capacity within aid organisations, especially by providing training and e-learning; coordinates the use of CVA by agencies; compiles and shares knowledge and research; and contributes to the development of policy environments encompassing CVA.

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<i>Grand Bargain</i> (humanitarian reform) Global agreement on humanitarian funding reform

The Grand Bargain: Agenda for Humanity, usually called the Grand Bargain, is an agreement to reform the delivery of humanitarian aid, that was struck at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016. The agreement contains 51 specific commitments, grouped into ten focus areas, with activity targets to be completed by January 1, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Network for Empowered Aid Response</span> Network of local humanitarian organisations

The Network for Empowered Aid Response, often called the NEAR Network, is a group of humanitarian civil society organisations based in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanitarian Cluster System</span> Disaster response coordination mechanism

The Humanitarian Cluster System is a system, used by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, to coordinate multi-agency responses to large humanitarian emergencies.

<i>The State of the Humanitarian System</i> Report about humanitarian aid

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<i>Global Humanitarian Overview</i>

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Robillard, Sabina; Atim, Teddy; Maxwell, Daniel (December 2021). "Localization: A "Landscape" Report" (PDF). Tufts University .
  2. 1 2 Goodwin, Ellen; Ager, Alastair (2021). "Localisation in the Context of UK Government Engagement With the Humanitarian Reform Agenda". Frontiers in Political Science . 3: 114. doi: 10.3389/fpos.2021.687063 . ISSN   2673-3145.
  3. 1 2 "The State of Humanitarian Professions 2020 : Executive Summary". Bioforce . Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Barbelet, Veronique; Davies, Gemma; Flint, Josie; Davey, Eleanor (June 2021). "Interrogating the evidence base on humanitarian localisation. A literature study" (PDF). Overseas Development Institute .
  5. ↑ Baguios, Arbie. "Localisation Re-imagined: Fertilising the soil of state-led solutions". ALNAP . Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  6. ↑ Peach, Kathy; Berditchevskaia, Aleks; Gill, Issy; Whittington, Oli; Malliaraki, Eirini; Hussein, Nasra. "Collective crisis intelligence for frontline humanitarian response" (PDF). NESTA .
  7. 1 2 3 ROEPSTORFF, K. A call for critical reflection on the localisation agenda in humanitarian action. Third World Quarterly , [s. l.], v. 41, n. 2, p. 284–301, 2020. doi : 10.1080/01436597.2019.1644160 Disponível em: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=141601500&site=eds-live&scope=site. Acesso em: 23 fev. 2023.
  8. ↑ PINCOCK, K.; BETTS, A.; EASTON-CALABRIA, E. The Rhetoric and Reality of Localisation: Refugee-Led Organisations in Humanitarian Governance. Journal of Development Studies, [s. l.], v. 57, n. 5, p. 719–734, 2021. doi : 10.1080/00220388.2020.1802010 Disponível em: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=149844189&site=eds-live&scope=site. Acesso em: 23 fev. 2023.
  9. ↑ "New Way of Working" (PDF). United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs . 2017.
  10. ↑ The Editorial Board (13 February 2021). "Foreign Aid Is Having a Reckoning". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  11. ↑ Mwaura, Gitura (21 February 2021). "Does Africa need foreign aid?". The New Times (Rwanda) . Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  12. ↑ Ali, Degan; Murphy, Marie-Rose Romain (19 July 2020). "Black Lives Matter is also a reckoning for foreign aid and international NGOs". openDemocracy . Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  13. 1 2 "EU commissioner creates a stir with statements on localisation". The New Humanitarian . 18 March 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  14. ↑ Alexander, Jessica (10 June 2021). "A renewed push to make aid more efficient". The New Humanitarian . Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  15. ↑ Alexander, Jessica (27 October 2022). "Five international NGOs launch fresh bid to tackle power imbalances in aid". The New Humanitarian . Retrieved 23 February 2023.
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