Practical approaches to localisation

In recent years, many actors within the humanitarian and peacekeeping sector have raised their voices about the need to localize aid efforts. It has been pointed out that the current structure of aid is unsustainable, exacerbates power imbalances, and overlooks the critical role that local and national actors play as first responders when incidents occur. The localization of support requires a systemic shift in how aid operations are planned and delivered, challenging all actors, both international and national.

In this project, International Alert seeks to explore how the localization of aid efforts could be operationalized in various conflict contexts and disseminate this knowledge to the local and international civil society and funders.

The project is supported with 2 899 000 SEK.

What’s happening in the project?

The project consists of two parts:

– Development of context-specific recommendations for operationalizing a long-term and sustainable localization. This will be done through discussions and consultations with local actors in Syria, Lebanon, Rwanda, and Kenya.
– Dissemination of the recommendations and lessons learned to relevant international organizations and funders with the aim of getting key players to implement the recommendations and start working more with localization. This will be done through advocacy work, roundtable discussions, presentations at key events, and personal meetings.

Why was the project supported?

The project contributes to making the humanitarian and peacekeeping sector more efficient and challenges power imbalances between the north and south.