The humanitarian sector must do more to strengthen local partners – here’s how

In over a decade, the humanitarian sector has made only slow progress towards localisation – a movement to shift power to local and national actors to lead humanitarian and development initiatives – but Islamic Relief researcher Zahra Khan Durrani believes there is fresh cause for hope.

The Grand Bargain, launched at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, operationalises localisation by committing international actors to provide more direct funding, capacity strengthening, and meaningful partnerships with local organisations. As a signatory to the Grand Bargain, Islamic Relief has been championing localisation through its multi-country Strengthening Response Capacity and Institutional Development for Excellence (STRIDE) programme.

At the 2024 Regional Humanitarian Partnership Week (RHPW), Islamic Relief organised 2 engaging sessions where STRIDE partners, local actors, faith communities, and humanitarian leaders came together to share experiences and discuss the challenges.

What does empowering local leadership mean?

In the halls of global humanitarian conferences and local forums alike, the conversations on localisation are strikingly familiar. Frequently local actors call to ‘decentralise power’, ‘simplify compliance’, and ‘invest in local capacity’. These are not new pleas but old truths reiterated because they remain unmet.

One of the sessions examined what it truly meant to ‘empower local leadership’, a concept that sits at the core of effective humanitarian response. It was put together by Act Alliance, Sphere India, and Islamic Relief Worldwide, with local partners, YAKKUM Emergency Unit (YEU), District Inter-Agency Group – Wayanad, and Socio Pastoral Action Center Foundation of Daet Incorporated.

Participants from across the Asia-Pacific region offered their recommendations to advance the localisation agenda. Participants shared their thoughts, reflecting on challenges that have persisted for years, including power imbalances, cumbersome compliance and reporting mechanisms, misaligned donor priorities, and limited access to flexible, long-term funding.

Local actors agreed how they should propel transformative action but noted systemic barriers including their exclusion from decision-making and even the pressure of co-financing demands. These are the same old hurdles the sector has yet to clear.

Value, agency, and leadership

Local actors reiterated the need for systems that recognise their value, respect their agency, and trust their leadership. They recommended:

• Transforming power dynamics: Decentralising power is a practical necessity. Donors and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) must actively transfer decision-making authority to local actors, ensuring their leadership in project design, implementation, and evaluation.

• Transforming power dynamics: Decentralising power is a practical necessity. Donors and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) must actively transfer decision-making authority to local actors, ensuring their leadership in project design, implementation, and evaluation.
• Simplify, don’t stifle: Compliance systems, designed for accountability, often exclude the very actors they are intended to support. Streamlining these processes can open the door for smaller, community-rooted organisations to thrive.
• Fund beyond projects: The current funding model, focused on short-term projects, perpetuates a cycle of instability. Sustainable local leadership requires long-term, flexible funding that invests in institutional growth.
• Measure progress differently: The same issues are repeatedly raised so the metrics used to evaluate progress are flawed. Success must be measured not by the number of localisation commitments made, but by the tangible shifts in power and resources to local actors.

Learning from local partners

Yet, amidst the shared concerns, we heard examples that demonstrated how true localisation is being realised in some contexts. Among them, Islamic Relief’s long-standing partnership in the Philippines with the Socio Pastoral Action Center Foundation of Daet Incorporated (SPACFI), the social development arm of the Catholic Church of the Diocese of Camarines Norte. An important humanitarian aid organisation, SPACFI have teamed up with Islamic Relief to support to families affected by Typhoon Kristine.

Speaking at the Regional Humanitarian Partnership Week, Reverend Father Milo Jojo Caymo, SPACFI’s Director,  described this partnership as “a journey of inter-religious faith intertwined in humanitarian response to the needy.

“Islamic Relief has truly gone out of its way – not just in providing financial assistance, but in supporting SPACFI from scratch with the ‘what, why, and how’ of humanitarian response in local sectors.”

This hands-on, capacity-strengthening approach, he noted, has been critical for SPACFI in developing local leadership and enhancing decision making processes. The partnership has thrived on collaborative efforts, mutual respect, and a shared goal of uplifting less-privileged communities, not only during disasters but also in long-term initiatives.

Father Jojo offered insights into what he believed makes localisation effective, emphasising the importance of:

• Establishing a shared vision: Successful localisation requires a shared vision, trust, and belief in each other’s capacities.
• Learning and adapting: He emphasised the importance of openness and humility to “learn, relearn, and unlearn” as key drivers of innovation.
• Nexus approach and community building: Strengthening communities through livelihood and education initiatives can build resilience and sustainability.

He also highlighted the role of gratitude and faith in driving these efforts, urging collaboration rooted in humility and trust.

The role of faith in localisation

A session on Faith Actors’ Value Addition: Advancing Localisation, Climate Change Resilience, and Beyond, added another layer of nuance to the localisation debate. It was a collaboration between Islamic Relief, Samuel Hall, Pacific Island Association for NGOs (PIANGO), Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLIFLC), Pak Mission Society (PMS), and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA).

A dynamic panel discussion illuminated the indispensable role of faith actors in addressing global challenges, from climate resilience and humanitarian interventions, to child protection and social cohesion. Faith actors and organisations were recognised for their unique capacity to reach the most vulnerable communities, often acting as the first responders in crisis situations.

Juliette Samman, Research Lead from Samuel Hall, shared key insights from Samuel Hall and Islamic Relief’s collaborative study The Added Value of Faith Actors in Localisation: Opportunities and Barriers in Humanitarian Action. This revealed that faith actors, often dismissed as purely spiritual, bring significant technical expertise in areas such as mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), migration, and climate resilience. This technical expertise, combined with their strong community networks, allows faith-based organisations to offer a unique value proposition in humanitarian responses.

‘Faith-based, not faith-biased’: Key insights and perspectives from the panel

Noor Ur Rehman, Regional Coordinator South Asia of Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities, shared his experience working with faith actors. He talks about how faith leaders play an important role as intermediaries in regions where trust in institutions or outsiders is low. An example he shared was on a sensitive issues like polio vaccination in Pakistan and Afghanistan and how faith actors influence has been instrumental in breaking vaccine resistance in communities. 

Akmal Ali, Coordinator of the Facility Aiding Locally-Led Engagement (FALE) Pacific from PIANGO shared how faith actors’ integration in localisation efforts fosters trust and enhances community resilience. Sharing insights from Fiji, he shared how ‘every meeting, every gathering, and every coordination starts with prayer’. For Akmal, this is more than just a tradition, this simple practice is a testament to how faith can be a unifying force that transcends divisions and builds bridges.

Reflecting on his experience at COP29 and the Faith Pavilion, Qamar Iqbal, Senior Manager Localisation & Programme Support from Pakistan Mission Society highlighted how faith actors are gaining increasing prominence in global climate advocacy. Qamar’s insights underscored the dual role of faith communities in responding to immediate local crises like the Pakistan floods while influencing global policy and action.

Anne Masterson, Country Director of Norwegian Church Aid, Pakistan, emphasised the importance of sustained, long-term engagement with faith actors, particularly within the Nexus approach, to fully harness their potential. Anne further advocated for an inclusive approach, urging organisations to be “faith-based, not faith-biased.” This ensures that humanitarian efforts align with faith principles while remaining equitable and impartial.

Building on what works

The localisation movement has no shortage of commitments or declarations. What it needs is acceleration, guided by the lessons of success stories and grounded in the lived realities of local actors. SPACFI’s experience highlights that meaningful localisation is about respect, equity, and shared responsibility as much as it is about funding and capacity strengthening.

As I reflect on the discussions at the event, it becomes clear that localisation cannot be achieved in isolation. The synergy between local actors and faith communities, coupled with the commitment of humanitarian agencies, is the recipe for a future where localisation is not just a theoretical goal but a reality. The call for equitable partnerships, shared leadership, and sustained collaboration must ring louder than ever.

The future of localisation depends on the willingness of all stakeholders to let go of old power dynamics and empower those closest to the crisis. It’s time to stop repeating the same conversations and start making real, measurable progress. As Father Jojo aptly put it, the challenges may be many, but with a united commitment to learning and adapting, they are “normal but manageable.” I hope this marks the turning point towards a truly inclusive and transformative localisation movement.