Locally led response is not only important but necessary in ensuring local ownership and sustainability of the humanitarian response. We have to think capacity sharing and systems support as key enablers in this transfer of power and responsibility. Local actors also need to find ways to compliment and collaborate rather than compete for limited funding resources.
We need to encourage information sharing, responsible data sharing and the benefit of all actors as sometimes this is not happening in the field. The relationship between NGOs and CSOs should not be through the grant agent or the INGOs that is leading the response, it should be LNGOs themselves taking the lead in system building, in talking to each other and in delivering assistance based on needs, information and data.
Equal sharing of responsibility and access to resources is also key, if we fatten one LNGO and don’t fund others, we risk losing them and have the same problem. There has to be a coordination of the capacities and due diligence and number of projects each NGOs can manage so that resources are shared, and communities left behind maybe reached.
Local NGOs should be agents of their communities development, comming up with solutions and needs in their communities and proposing how to address those needs in comformity with the established rights based approach. INGOs need to support this tranformation by providing material and technical support and collaborating with LNGOs as equal partners. we think a niche based appraoch is also key, LNGOs need to specialise in a certain area, for instance EiE or Nutrition, in that way they can multiply their impact. if they do everything, they may find themselves stretched too thin to have an impact.
INGOs also need to improve information sharing in the field, ensuring information sharing and working collaboratively in partnerships. we are not there yet, but we need to highlight this as i have seen in the field each INGOs works with several LNGOs and there is limited communication or collaboration between them at present
Recommendations
To ensure that responsese are sustainable and locally owned, we suggest.
-
Improve communication and information sharing in the field.
-
Think of resource sharing approach rather than competitive approach, we gain alot when we collaborate.
-
Share power and decision making, not only responsibility and risk.
-
Focus should be on system strengthening and building
-
INGOs need to collaborate closely on due diligence and onboarding of their partnerships, for instance you dont need to re-invent the wheel when the peer INGOs has done due diligence, you just need to ask them and make a decision based on that.
Add comment
Comments