Navigating Locally Led Action: Vision Meets Responsibility

Humanitarian discussions increasingly highlight the importance of locally led action, yet despite years of dialogue under initiatives like the Grand Bargain, definitions of “localisation” remain fluid, and progress often lags behind commitments. The gap between rhetoric and reality continues, raising questions about how to meaningfully advance locally led approaches within the broader Humanitarian Reset. Locally led action is not merely about meeting funding targets or turning local actors into smaller versions of international NGOs. While financial support is critical, the core of localisation lies in transformation and innovation: creating space for communities and civil society to lead, design, and implement their own solutions. This requires locally driven funding streams and supportive national policies that sustain initiatives over the long term. Evidence on the impact of locally led action is growing but still limited. A 2024 Start Network evaluation found that projects led by local and national NGOs (LNNGOs) were just as effective, equitable, and efficient as those led by international NGOs (INGOs). Communities highlighted LNNGOs’ strengths in rapid response, relevant and high-quality assistance, fair aid distribution, feedback mechanisms, and community preparedness. Cost efficiency also improved, with the cost per beneficiary dropping significantly within one year. Additionally, smaller or newer LNNGOs were not shown to pose greater risk than larger organisations, dispelling common concerns about their reliability. Trusted partnerships emerged as a central factor in successful locally led action. LNNGOs bring deep local knowledge and access to hard-to-reach areas, while INGOs contribute strengths in consortium mobilisation, project management, and international advocacy. Many project consortia demonstrated equitable decision-making, with local actors shaping budgets, project plans, and implementation. In some cases, INGOs transferred full project budgets to local partners and stepped back to allow communities to lead responses entirely. Locally led action, therefore, does not exclude international partners but seeks to redefine partnerships so that local priorities and leadership are central, supported by global networks. Despite progress, significant barriers persist. Complex compliance and reporting requirements often overwhelm small organisations, access to funding remains unequal, and pre-financing is difficult. Risk-sharing is not always equitable, anticipatory action projects are challenging to design, and short project timelines can undermine sustainability and recovery efforts. In response, Start Fund is taking steps to strengthen locally led action. Measures include reducing barriers for LNNGOs to participate in decision-making, simplifying application and reporting processes, ensuring fair risk distribution, providing training for anticipatory action, expanding local membership, and piloting due diligence passporting to streamline partnerships. The network is also working to decolonise research and link programmes more effectively across disaster risk reduction and humanitarian–development–peace initiatives, promoting sustainable and locally driven solutions. While bold visions for a locally led humanitarian sector are needed, the sector also bears immediate responsibility to act. Start Fund’s decade-long experience demonstrates that progress is possible: local hubs and funds, increased local membership, and examples from countries such as Angola, Mongolia, Colombia, and India illustrate tangible, lasting change. To further advance localisation, funding bodies and policymakers are encouraged to invest in flexible, multi-year support for local civil society organisations, strengthen global and southern-led pooled funds, and ensure meaningful participation of local and indigenous communities in early warning systems and decision-making. While the sector works toward a future with fewer alerts, the emphasis remains on cooperating, shifting power, and responding effectively where others cannot.