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Refugee Hosts Newsletter No. 4, Summer 2018

Pays
Monde
+ 3
Sources
UCL
Date de publication

Contextualising the Localisation of Aid

In recent years, and especially since the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit, the ‘localisation of aid agenda’ has become prominent in discussions about responses to displacement. This agenda starts by recognising that ‘local actors’ play key roles in responding to displacement and other humanitarian situations; it subsequently aims to shift resources from ‘international actors’ – including UN agencies, donor states, and international NGOs – to ‘local actors’ and to develop modes of partnership and co-working that go beyond ‘subcontracting’ local actors to work on ‘international’ programmes. The ‘localisation of aid agenda’ therefore attempts to bring local-level responses to displacement into the nexus of international humanitarianism by developing policies and strategies that engage effectively (and efficiently) with local actors.
Against this backdrop, we aim to critically examine and contextualise the ‘localisation’ agenda from diverse angles and through a range of disciplinary perspectives. We do so by building upon the conversations we have already been developing as part of our project, including vis-a-vis conceptualisations of the location, value and nature of ‘the local’ itself.
The newsletter brings together a number of the diverse contributions made to our localisation blog series, from members of our project partners, including the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities, to academics, practitioners and poets.