Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Accepted
Set out plan to rapidly increase engagement with local actors in humanitarian settings
Recommendation
In response to this report, the Department must set out how it will make rapid progress in meeting commitments made, principally via the Grand Bargain and Global Compact on Refugees, to increase its engagement with and utilisation of local and national actors in humanitarian and development settings. (Recommendation, Paragraph 98) 36 FCDO’s use of data on displacement
Government Response Summary
The government agrees, detailing how it is making progress by leading global donor efforts to transform humanitarian funding, increasing contributions to pooled funds for local organizations, and integrating local leadership into FCDO partnerships through initiatives like the Sahel Regional Fund and support for the Start Network.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Agree FCDO is leading global donor efforts to transform humanitarian funding and drive locally led delivery in alignment with the humanitarian reset. This includes increasing contributions to humanitarian pooled funds and scaling up funding through them to local organizations including women led and refugee led organisations. We have also increased the ability of locally led actors to access UK ODA through due diligence passporting.1 Moving from international intervention to local leadership is currently one of the four shifts of the FCDO’s new modern partnerships. We are looking across our policies, systems, capabilities and culture to see how we can deliver this shift in a way that is meaningful and effective. The UK is committed to channelling humanitarian funding as directly as possible to local and national aid organisations as agreed in the Grand Bargain, and working with local partners to ensure our response to humanitarian crises better reflects the needs of affected populations. For example, the Sahel Regional Fund (SRF) is a pooled funding mechanism created by the UK with over 30% of its funding transferred to local actors. National NGOs play a key role in the fund’s governance through their representation at the SRF board. The UK has also supported the Start Network since its inception in 2014. The Start Network is made up of over 130 members of which over 70% are local and national NGOs. The Start Fund adopts a collaborative, decentralised model and uses a tiered due diligence system, which helps strengthen local capacity. We are also partnering with the refugee-led Asia Pacific Network of Refugees (APNOR) to advance refugee leadership and representation in global policymaking and are working with UNHCR to support over one hundred refugee delegates to attend the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review Meeting in December. The UK has not set a target for the proportion of bilateral humanitarian aid to be delivered through local partners, as this depends on the need and context.