Global Humanitarian Overview 2025

As local as possible? Progress remains incremental

Localization—a commitment to shift power and funding to local and national actors (L/NAs)—has been high on the humanitarian agenda for many years. While reforms to put more control in the hands of L/NAs are happening at different levels across the system—for example, through the Refugee Coordination Model which explicitly calls for the participation of national partners, including refugee-led organizations, in the Refugee Coordination Forum and other working groups—overall, progress has been slow and challenging. The humanitarian system has fallen short of its commitments to increase funding, build capacity and foster equitable and meaningful partnerships and participation for local actors, as recognized by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC).

The value of locally led humanitarian action is clear. As a result of their on-the-ground presence and long-standing relationships with communities, L/NAs are uniquely positioned to lead humanitarian responses that are both context-appropriate and responsive to community preferences and priorities. In many complex emergencies, L/NAs are able to operate in areas that international partners struggle to reach. The first wave of any emergency response comes from the affected communities themselves, exemplified by emergency volunteers assisting neighbours and community leaders mobilizing support for those in crisis. For example in Sudan, local mutual aid groups are delivering aid to millions of people on the brink of starvation.

Aid in Action

Working through local partners to adapt early childhood development in crisis settings

Lebanon
This video illustrates the story of Mohammed, a 6-year-old Syrian refugee child living in Lebanon and how the Remote Early Learning Program supported him to grow and learn.
IRC

The first five years of a child’s life are foundational, shaping lifelong learning, health and productivity. Yet for many children living in conflict settings, these early years are marred by hardship and uncertainty, disrupting their development. Research shows that early childhood development (ECD) programmes can minimize these risks.

In two different parts of the world, Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) have worked with local partners to tailor ECD, with impressive results:

  • The Ahlan Simsim programme—a partnership between Sesame Workshop IRC, run with and through 100 local partners—provides support to conflict-affected children across Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. After just 11 weeks of remote preschool through the programme, Syrian refugee children showed literacy and numeracy gains comparable to a full year of in-person preschool. The programme’s success was largely due to its collaborative approach: instead of implementing a predefined programme or policy solution, local partners took the lead in identifying needs, existing priorities, and ways Ahlan Simsim could add value by tailoring its offer to the particular context.
  • In Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, the Play to Learn programme—a partnership between Sesame Workshop, the IRC, and BRAC—reflects the realities of Rohingya communities. The programme’s context-specific multimedia resources and remote and in-person services in homes, schools, and community centres integrate ECD into humanitarian response. A key feature of the programme is its specific engagement with fathers, which resulted in improved parenting and household dynamics.

Ahlan Simsim and Play to Learn have reached 4 million children, caregivers and educators in the Middle East and 800,000 in Bangladesh. Together, they have reached another 31 million children through television broadcasts and early learning videos in 32 countries. The programmes reinforce how a people-centered approach and inclusive partnerships can impact families at scale.

Although research shows that L/NAs can deliver programming 32 per cent more cost efficiently than international intermediaries, only a minimal amount of global humanitarian funding goes directly to them. Despite the Grand Bargain commitment—now eight years old— to allocate at least 25 per cent of humanitarian funding as directly as possible to L/NAs, progress remains underwhelming. In 2023, Grand Bargain signatories only provided 4.4 per cent of their direct and indirect funding to L/NAs, with a mere 0.6 per cent delivered directly, according to independently verifiable data reviewed by Development Initiatives. Women-led organizations (WLOs) face difficulties accessing funding within a humanitarian system created by and for international actors. Donors often set complex bid requirements for large funding opportunities, making it difficult for WLOs with smaller operating budgets to meet the required criteria.

Aid in Action

Best practices and advances in localization

Colombia
Ciénaga, Magdalena, Colombia
Discussion session in rural Ciénaga with local institutions to assess the humanitarian impact of clashes between non-state armed groups on the Kogui Indigenous community.
OCHA/Gonzalo Galezo

In 2024, Colombia's Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) launched its first-ever localization strategy, targeting five key areas to empower local actors and bolster community resilience. The initiative began with a comprehensive mapping of 240 active local and national humanitarian NGOs across the country. To foster collaboration, a national localization working group was established to coordinate activities among partners.

At the local level, national organizations have been integrated into 16 local coordination teams, enriching decision-making and promoting dialogue. In regions like Nariño and Norte de Santander, community-based organization subgroups have been formed to amplify community voices and align humanitarian priorities with community needs. This approach not only addresses immediate humanitarian challenges but also lays the groundwork for long-term resilience and recovery.

To strengthen local capacities, efforts are underway to forge linkages between local and national NGOs and capacity-building opportunities. The new Colombian Humanitarian Fund, part of the Regional Pooled Fund in Latin America and the Caribbean, now provides direct financial support to national NGOs, ensuring humanitarian responses tailored to community needs.

A standout achievement has been the active participation of women-led community organizations in disaster response. In Sucre, women utilize social media platforms such as WhatsApp to disseminate vital information about weather patterns, educational opportunities, and community meetings. Their leadership in forming community risk management committees has markedly improved emergency response strategies.

Moreover, local organizations have partnered with municipal administrations to strengthen disaster risk management, devising strategies to cope with flooding and its impact on agriculture. Supported by the Adaptation Fund, these initiatives underscore the women’s essential role in resilience-building, as they promote and market local products such as sugar cane and cocoa, supporting both immediate recovery and long-term economic stability for their communities.

Furthermore, while more L/NAs are participating in humanitarian coordination structures, research suggests a growing mistrust of the coordination system among L/NAs and other NGOs. L/NAs participated in a record-high 93 per cent of Humanitarian Country Teams (HCTs) globally—a 10 per cent increase from 2022—and made up 11 per cent of all HCT membership. Their representation in HCTs grew in several countries, including Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Mali, Myanmar, the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Somalia, and Syria-Gaziantep. Meanwhile, there has been a significant increase in the participation of L/NAs in Inter-Cluster Coordination Groups (ICCGs), with 75 per cent of ICCGs having L/NAs present, a 31 per cent increase from 2020.

However, while L/NA leadership in clusters, sectors and Areas of Responsibility rose to 41 per cent overall—up from 38 per cent in 2022—this increase was mainly driven by greater sub-national level leadership, with national-level leadership experiencing a slight decline. Additionally, L/NAs have expressed feeling excluded and unrepresented in Humanitarian Country Teams (HCTs), leaving them frustrated and demotivated. Women-led organizations have highlighted the need to create their own networks to amplify their voices, as they pursue agendas that challenge traditional structures, cultures and ways of working to ensure aid reaches the women and girls who need it most.

Using Pooled Funds to empower local actors

The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs) are vital in driving change in humanitarian action, by enabling coherent and timely responses, strengthening humanitarian coordination, and reinforcing the leadership of Humanitarian and Resident Coordinators (RC/HC). By mid-November 2024, the Funds had allocated US$1.3 billion to assist people most in need.

CBPFs are playing a key role in supporting locally led responses, with almost half (45 per cent or $281 million) of CBPF funding allocated to L/NAs in 2024, a marked rise from 39 per cent in 2023. Country-based pool funds are an effective way to channel resources directly to L/NAs, whilst enhancing efficiency when managing multiple partners, including in risk management. A 2024 study in Ukraine found that local partners who received CBPF funding delivered programmes that were 15.5 per cent more cost-efficient than those managed by international intermediaries. CBPFs also strengthen localization by promoting L/NA’s active participation in fund governance and decision-making processes.

While CERF funding is directed only to UN agencies, it also plays a role in enabling locally led humanitarian action through recipient agencies’ sub-grants. Since 2022, CERF allocations through the Underfunded Emergencies (UFE) window, have encouraged HCTs to consult local partners during the allocation process, and RC/HCs to set ambitious, context-based sub-granting targets for L/NAs. In the first 2024 UFE round, about a quarter of funds were sub-granted to local partners in line with the results of the past two years (2023 and 2022), up from an average of 15 per cent prior to that.

Another example of a pooled fund with a specific target group is the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF). The WPHF supports local and grassroots women’s civil society leaders and their organizations in conflict and crisis settings and provided an avenue for UN organizations, donors and the private sector to directly support these local partners. In 2023, 89 per cent of the WPHF partners operated at local and sub-national levels.

Regional Pooled Funds

OCHA’s Regional Pooled Funds (RPFs) offer a flexible and cost-effective approach to expanding pooled funding to more countries. In 2024, following the success of the Regional Humanitarian Fund in West and Central Africa, three new RHFs were launched in Eastern and Southern Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2025, the RPFs will continue advancing local humanitarian assistance across these regions.

Aid in Action

Country-based pooled fund empowers community-led response in war-torn Sudan

Sudan
North Kordofan, Sudan
Volunteers from El Obeid communal kitchen distribute iftar meals to local community members impacted by conflict during July 2024.
El Obeid Community Kitchen

After conflict erupted in Sudan in April 2023, networks of local partners and volunteers mobilized to assist affected communities with essential services, especially in hard-to-reach areas where critical infrastructure had collapsed.

Displaced by conflict from southern Sennar State, Aden* was among thousands who were forced to leave their homes and struggled daily to find food. He found solace with others and relief from his hunger in communal kitchens. “The kitchen was not just a place to eat; it was a place to heal and rebuild. This sense of solidarity and mutual support was crucial in rebuilding the community’s emotional strength,” he said.

In 2023, the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) was one of the first supporters of community-led Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), which provide protection services, transport options, psychosocial support and community kitchens, amongst other assistance to their communities. In 2024, the SHF provided $6.5 million to support the ERRs—doubling the amount provided in 2023. A similar allocation is expected at the end of 2024 to ensure a smooth transition into 2025. This funding emphasizes flexibility, allowing ERRs to remain agile in Sudan’s ever-changing environment, and includes capacity-building components for community volunteers.

“We have seen what is possible when we come together and support each other,” says Ibrahim*, a community volunteer with the ERRs in Sennar State. “With continued support and investment, we can build a future where every displaced person has access to the food, medicine, and opportunities they need to thrive.”

*Names altered for security concerns

References

  1. From the $1.3 billion total, CBPFs allocated $787 million and CERF allocated $522 million. For up to date data, please visit OCHA – Pooled Funds Data Hub - By Country (unocha.org)
  2. As of November 18, 2024, this percentage is based on allocated grants totaling $635 million from the CBPFs. An additional $114 million in allocations is under the process of approval, and data on local and national partner contributions will be available once these allocations are finalized.
  3. As per CERF’s Secretary General mandate.
  4. OCHA has commissioned an external review to assess the successes and challenges of the Pooled Funds’ localization efforts. Findings will be available in late 2024 or early 2025.