Findings on localisation and nexus

• Author: Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) (European Commission), Landell Mills International
• Pages: 119-123

Final Evaluation Report: Part B- NRC Partnership Evaluation

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9. Findings on localisation and nexus

Finding 14: The partners differ in their adoption of the localisation agenda. Whereas DG ECHO is actively

committed to localisation, NRC’s identity is bound in direct implementation.

Finding 15: The meeting point on the humanitarian development nexus is partners’ shared commitment to

increasing resilience in protracted crises and the pursuit of durable solutions. This and funding limitations within

DG ECHO are leading to increasing tripartite collaboration with DG DEVCO.

9.1. Local partner participation

The evaluation question asks about the extent to which the DG ECHO-NRC partnership contributes to

increasing local partners' meaningful participation in humanitarian response.

Under the localisation workstream of the Grand Bargain, DG ECHO is looking at how to make its own

internal processes more effective and efficient by stepping up cooperation with local partners. Increasing

financial support to local partners and developing their competencies for better preparedness, faster

response and resilience-building is seen as a way to improve delivery of humanitarian aid.164

In its self-report to the Interagency Standing Committee, DG ECHO noted a baseline of various actions

prior to the signing of the Grand Bargain. These included local capacity-building implemented through

DG ECHO Disaster Preparedness (DIPECHO) and EU Aid Volunteers; and Enhanced Response

Capacity (ERC) funding to build the Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR) network of

southern/local NGOs.165 DG ECHO has also designed a localisation marker to measure progress towards

the global target.

DG ECHO is currently working out the policy and legal implications of trying to achieve a system of

humanitarian assistance that is locally led. The Humanitarian Aid Regulation limits DG ECHO to funding

UN/NGOs with headquarters in EU Member States, which acts as a barrier to direct funding of national

or local partners. An internal process has been initiated to assess what change is needed and DG ECHO

has been actively involved in discussions with various FPA partners to move towards a common vision

and integrated approach to localisation. Interviews indicated that change is already happening at country

level where several governments are revising their requirements for localisation and, for DG ECHO, this

means a complete rethinking of its role if the power balance is to be shifted to local level. To this end, DG

ECHO is supporting four projects looking at the challenges of supporting global coordination and enabling

local organisations to bring their own perspective.

DG ECHO is not alone in the challenge. An independent review of the Grand Bargain highlights the

definitional issues around localisation and the difficulty of identifying the desired end goal. Aid delivery

organisations are starting from different baselines and, for donors including the EU, there are legislative

and political constraints on their ability to provide funding more directly to local and national actors. DG

ECHO is mentioned in its endeavour to address the strategic challenge through investments in ‘system-

transforming initiatives.166

NRC has signed all the commitments under the Grand Bargain although it gives lower priority to

localisation compared with engagement in other workstreams. It advances the localisation agenda

through its work on Country Based Pooled Funds, internal policy on partners and capacity building

initiatives implemented by NORCAP.

164 DG ECHO Grand Bargain Factsheet https://ec.europa.eu/DG ECHO/what/humanitarian-aid/grand-bargain_en

165 DG ECHO (Undated). DG ECHO Grand Bargain annual self-reporting exercise (presumed 2017/18)

166 Overseas Development Institute (2018) Grand Bargain annual independent report 2018. HPG