Local humanitarian organisations are calling for a fundamental shift in the way international aid is designed and delivered, saying they should be treated as equal partners rather than subcontractors in crises affecting their own communities.
The appeal, highlighted by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), reflects growing pressure within the humanitarian sector to move more funding, decision-making power and leadership to national and community-based organisations.
Local responders argue that they are often the first to act when emergencies strike and typically remain long after international organisations have scaled down their operations. Yet many say they continue to be excluded from major funding decisions, strategic planning and leadership structures.
The central message from local humanitarian actors is that localisation should go beyond consultation.
They are calling for equal participation in programme design, financing decisions, coordination structures and accountability systems, with international organisations shifting from a lead-and-subcontract model toward genuine partnership.
The debate is especially significant as humanitarian needs continue to grow while global aid budgets come under increasing pressure. In many crisis-affected countries, local organisations are being asked to take on more operational responsibility even though direct access to funding remains limited.
This imbalance has become one of the central concerns in the wider humanitarian localisation agenda.
Local organisations say their proximity to communities gives them a stronger understanding of local languages, social dynamics, risks and priorities. That knowledge can help humanitarian programmes respond more quickly and in ways that are more relevant to affected communities.
However, many national and local NGOs still receive funding indirectly through United Nations agencies or international NGOs, which can leave them with less influence over how projects are designed and implemented.
The call for equal partnership is therefore also a call for greater financial independence.
Humanitarian leaders have argued that transferring responsibility without transferring funding and decision-making power does not amount to genuine localisation. Similar concerns have been raised across the sector, where local organisations say they are frequently expected to carry operational and security risks while international partners retain control over budgets and strategy.
The issue has also become increasingly relevant in Africa, where local civil society organisations are seeking a greater role in humanitarian responses across countries affected by conflict, displacement, disease outbreaks and climate-related disasters.
In Nigeria, for example, civil society groups recently raised concerns that localisation efforts would remain weak unless power, resources and information were genuinely transferred to local actors.
The broader humanitarian sector has long recognised the principle of equal partnership. International frameworks have called for relationships based on equality, transparency, shared responsibility and mutual accountability, but local organisations continue to argue that implementation has not matched those commitments.
For local humanitarian leaders, the question is no longer whether national organisations are capable of leading responses.
Their position is that many already do.
What they are asking for is a humanitarian system that recognises that leadership formally, funds it directly and gives local actors equal influence over the decisions that affect the communities they serve.
The debate is likely to remain central to humanitarian reform as donors, governments, UN agencies and international NGOs search for more sustainable ways to respond to increasingly complex and prolonged crises.
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