ACBAR LTWG Localization Baseline Assessment – Final Report (January 2026)

This assessment was commissioned by ACBAR’s Localization Technical Working Group (LTWG), a body established in 2023 to promote localization through technical advice, advocacy, and the development of a roadmap for Afghanistan’s humanitarian response. Its objective is to ensure that national and local actors are placed at the centre of humanitarian decision-making, planning, coordination, and implementation.

Despite sustained engagement by national NGOs and civil society organizations, persistent challenges continue to limit progress on localization, particularly in relation to equitable partnerships, access to funding, meaningful participation in coordination platforms, leadership, and influence over strategic direction. In Afghanistan’s evolving humanitarian context, there is a clear need for context-specific, inclusive, and actionable evidence on the current status of localization.

This baseline study generates evidence-based insights across the seven pillars of localization: Partnerships, Leadership, Coordination and Complementarity, Funding, Capacity, Policy Influence, and Participation, using a contextualised adaptation of the Humanitarian Localization Baseline Framework. The findings are intended to serve as a shared diagnostic and reference point to inform strategy, guide donor and partner investments, and support realistic, incremental progress toward locally led humanitarian responses.