Localisation & the Nexus

The study evaluates the quality of engagement and enabling factors for increased local/national NGO participation in IASC structures – beyond numbers. It examines existing global quantitative data from OCHA’s Annual Coordination Mapping exercise. Additionally, the study gathers new quantitative data from five focus countries—Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, Colombia, and Venezuela—to assess varying levels of participation by local and national NGOs. The goal is to identify good practices, barriers, and practical recommendations to improve the effective inclusion of L/NNGOs in coordination leadership.

Click on the below links to:

• Read the report in English and Spanish
• Read the country profiles
• Watch the launch event of the report

Localisation in Humanitarian Leadership – Country profiles of:

• Colombia
• Ethiopia
• Somalia
• South Sudan
• Venezuela

Click on the below links to access them.

The IASC Localization Task Force Five compiled a summary of good practices on the participation, representation and leadership of local actors in coordination mechanisms. The Task Force is facilitated by ICVA and FAO.

Click on the below links to access the documents.

This template is a checklist that can assist you in capturing the necessary data, information and evidence to document a good practice.

This briefing paper is based on a review of documents as well as ICVA’s participation in ongoing localization-related evaluations, research, working groups, workshops and dialogues.

This report outlines the findings from the second phase of a localisation assessment initiative in Ukraine. It evaluates progress in localisation against the 2023 Humanitarian Localisation Baseline for Ukraine. Similar to the baseline, this progress review adapted and applied the localisation measurement framework and tools, initially developed by HAG and the Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO), as a standard method for assessing localisation progress at both national and regional levels. The second phase of research was carried out by the NGO Resource Center (NGORC), with support from InfoSapiens and the Humanitarian Advisory Group (HAG), and was financially backed by the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), Helvetas, and NGORC’s principled donors (via shared overheads).

Click on the below link to read the report.

The understanding of localization in the humanitarian response in Ukraine remains a key policy and practice concern for donors and humanitarian actors. While localization of the humanitarian response in Ukraine is frequently stressed as a priority, there have been only limited efforts to date to build evidence, evaluate impact, strengthen accountability, and develop strategic tools that can facilitate practical approaches to local leadership and quality humanitarian response.

This initiative attempts to establish ‘where we are’ in terms of the localization of humanitarian assistance in the response. Stakeholders can then establish the direction of travel to reach an objective, both collectively and independently. It further creates a baseline from which actors in Ukraine and elsewhere can continue to regularly assess humanitarian localization development by using the same methodology as with other responses across the globe.

Click on the below links to read the report in English and Ukrainian.

This report considers progress on localization in Yemen, measuring it across seven pillars: Partnerships, Funding, Capacity Strengthening, Coordination and Complementarity, Policy Influence, Leadership, and Participation.

This document outlines an approach, including a framework and some tools, that can be used to measure the activity and impact of localised humanitarian action.  This framework and set of tools provide a starting point that other humanitarian actors can adapt for their own organisational purposes, during a response or at a country level.

ICVA and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy have developed this paper to support local, national and international NGOs to ‘unpack’ localization in a constructive manner.

This briefing paper is based on a review of documents as well as ICVA’s participation in ongoing localization-related evaluations, research, working groups, workshops and dialogues.

The Nexus collection: a podcast series for humanitarians. A podcast series by IASC Results group 4.

Listen on Soundcloud a series of podcasts about  the nexus.

• Not in my name: The nexus and Humanitarian principles.
• Delivering the Nexus: Spotlight on Jordan
• Give peace a chance
• On the front line
• Financing the Nexus- is it really all about the money?
• Gender and the Nexus: A Red Alert!

The research aims to better understand the current stage of the operationalization of the The Humanitarian- Development – Peace Nexus approach in the selected MENA region countries of Iraq, Syria, Syria cross-border from Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Libya. It documents policy changes and situational changes that reflect the NEXUS approach. It also provides good practices and examples to various actors to help them develop guiding tools and strategic thinking around inclusion of NEXUS approaches in strategies, programs, etc.

This study contributes to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) humanitarian financing priorities of improving “aid effectiveness through more effective humanitarian- development funding flows and mechanisms”. It has two goals: to document the extent to which predictable, multi-year flexible financing is available at the programme level; and to understand the extent to which funding matches Collective Outcomes or the financial requirements of interoperable humanitarian and development plans.

Briefing paper

ICVA briefing paper on the “new way of working”