Key Resources: 

• Inter-Agency Toolkit on Localisation in Humanitarian Coordination (Global CP AoR, Global Education Cluster, Global WASH Cluster, Global Nutrition Cluster, Save the Children, Street Child)
• Localisation Dashboard Guidance & Toolkit (Global CP AoR)
• Framework for Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of National and Local Actors (Global CP AoR & Global Education Cluster)
• Localisation Quality Checklist for Humanitarian Needs Overviews (HNOs) & Humanitarian Response Plans (HRPs) (Global CP AoR & Global Education Cluster)
• IASC Guidance on Strengthening Participation, Representation, And Leadership of Local and National Actors in IASC Humanitarian Coordination Mechanisms
• Quick Guide to Understanding the Humanitarian Cluster System for Local and National Organisations (Global CP AoR and Global Education Cluster)
• Navigating Global Guidance - The accessibility and use of child protection and education in emergencies guidance research brief (Global CP AoR and Global Education Cluster)

Background & the Global Child Protection AoR Commitment to Localisation

The central position of local and national actors in humanitarian action has been reinforced in recent crises and is reflected in the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit and the following Grand Bargain agreement between global donors, NGOs, and others, who agreed to make humanitarian action "as local as possible, as international as necessary." The Localisation agenda takes its strength from the evidence that participation of local actors in the design and delivery of humanitarian assistance increases efficiency and promotes greater accountability to affected people.

The Global Child Protection Area of Responsibility recognizes that local actors, including local NGOs and governmental bodies, make up the majority of child protection coordination groups at both national and sub-national levels, and these organisations and bodies play a pivotal role in the coordination of child protection in humanitarian action. Thus, greater recognition of and support to local and national actors in coordination groups are necessities if humanitarian action is to be more accountable, efficient, and sustainable. Clusters have a central position in fostering the localisation process, which can be a set of actions that highly vary depending on the context where humanitarian response is taking place.

The following Conceptual Framework for Localisation in Coordination has been developed by the Global Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) and highlights 5 key dimensions and possible action points. 

Collaboration with the Global Education Cluster (GEC) 

We are happy to promote this Quick Guide for Local and National Organisations to promote greater understanding of and engagement with the humanitarian cluster system.  Available in 9 languages. 

The CP AoR, GEC, and Translators without Borders also launched a new report in April 2021:  Navigating Global Guidance - The accessibility and use of child protection and education in emergencies guidance research brief.  Both the full report and four-page brief are available.  The brief summarizes main barriers, suggestions to overcome barriers, and why accessibility of guidance is critically important in humanitarian contexts.  The findings presented in this report are intended to support organizations commissioning new content, adapting or updating existing content, or considering disseminating content to ensure it is as accessible and useful as possible to practitioners in emergency contexts.

Around the world, children rely on psychosocial support, family tracing, reunification, education and other services to keep them safe. The majority of these services are already being delivered by local government and civil society organisations. Strengthening localisation is therefore an opportunity to improve access, quality and efficiency of services, recognising the fundamental responsibility of the State to protect its citizens. 

Recognising the value of localisation and building on World Humanitarian Summit commitments, the Protection and Education Clusters are seeking to ensure their humanitarian response strategies are guided by the principle – “as local as possible, as international as necessary.” This work is being led by the Child Protection Area of Responsibility, on behalf of the Protection and Education Clusters. 

Envisioning the Grand Bargain: This August 2020 assessment examines to what extent the CP AoR’s approach and initiatives undertaken in the early years of the localisation mandate have helped to advance the agenda.

Watch colleagues from Iraq, Somalia, and South Sudan present case studies about how and why they conduct needs assessments and analysis. The video is available in English and in Arabic. You can also find tips for using and sharing this video on needs assessment and analysis in a companion document available here in English and here in Arabic. 

Please find here our guidance for producing essential tools to sensitize the coordination group to localisation issues: the localisation dashboards.This guidance is available in ENGLISH / ARABIC / FRENCH / SPANISH.

Read more about CP AoR's localisation efforts in a flyer here or contact Fatuma Hamidali Ibrahim (fhibrahim@unicef.org).