In November 2021, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power laid out a vision for international development with a big goal: by the end of 2025, at l
Donor approaches to overheads for local and national partners
Ensuring that local and national actors can access overheads has become a key focus for humanitarian reform efforts over the past year. Locally-led humanitarian response is more effective, more effic
Development Co-operation Report 2023: Debating the Aid System’
solidarity and burden sharing. The Development Co-operation Report 2023: Debating the Aid System finds that debates are crystalising around the need for a fundamental rethinking of the international
“Co-investigators but with different power”: Local voices on the localization of humanitarian research
Humanitarian research has long been dominated by institutions from the Global North (GN), while institutions and researchers from the Global South (GS) have been largely absent or relegated to minor
The nine roles that intermediaries can play in international cooperation
In recent years, there has been growing scrutiny of the largely unchanged role that INGOs have played in humanitarian, development and peacebuilding efforts. This scrutiny includes the push towards g
The Peacemaking Covenant
As existing frameworks continue to fall short in delivering inclusive peace, it is time to re-think peacemaking. Over the last two years we have done exactly that. Conducting more than 150 with peopl
Rethinking the constraints to localization of foreign aid
It is not local organizations that lack the capacity to work with USAID. Instead, it is USAID that lacks the capacity in its operating systems and organizational culture to work with local organizati
Donor Statement on Supporting Locally Led Development
The world's development, humanitarian, and peacebuilding challenges are vast and complex, with local implications. Equally, there are increasing opportunities to address and overcome these challenges
The Majority of Localization Efforts Have Failed. THIS ONE CONTINUES TO SHINE.
The vast majority of localization efforts have failed. The purpose of this study is not to unpack the reasons for these failures (others already have), but rather tocelebrate the demonstrated success
Breaking the Starvation Cycle
The Overhead Myth that suggests that low overheads in non-profits is a sign of efficiency has led to many donors underfunding the associated administration costs of their project grants and driven a