HAI is thankful to Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) and Forum for Indian Development Cooperation (FIDC) for organising a seminar on 10 May 2018 on the topic of Localisation of Local Resources for Humanitarian Aid. This seminar provided an opportunity to present the highlights of the #HAI paper entitled, ‘International Humanitarian Aid and the Localisation Debate: Why is it important to have “Local Funds” for “Local Organisations”.
#HAI is championing the agenda of localisation since the World Humanitarian Summit. #HAI is trying to address the barrier restricting local organisations to access humanitarian funding. #HAI is also advocating with the Grand Bargain signatories for better delivery on their commitment to pass on at least 25% of global humanitarian funding to local and national actors. In this context, #HAI firmly believes that local fundraising by affiliates of INGOs defeats the very spirit of #localisation. National resources should be accessible to local and national actors.
The HAI presentation generated a good discussion. It is expected that a process will initiate now for a few legislative and policy reforms in India, which will eventually provide a favourable environment to local and national humanitarian actors. The presentation was made by the #HAI CEO Sudhanshu S. Singh. Afterwards #HAI president NM Prusty emphasised that Indian CSOs should now look for bigger global role to replicate Indian model of disaster response and management.