HAI was invited to take part in the Humanitarian Affairs Segment of ECOSOC, held on June 21-23, 2016 in Geneva. HAI CEO participated in a panel discussion entitled, “Localising Humanitarian Assistance- empowering local actors”. He emphasised that capacity of local actors shouldn’t become a pretext to deny funding to local and national actors. Let international actors distinguish between ‘response capacity’ and ‘compliance capacity. The response capacity should be equally emphasised and acknowledged to give thrust on partnership with the local and national actors.
One Year on – The Grand Bargain and Localisation
HAI was invited to the conference One Year on – The Grand Bargain and Localisation, organised by Wilton Park, U.K.
This Wilton Park conference brought together 70 representatives of local organisations in countries affected by emergencies, national governments, regional and international organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the diaspora and the private sector for two days of intensive discussions. The conference, co-hosted by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) of the European Commission, aimed to contribute to the discussions about localisation of humanitarian action by providing an opportunity for senior representatives of a broad cross-section of organisations to share successes and challenges encountered by those seeking.
The conference report could be read here.
Conference on Building Disaster Resilient Societies
HAI, along with SEEDS India organised a conference entitled, ‘Role of Society in Building Disaster Resilient Societies with the theme of #LetLocalBuildGlobal. The event began with a panel discussion moderated by Mr Vir Sanghvi. The other panelists were Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati (Parmarth Niketan), Ms Shefali Chaturvedi (CII Foundation), Dr Thiruppugazh (NDMA) and Mr Jagadananda (CYSD). Afterwards, Dr Shashi Tharoor delivered the keynote address.
Four more group discussions were held, moderated by Prof Vinod Menon, Ms Shivangi (SEEDS), Mr Krishnan (HAI), Mr Vikrant Mahajan, PMP (Sphere India) followed by a panel discussion moderated by Mr Anshu Sharma. The key recommendations of the conference are expected to inform the forthcoming events of NPDRR and GPDRR. #resilience
NRC Study on Pooled Funds
Norwegian Refugee Council recently published a research report on pooled funds existing around the world to respond to disasters. The report also covers HAI’s national pooled fund which HAI is trying to create through the #ThousandPlus campaign. The National Pooled Fund is one of the important pillars of HAI’s response mechanism, along with the National Platform of frontline organisations and a National Roster for surge capacity mechanism.
The report, published on the Relief Web, can be read here. HAI are mentioned on page 21:
IRIN News interviews HAI on Localisation
This article, published by IRIN News, covers our perspective too on the #localisation process. We have strongly argued that while the #GrandBargain process has been rolled out to empower local organisations through better access to funding, it is counterproductive if international organisations raise funds in developing economies from global South too. Big INGOs have resources to invest on advertising and thereby capturing local fundraising space. That doesn’t provide level playing field to local organisations, who continue being on margins and dependent upon INGOs for funding.
As expected, World Vision, one of the biggest INGOs which has been doing massive fundraising in India, has challenged our position. Please read the article to find out details here.
Grand Bargain workstream 2 meeting in Geneva
HAI was invited to participate in the Grand Bargain workshop in Geneva, hosted by IFRC and the Swiss government. HAI was able to represent the voice and concern of the local organisations in this debate on localisation. We are committed for meaningful implementation of the Grand Bargain so that 25% of the humanitarian funding reaches to local organisations as directly as possible.
Although HAI doesn’t aspire for foreign funding but it will assist its platform members to access it and also utilise with optimal quality and accountability standards.