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KEMITRAAN ANTAR LEMBAGA - Google Jamboard

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8 Mercy Scope of Work_Mitra Pelaksana MRED Program-FINAL

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Mercy Corps Indonesia adalah organisasi lokal yang berpusat di Jakarta. Mercy Corps Indonesia membantu masyarakat untuk pulih dari kondisi krisis yang mereka hadapi dan kemudian mengubahnya menjadi kesempatan untuk meningkatkan kualitas hidup. Didasari kebutuhan lokal, program kami membantu masyarakat di seluruh wilayah Indonesia dengan alat dan dukungan yang masyarakat butuhkan. Mercy Corps Indonesia merupakan bagian dari keluarga besar Mercy Corps; organisasi non-profit internasional yang berdiri tahun 1979 yang telah membantu masyarakat di wilayah-wilayah rentan; di lebih dari 40 negara.

Mercy Corps Indonesia menyediakan baik bantuan darurat dan program jangka panjang untuk dapat membangun kembali dengan lebih baik melalui meningkatkan infrastruktur masyarakat, ketahanan dan peluang ekonomi di berbagai daerah yang menantang dan sulit di Indonesia. Mercy Corps Indonesia bekerja di berbagai wilayah di Jawa, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Maluku, Papua, dan Papua Barat.

Program Mengelola Risiko melalui Pengembangan Ekonomi atau disingkat dengan MRED tahap 1 (satu) telah berjalan sejak bulan Januari 2020 hingga bulan Maret 2021. Program ini, berlokasi di Kabupaten Sigi, Kecamatan Kulawi dengan detail 4 Desa (Desa Toro; Desa Mataue; Desa Namo dan Desa Salua) dan di Kecamatan Dolo Selatan ( Desa Bangga; Desa Walatana; Desa Pulu; Desa Poi; Desa Balongga dan Desa Sambo) dengan pendekatan program pada level kampung/dusun yang rentan terhadap bencana banjir dan longsor. Membangun kesiapsiagaan komunitas terhadap bencana dengan memperkuat kapasitas masyarakat rentan untuk meminimalkan dampak pada kehidupan dan mata pencaharian yang disebabkan oleh bencana banjir dan longsor dan pengaruh perubahan iklim dengan membangun model berkelanjutan Pengurangan Risiko Bencana (PRB) melalui berbagai kemitraan, pemangku kepentingan dengan pemerintah, sektor swasta, dan masyarakat sipil.

Program MRED memodelkan program Pengurangan Risiko Bencana dan Pengembangan Ekonomi menjadi satu kesatuan yang tidak terpisahkan pengembangan pertanian yang dapat mengurangi risiko bencana yang bernilai ekonomi bagi masyarakat yang disebut dengan

Sebagai upaya keberlanjutan program, MRED berencana menjalankan program tahap 2 (dua) pada bulan April 2022 hingga Maret 2025. Dengan tambahan tiga (3) desa intervensi dan 10 kampung di Kabupaten Sigi, Provinsi Sulawesi Tengah

Mercy Corps Indonesia melalui program MRED akan mengundang Lembaga/Institusi yang memiliki pengalaman dalam menjalankan program Pengurangan Risiko Bencana (PRB) dan Pengembangan Ekonomi (Livelihood) di Provinsi Sulawesi terutama di Sulawesi Tengah.

Mitra pelaksana ini, bertujuan melaksanakan program MRED bersama dengan Mercy Corps Indonesia untuk Pengurangan Risiko Bencana dan Pengembangan Ekonomi pada sektor pertanian. Dengan melaksanakan pemberdayaan dan pendampingan kepada Pemerintah Daerah, serta bekerjasama dengan sector swasta, penerima manfaat/participant dan melakukan praktik-praktik baik, pendokumentasian kegiatan, baik di level institusional, organisasional, lokasi program, maupun di tingkat individual dan pengetahuan di berbagai mitra kerja Program MRED.

Mitra pelakasana program MRED akan saling berkoordinasi erat dengan Mercy Corps Indonesia melakukan koordinasi, perencanaan bersama dan pendokumentasian kegiatan monitoring dan evaluasi bersama, dengan melakukan kegiatan :

Penanggung jawab program dilembaga mitra, melakukan laporan kepada coordinator DRR dan Livelihood Mercy Corps Indonesia.

Dalam kegiatan ini, lembaga mitra yang terpilih nantinya akan menjalankan program Pengurangan Risiko Bencana (PRB) dan Pengembangan Ekonomi ( Livelihood) berkerjasama dibawah koordinasi program MRED dan Mercy Corps Indonesia, untuk melakukan kegiatan berikut :

Menjalankan program pengelolaan keuangan/financial literacy bagi anggota/kelompok siaga bencana, petani dan pengurus BUMDES.

Melakukan pendokumentasian program yang baik, berkerjasama erat dengan team Monitoring dan Evaluasi Mercy Corps Indonesia.

Info selengkapnya silahkan download attachment

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Lembaga Mitra Program Mengelola Risiko Melalui Pengembangan Ekonomi (Managing through Risk Economic Development)

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Mercy Corps Indonesia adalah organisasi lokal yang berpusat di Jakarta. Mercy Corps Indonesia membantu masyarakat untuk pulih dari kondisi krisis yang mereka hadapi dan kemudian mengubahnya menjadi kesempatan untuk meningkatkan kualitas hidup. Didasari kebutuhan lokal, program kami membantu masyarakat di seluruh wilayah Indonesia dengan alat dan dukungan yang masyarakat butuhkan.

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IKI Small Grants is happy to announce that the third call for proposals by IKI Small Grants is open from 15th December 2021 to 15th April 2022.

In a one-stage selection procedure, small regional, national and local organisations based in an ODA-eligible country can apply directly for funding of the implementation of local or regional climate and biodiversity projects. IKI Small Grants selects project proposals and provides funding between EUR 60,000 and EUR 200,000.

Are you a member of an organisation working to address climate change or conserve biodiversity? Is your organisation registered in an ODA-eligible country and do you have an effective, innovative, or creative non-profit project idea? Then please take at look at the following sections and our Funding Information.

Before you apply, please make sure that you have checked the eligibility criteria and that you have read the complete funding information and application guideline (available for download in the section "Documents and Guidelines - How to apply?"). We can only consider project proposals of organisations that meet all the criteria.

We look forward to receiving your application!

Please find below our eligibility criteria. We can only consider project proposals of organisations that meet all the criteria

Eligibility Criteria concerning the applicant:

Applicants must be based and registered in countries that are on the DAC List of ODA Recipients. Please note that proposals from countries that are official or potential candidates for EU membership are no longer eligible for IKI Small Grants.

Organisations must be operative for at least three years.

Over the last three years the organisation must have an average annual revenue of at least EUR 60,000 and no more than EUR 500,000.

The average annual revenue of the last three years should be higher than (or equal to) the requested funding volume.

Organisations have to be not-for-profit organisations. For-profit non-government organisations are eligible if they pursue strictly non-profit objectives within the scope of their proposed project.

The applicant must have dedicated accounting staff and have accounting principles that ensure internal as well as external control mechanisms.

The applicant organisation must employ a software-based accounting system which meets its respective national standards.

Eligibility Criteria concerning the project:

Project proposals must clearly address one of the IKI funding areas:

Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions

Adapting to the impacts of climate change

Conserving natural carbon sinks / REDD+

Conserving biological diversity

The duration of the proposed projects should cover a minimum of twelve months and a maximum of two years. Longer durations may be acceptable if justified appropriately.

Projects must be implemented on a local, national, or regional level. Projects with a global focus cannot be funded.

Projects must be implemented by the applicant organisation itself. Forwarding funds to other implementing partners cannot be processed.

The project proposal must be submitted in English.

In the following Links you can find all important guidelines and documents for the current call.

Funding Information 2022 (PDF, English, 169 KB)

Application Guidelines 2022 (PDF, English, 609 KB)

In the following links you will find the templates for the current call. All these templates are mandatory and must be submitted with an application.

Budget Template 2022 (Excel, English, 644 KB)

GANTT Chart Template 2022 (Excel, English, 27 KB)

Travel Allowances Template 2022 (PDF, English, 165 KB)

Please note that you must use the latest IKI Small Grants Excel templates linked above to apply (we do not accept other templates).

As mentioned in the eligibility criteria, the projects must address one of the four funding areas Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, Adapting to the impacts of climate change, Conserving natural carbon sinks / REDD+ or Conserving biological diversity. Additionally, we explicitly encourage projects which:

support the implementation or increase the ambition of nationally determined contributions (NDCs),

support action on the ground to contribute to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030

the engagement of young people (age 15-30)

address the risks, challenges and opportunities of global megatrends (e.g. increasing demand for natural resources, rapid urbanization, digitalisation) or the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of climate change and biodiversity loss,

support a just transition of economies towards decarbonization including fair social change especially for underprivileged groups,

strengthen networks, knowledge sharing and cooperation of organisations working on climate change and biodiversity related issues,

develop and promote the use of climate smart technologies,

contribute to awareness building and education regarding climate change and biodiversity,

develop and introduce economic incentives favourable for climate and biodiversity,

Proposals that engage in cross-sectoral and multi-stakeholder cooperation, involve the local population, and strengthen gender equality in society are encouraged. The project should be embedded within an enabling environment and produce tangible and practical results that can be replicated further.

Please also check chapter 6 in the funding information on page 4-5.

Before submitting your application, please make sure to doublecheck on all selection criteria for projects. We expect a high number of project proposals and only a limited number can be selected in each call for proposals (approximately 30-40 per year).

Your application should:

contain an operational plan including indicators and a detailed budget plan demonstrating how the funding will be used

adhere to the environmental and social safeguards system applied in this programme (for detailed information have a look at chapter 8 in our application guidelines)

contain a well-designed capacity development package, which plays an important role in the evaluation and selection of project proposals. (for detailed information have a look at chapter 10 in our application guidelines)

involve the local population and strengthen gender equality in society. The project should be embedded within an enabling environment and produce tangible and practical results that can be replicated further.

use all templates provided on the application platform and not change their formatting when filling them out (all macros and formulas should remain in the original)

Quality assurance before handing in your application:

Doublecheck on the quality of the project concept and its ambition
Guiding Questions:
Is all information provided comprehensible (also for people who do not know your local/regional conditions)? Is the effectiveness of the project idea clear? Are the choice of appropriate methods, the feasibility regarding the project duration and the budget well reflected in the application?

Doublecheck on the qualification of the implementing organisation
Guiding Questions:
Is my organisation´s professional expertise and experience presented? Did I describe networking activities with relevant stakeholders? Is my organisation in accordance with the IKI Small Grants target group (eligibility criteria)? Does the application clearly describe the organisation´s accounting guidelines?

Doublecheck on the project risks and safeguards
Guiding Questions:
Does my application asses on relevant risks/safeguards and appropriate mitigating measures? Does my application reflect on the likelihood of the project implementation being jeopardized and on all relevant safeguard dimensions?

Doublecheck on the sustainability and replicability chapter
Guiding Questions:
Did I provide information about continuation of activities after the project ends? Does my application clearly outline how to embed my project in existing national or regional strategies? Did I reflect on the project´s replicability in other contexts?

Doublecheck if the provided templates by IKI Small Grants are used and no changes on the templates have been done

As a take-away, please find here a downloadable one-pager, that provides you with further tips and a checklist to successfully complete your application:

Application Checklist (PDF, English, 70 KB)

The FAQs only present a quick overview. For comprehensive details on the funding criteria please carefully read the IKI Small Grants funding information and the application guidelines provided on this website. Also, the recording of last year's IKI Small Grants Launch Event may offer further interesting insights. Click here to see the video .
A: Which organisations are eligiblefor funding?
For detailed information regarding the eligibility criteria please have a look at the boxes above and the funding information.

In the current call for proposals IKI Small Grants does not support:

government organisations (e.g. ministries, municipalities, public universities)

branches of organisations based in a non-ODA country or inside of Europe

consortia: consortia are not eligible as this would imply the forwarding of project funds from the lead organisation to partners in the consortia. The forwarding of funds is not permitted.

Research projects will not be financed unless they have a strong implementation component. This means that basic research projects concentrating mainly on data collection, evaluation, and publications are not eligible as such. However, a project that has its main focus on addressing the needs of target groups and through this achieving substantial changes in the IKI Small Grants' funding areas, is welcome to carry out project related research as a side activity.

B: When can I expect a first contact from IKI Small Grants?
After the call is closed, the submitted proposals will undergo a thorough selection process and will be treated with the upmost care and attention. This process might take several months. As soon as the selection has been finalised, all submitting organisations will be informed.

In the meantime, please do refrain from inquiries about the status of your proposal.
C: Can I hand in an application in a language other than English?
Applications have to be submitted in English. Pease bear in mind that all communication after the submission of your application will be in English, too. IKI Small Grants works with organisations from many countries with a wide range of languages. Perfect English language skills are not required, however, good working English from at least one person in the project team is essential for effective cooperation. You are welcome to seek assistance in proposal writing from third parties including professional translation and/or online translation tools.

Application

The button below will take you directly to the application platform. To acess the IKI Small Grants application form, a valid account for the platform is required. You can either register for a new account or, in case you have already created one, you can log in directly. Subsequently, a selection of funding calls will open. Please select " IKI Small Grants 2022A " and continue by creating a new project.

If you have additional questions or concerns regarding the application process, please contact iki-small-grants(at)giz.de.

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IKI Small Grants is happy to announce that the third call for proposals by IKI Small Grants is open from 15th December 2021 to 15th April 2022. In a one-stage selection procedure, small regional, national and local organisations based in an ODA-eligible country can apply directly for funding of the implementation of local or regional climate and biodiversity projects.

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International Committee of the Red Cross

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The Fund

The Empress Shôken Fund is named after Her Majesty the Empress of Japan, who proposed - at the 9th International Conference of the Red Cross - the creation of an international fund to promote relief work in peacetime.

It is administered by the Joint Commission of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which maintains close contact with the Japanese Permanent Mission in Geneva, the Japanese Red Cross Society and the Meiji Jingu Research Institute in Japan.

The Fund has a total value of over 16 million Swiss francs and supports projects run by National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to benefit their communities in various ways. The first grant was awarded in 1921, to help five European National Societies fight the spread of tuberculosis.

Since then, 169 National Societies have received 14 million Swiss francs. To mark the Fund's 100th year of awarding grants, a short video was developed to highlight what the Fund stands for and showcase how it has supported National Societies through the years.

The imperial family, the Japanese government, the Japanese Red Cross and the Japanese people revere the memory of Her Majesty Empress Shôken, and their enduring regard for the Fund is evident in the regularity of their contributions to it.

The grants are usually announced every year on 11 April, the anniversary of her death. This year the announcement is being published earlier due to the weekend.

For more information on the Empress Shôken Fund, please visit: www.shokenfund.org

The selection process

The Fund received 28 applications in 2021 covering a diverse range of humanitarian projects run by National Societies in every region of the world. This year the Joint Commission agreed to allocate a total of 475,997 Swiss francs to 16 projects in Argentina, the Bahamas, Benin, Costa Rica, Estonia, Georgia, Iran, Kenya, Malawi, Nicaragua, Pakistan, the Philippines, Romania, South Sudan, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam.

The projects to be supported in 2021 cover a number of themes, including youth engagement, disaster preparedness, National Society development and health, especially the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The Fund continues to encourage new and innovative approaches with the potential to generate insights that will benefit the Movement as a whole.

The 2021 grants

The Argentine Red Cross is taking an innovative approach to talent management using new technologies. It will use the grant to develop a talent-management module to be implemented in 65 branches, enabling the National Society to attract and retain employees and volunteers.

The Bahamas Red Cross Society will put the grant towards building staff and volunteers' capacities and expanding its network on five islands, with a view to implementing community- and ecosystem-based approaches to reducing disaster risk and increasing climate resilience.

The Red Cross of Benin seek to help vulnerable women become more autonomous. The grant will support them in developing income-generating activities and building their professional skills.

The Costa Rica Red Cross will use the grant to enable communities in the remote Cabécar and Bribri indigenous territories to better manage emergencies, holding workshops on first aid, risk prevention and emergency health care in connection with climate events and health emergencies, including COVID-19.

The Estonia Red Cross is working to build competencies in four key areas, including in recruiting, training and retaining volunteers. The funds will support the development of a volunteer database to help effectively manage information, especially against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With widespread COVID-19 transmission in Georgia, the Georgia Red Cross Society is working to help national authorities limit the impact of the pandemic. It will put the grant towards promoting good hygiene and raising awareness of the importance of vaccination.

The Red Crescent Society of Islamic Republic of Iran is focused on building local capacity with youth volunteers by boosting small businesses in outreach areas. The grant will be used for training, capacity-building and development in local partner institutions, generating income for community members.

The COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions have affected how the Kenya Red Cross Society does its humanitarian work. The grant will be used to launch an online volunteer platform to encourage and facilitate youth volunteering.

The Malawi Red Cross Society must be ready to respond to disasters due to climate variability and climate change. The funds will allow the National Society to establish a pool of trained emergency responders who can swing into action within 72 hours of a disaster.

The Nicaraguan Red Cross is working to protect the elderly from COVID-19. The grant will be used in three care homes located in the municipalities of Somoto, Sébaco and Jinotepe to provide medical assistance, prevent and control infections, and promote mental health as a basic element of self-care through training and support sessions and other activities.

The Pakistan Red Crescent seeks to improve how it manages blood donations. The funds will enable the National Society to increase the capacity of its blood donor centre and raise awareness of voluntary unpaid blood donation by holding World Blood Donor Day in 2021.

The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for All project of the Philippine Red Cross aims to develop WASH guidelines and promote them in the community. The grant will be used for training and capacity-building around providing health services in emergencies.

In Romania, teenagers in residential centres are vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence for a number of reasons, including a lack of both psychosocial education and staff trained in dealing with this kind of violence through trauma-informed care. The grant will enable the Red Cross of Romania to reduce the vulnerability of 60 teenagers in residential centres by increasing knowledge and aiding the development of safe relationships.

The South Sudan Red Cross is working to encourage young people to adapt to climate change by planting fruit trees. The grant will support this initiative, which aims to reduce the impact of climate change and increase food production.

In 2020 the Timor-Leste Red Cross launched an education programme aimed at increasing young people's knowledge about reproductive health. The funds will be used to expand the programme - already active in five of the National Society's branches - to the remaining eight branches.

The Viet Nam Red Cross aims to further engage with authorities and become more self-sufficient through fundraising. It will use the grant to build its personnel's capacities by providing training courses on proposal writing, project management and social welfare.

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Empress Shôken Fund 100th Distribution Announcement

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The FundThe Empress Shôken Fund is named after Her Majesty the Empress of Japan, who proposed - at the 9th International Conference of the Red Cross - the creation of an international fund to promote relief work in peacetime.It is administered by the Joint Commission of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which maintains close contact with the Japanese Permanent Mission in Geneva, the Japanese Red Cross Society and the Meiji Jingu Research Institute in Japan.The Fund has a total value of over 16 million Swiss fr

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U.S. Embassy & Consulate in the Kingdom of Denmark

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Please note: the small grants program is currently operating with limited funding. Applications continue to be reviewed on a quarterly basis, but only a

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This toolkit is designed to raise awareness of counterterrorism-related risks so that organisations can identify and mitigate these, and to make risk management approaches accessible to a broad range of staff who can use them in their day to day work.

This toolkit is developed for use by a wide variety of staff in headquarters and field locations, ranging from those responsible for programme implementation or partnerships with donors, to those with operational, risk management or policy responsibilities. The toolkit has three objectives:

To provide an overview of current counterterrorism measures and their potential impact on principled humanitarian action.

To highlight counterterrorism-related risks that humanitarian organisations may need to manage and mitigate, and to provide a collation of some risk management practices employed in the sector.

To encourage organisations to mainstream consideration of counterterrorism-related risks throughout the project management cycle.

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Toolkit for principled humanitarian action: Managing counterterrorism risks

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This toolkit is designed to raise awareness of counterterrorism-related risks so that organisations can identify and mitigate these, and to make risk management approaches accessible to a broad range of staff who can use them in their day to day work.

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Engaging Your Community: A Toolkit for Partnership, Collaboration, and Action – John  Snow, Inc. (JSI)

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Engaging Your Community: A Toolkit for Partnership, Collaboration, and Action – John  Snow, Inc. (JSI)

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The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the world’s largest humanitarian network and is guided by seven Fundamental Principles: Humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, universality and unity.

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Localisation In Practice: Emerging Indicators & Practical Recommendations

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Localisation In Practice: Emerging Indicators & Practical Recommendations

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Localisation In Practice: Emerging Indicators & Practical Recommendations

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This document can also be found on the official website of Reliefweb at: https://reliefweb.int/ Localisation has been debated and researched. While there are many laudable small examples of change, a lot remains to be done. It is not acceptable that so many in-country decisionmakers and advisors, in…

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From where we stand

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This is the second blog in a two-part series. The laid out, through the contributor's words, what we have heard over the past eight months in the From Where I Stand virtual learning forum. This blog is the editor's attempt to make sense of what we heard. In order to develop this blog, we surveyed contributors about their impressions of the evolving series and their feedback is woven throughout this piece (that feedback was anonymous and is therefore not attributed to specific contributors).

It has been more than four years since the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, where the international humanitarian community made a commitment to "localizing" aid. The localization workstream in the Grand Bargain agreement sought to change funding, coordination, and partnership structures for greater inclusion of 'local' actors. These commitments were built upon a seemingly genuine acknowledgement of the power inequities that pervade the aid architecture; and this 'localization agenda' appeared to be a sober admission of the obligation to better include local humanitarian actors in global systems.

However, calls for greater local leadership have been tempered by the recognition that we, as a sector, need to change a system built to resist such change. Herein lies the juncture between aspirations and tangible progress, which has left the 'localization' debate full of contradictions. While there has been progress towards meeting the goals outlined in the Grand Bargain, overall, the sector is falling short of honoring its commitments to change, let alone moving towards the more fundamental reforms that many are calling for.

All of these contradictions show that the path towards greater local leadership is anything but clear and direct, and leads to the question: what are we really working towards and are we truly willing to go there?
Shooting for the Moon
Attempts at broad, systemic change show how efforts to shoot for the moon often leave you somewhere between the earth and the stars. Since the 2016 Summit, there have been many challenges in translating the localization commitments into tangible actions. That said, positive shifts should also be acknowledged: including a greater acknowledgement of power imbalances in aid, increased recognition of the role that diverse local actors play in humanitarian response, and some international actors making meaningful changes to the way they operate. The COVID-19 pandemic and a global reckoning with racial injustice have underscored the urgency of these changes.

However, many of these important changes have been only incremental and have been overshadowed by the many ways that the sector is Many local organizations still feel they are being treated more as 'subcontractors' than genuine partners. falling short of meeting their existing commitments, let alone achieving more fundamental change. While it varies based on the analysis, the percentage of funding going to local actors hovers around 3%, which is very far from the Grand Bargain goal of 25% of funding going 'as directly as possible' to local actors by 2020. Furthermore, some argue that the localization agenda is being used as a pretext for shifting risks onto local actors. There is concern that without fundamentally changing the hierarchical and competitive structures of international aid, localization will fall into the trap of replicating or even entrenching these damaging power dynamics.

So, this slow and erratic exercise of change begs the question: What are we learning? Whose voices are we listening to? And how do we find meaning that can inform the sector's direction going forward?
A different conversation
These questions were what motivated CDA Collaborative Learning (CDA) to launch the " From where I stand: Unpacking the 'local' in aid" virtual learning forum. After more than 25 blogs from authors across 17 countries, we could have never anticipated the rich and powerful reflections we heard. While this forum was founded upon the need for greater openness and diversity of perspectives, we will admit that we had preconceived notions about what we might hear. Perhaps our position as a US-based organization that primarily interacts with international NGOs, we anticipated that authors would offer critiques of limited access to coordination mechanisms, rigid funding mechanisms, dominant donor preferences, and problematic partnerships, which are topics that make up the majority of published articles on localization.

Yet after eight months of listening, we realized that we are hearing two very distinct conversations. One is the conversation that we expected to hear, which is the mainstream conversation about achieving the objectives of the Grand Bargain. This focuses on shifting the needle towards meeting the existing global commitments to greater localization, moving the locus of activity and funding to be closer to the 'ground', and being more responsive to 'local' needs, capacities, and endeavors. Greater inclusivity is the starting point of this conversation, as it asks the sector to give local actors a greater share of the 'aid pie' through more capacity strengthening, an increased number of partnerships, greater access to funding, and improved coordination mechanisms.

However, we also heard a far different conversation. The other conversation is focused on the need to fundamentally change the dynamics of power to center on the dignity and agency of crisis-affected people. This dialogue is about equity, decolonization, solidarity, accountability, participation, and trust. To achieve these goals, some authors believe we can change the current system and others believe we need to start anew. These conversations are asking the aid sector to examine itself and recognize that inclusivity is not enough as long as we are trying to include local actors in a system that has been so marked by racism, sexism, neocolonialism, capitalism, and other oppressive systems.
What are we hearing in this alternative discussion?
The voices closest to crisis-affected communities are not just calling for greater inclusion or improved funding mechanisms; but rather, for greater voice in, choice in, ownership of, and power over the interventions that impact them, their families, and their communities. As one author told us: "Their [local actors'] impact and voices are critical though often unheard, but they are the ones saving lives, and they need to be reminded that the roles they play are highly appreciated, and very critical to saving lives... Practitioners should have a space in the decision making [spaces], to speak truth to power."

Inclusion is critical and long overdue, but simply not enough: many of the contributors spoke explicitly about needing to address power, agency, and dignity.

"A critical localism then requires a careful untangling of the moral binds inherent in the localization of humanitarian aid. First and foremost, this must be done with a keen attention to power." - Siad Darwish

By power, the authors were speaking about how to shift control away from the donor-driven, neocolonial structures that maintain the status quo of the aid industry. Many authors also spoke about how to confront structures of inequality within their own societies. Further, some authors even expressed the deep irony that an organization is more likely to get funding if they are skilled at grant writing rather than if they will have the greatest impact on communities. While not surprising, altering the entire ecosystem of how "we" (as the international aid sector) work emerged as an existential crisis that requires immediate attention. These existing aid structures impact everything from how we collectively learn, and who we learn from, to the origination of programming and activities.

Across the blogs, many of the authors pointed to moving beyond the narrow boundaries and priorities of the conventional localization discourse, including the local/international binary and the focus on money. As one author said to us, From where I stand] is providing a forum for communities around the world to define 'local' and shape the conversations around the enigmatic localisation agenda. It is enabling the various and diversified contexts of localisation to be explained and explored."

Tearing down the silos between humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding initiatives was also a common theme among authors. One contributor explained to us that, "Working across the 'Nexus' can only be really successful when using the lens of community empowerment." These shifts indicate that if humanitarian aid is truly going to be locally-led, locally-defined, and locally-owned, we (international aid practitioners) must be ready to embrace truly new ways of working in addition to making incremental changes around the edges of the system.
Where do we go from here?
Bridging the gap between these two conversations may feel daunting. But perhaps it is less about bringing the conversations together and more about expanding the conversation so that people closest to crisis-affected communities can set the agenda. More people need a seat at the decision-making table, which may mean we, as international actors, have to build a bigger table or give up our seat.

Expanding the conversation also means getting more ideas about how to change. The following are some of the concrete ideas that have emerged from the author's contributions:

Value local knowledge and invest in deep, ongoing context analysis

Co-create programming and ensure affected populations have input at every stage of the process

Institutionalize participation and accountability through listening and feedback mechanisms

Ensure programming is adaptive and holistic to meet the diverse and changing priorities of affected populations

Expand our understanding of what (and who) authentic local leadership can be and move beyond the local/international binary

Operationalize allyship based on solidarity by aligning ourselves more with local priorities than donor priorities, which may mean fundamentally changing the aid marketplace

Ensure responsible transitions to partners who are closer to affected communities

Further, we, as CDA, recognize that creating a space to share and listen to the stories of what people are doing in their own communities is still quite rare. So, CDA will continue the " virtual forum and in doing so, we will get out of the way. Our intention is to have the forum transform into a space that is less focused on the 'localization agenda', and instead become a place for people most affected by aid to share their experiences with, stories of, and lessons for the aid sector. From where I stand" Our hope is that by deeply listening, and inviting others to do so as well, the conversations about localization will become more grounded in the realities, values, and priorities of practitioners doing the work to make this a more equitable system.

So, we welcome you! We would love for you to blog with us as we continue to learn together. Please contact us at [email protected] with your ideas, experiences, and perspectives. We are grateful to be on this journey with you, and excited to continue learning together.

Photo Credit: Photo 1: The Buzz: https://www.cafdn.org/thebuzz/2014/05/19/reachingforthestars/. Photo 2: HPG Commissioned Report. Grand Bargain annual independent report 2020. Victoria Metcalfe-Hough, Wendy Fenton, Barnaby Willitts-King and Alexandra Spencer. June 2020. Page 59.

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This is the second blog of a two part series. In this blog, CDA's editors took the learning and analysis provided by blog contributors and tried to respond to the question: "what next?" Editors offer their take on what they have learned from this series, what it means, and what next for the sector and this blog.