CORE Fund strengthens resilience and preparedness amongst Makhmali and her community

Makhamali, near her home in Panchpokhari Thangpal in the Sindhupalchok district of North Nepal

Makhmali is a 50-year-old widow living in the mountainous municipality of Panchpokhari Thangpal in the Sindhupalchok district of North Nepal. Her two children live and work away from home. In 2015, when the devastating Gurkha earthquake struck, Makhmali lost nearly everything. Her home collapsed, and along with it, her livelihood.

With determination, Makhmali pieced her life back together. Yet new challenges arose. Because her home sits on the top of a hill, she faces a constant threat: landslides triggered by increasingly heavy rains. Over the past years, severe monsoons have eroded the surrounding slopes, placing her house, as many other homes in the area, at great risk of being swept away.

“My house completely collapsed during the 2015 earthquake. We received a small grant from the government and added all our hard-earned savings to rebuild the house. The thought of losing my home yet again to another disaster is terrifying”, says Makhmali

Through the support of the CORE Fund, NSET, a Nepali organisation, stepped in to support Makhmali to protect her home. Drawing from both tradition and modern techniques, they strengthened the hillside, placing blocks of stone wrapped in wire mesh to create protective barriers, and planting varieties of trees that bind the soil and prevent it from sliding during heavy rains.

Now, when Mahmali stands outside her home and looks at the hills around her, she feels something she has not felt in years: safety. Hope. The knowledge that her home will stand firm, even as the rains return.

Through the CORE fund, not only was Makhmali’s house protected but awareness was raised amongst her community members on the risks of landslides and on how to better protect their homes through preventive and early action measures. Together with its local partners, NSET further contributed to strengthening local government systems, protocols and procedures in Disaster Risk Reduction, including hazard risk mapping and monitoring, establishing an Early Warning System, (EWS) and equipping a resource centre for eventual relief and rescue operations.

“Thanks to the awareness being raised on natural hazards, like earthquakes and landslides, and our municipality that is taking preventive measures, the people of my village and many other villages in nearby  mountains now feel better prepared to face the risks of natural disasters our area faces.”, says Makhmali

Now, for the first time in many years, Makhmali feels her home—and her future—can be safe. And with a proactive and better prepared municipality, the community feels better protected from eventual disasters.

This is the story of one woman. But it is also the story of resilience, of community preparedness, of a local government that cares for its people and of how the smallest acts of preparedness, and system strengthening for early action can protect not only a house, but save many lives.

Read more about CORE Fund - Nepal’s Resilience Fund here.

CORE FUND - Nepal’s Fund for Resilience, Building Resilience in the Heart of the Himalayas

CORE FUND - Nepal’s Fund for Resilience, Building Resilience in the Heart of the Himalayas

by Surya Narayan Shrestha, Vrinda Dar and Falastin Omar

Download PDF here.

Nepal ranks among the world’s most disaster-prone countries. Sitting on the collision line of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, it is acutely vulnerable to earthquakes, while its steep terrain, heavy monsoon rains, and rapidly changing climate trigger recurring floods and landslides. The 2015 Gorkha earthquake, which killed nearly 9,000 people and displaced millions, was a stark reminder of the country’s fragility.1 Beyond the devastation, it unleashed more than 21,000 landslides, cutting communities off from vital services and exposing the deadly link between seismic activity and fragile mountain slopes. Every monsoon since has reinforced the same message: disasters here are seasonal, cyclical, and intensifying.2

Institutions like the National Society for Earthquake Technology–Nepal (NSET) have long sounded the alarm. “Frequent disasters are part of our lives; we must learn to live with them”, says Surya Narayan Shrestha, Executive Director of NSET.

Foundation of the Nepal Resilience Fund (CORE)

It is from this backdrop that the Nepal Resilience Fund – CORE was launched in 2023, as one of the first locally led pooled fund mechanisms in the country. Governed by a consortium of Nepali NGOs and rooted in national systems, the fund is designed to push decision-making and resources closer to the people who live with risk every day.

CORE’s structure reflects that ambition: an Oversight Committee leads on grant decisions, while an Advisory Committee provides strategic guidance and advocacy. This design deliberately balances the urgent needs with the long-term, ensuring flexible funding for rapid response while also planning for sustained resilience. Its financial base stretches from government contributions to diaspora networks, tapping into a diverse mix of local and international solidarity.

As Surya put it: “CORE isn’t just about getting money to communities faster. It’s about changing who gets to decide how resilience is built”

Visiting CORE-Funded Communities

The principles that guided the foundation of CORE, local leadership, shared governance, and solutions grounded in lived realities, came to life during our visit to Panch Pokhari Thangpal in Sindhupalchowk. What had been articulated as a model on paper was visible in practice, communities leading preparedness, recovery, and risk reduction efforts with support from their municipalities and local organisations.

One of the most striking aspects of the visit was observing landslide mitigation work at Dada Tole community of Panch Pokhari Thangpal Rural Municipality, where residents were building and maintaining gabion box structures with galvanized iron mesh. These rectangular wire cages, filled with local stones, act as flexible retaining walls that stabilise fragile slopes, protect rural roads, and reduce erosion. Their porous design allows water to drain through, preventing the buildup of hydrostatic pressure, a major cause of slope failure during Nepal’s monsoon season.

In a context where heavy rains and earthquakes continually destabilize hillsides, gabions are both practical and effective. They are low-cost, make use of abundant local materials, and can be constructed by communities with basic training, making them a sustainable solution that fits Nepal’s terrain and hazard profile.

Although gabion walls are a modern engineering solution, what made the initiative particularly powerful was how communities have integrated them with longstanding local practices. Alongside the stone-filled cages, residents plant Amriso.3 traditional methods that Nepali farmers have used for generations to hold soil and reduce erosion. In this way, modern structures and indigenous knowledge reinforce each other, showing how resilience in Nepal is built through a combination of technical inputs, local wisdom, and community action.

For Makhmali, a 50-year-old widow living on a hillside in Panchpokhari Thangpal, this blend of approaches has meant the difference between fear and hope. “My house completely collapsed during the 2015 earthquake. We used all our savings to rebuild, but every monsoon I feared it would be swept away again,” she recalled. With CORE’s support, gabions were built and the slopes reinforced with vegetation. “Now, when I look at the hills around my home, I feel something I haven’t in years: safety and hope.”

Visiting CORE-Funded Communities

In Panch Pokhari Thangpal, the field visits revealed how resilience is lived and practiced across different communities. At Dada Tole, community groups gathered for an open meeting where farmers, women, and youth discussed everyday challenges and shared solutions.

The conversations spanned from sustaining organic farming and widening local markets to safeguarding common resources like water supply schemes, practical strategies that showed how resilience is embedded in daily life. A few wards away in Khalanga, we observed how this same spirit of preparedness is institutionalized. At the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Learning Center, community members and local officials came together to exchange knowledge and coordinate plans.

ommunity-led simulation exercises brought these systems to life, as households and volunteers rehearsed how they would respond to potential emergencies. Watching families practice drills underscored the confidence that grows when preparedness is not abstract but owned by the people themselves.

Across these engagements, the essence of CORE’s vision was evident. Resilience is not delivered from outside, it is built from within. Whether through slope stabilization with gabions, the integration of traditional vegetation practices, preparedness drills, or collective planning at the DRR Learning Center, the communities of Panch Pokhari Thangpal are showing that when people closest to the risks are in the lead, solutions are more relevant, inclusive, and sustainable.

Sustaining Resilience Through Governance and Community Alignment

LNNGOs are developing projects that both respond to immediate community needs and build into local municipal priorities as well as national resilience plans. This alignment ensures that initiatives supported by CORE are not stand-alone efforts, but part of a broader framework of disaster risk reduction and recovery.

In Panch Pokhari Thangpal, this was evident in the way community-led organizations and municipal representatives worked together. LNNGOs mobilize communities, provide training, and deliver mitigation activities, while municipalities contribute planning frameworks, policy direction, and accountability systems. This collaboration anchors projects in local governance structures, reinforcing disaster risk management provisions within municipal development plans and connecting them to national strategies.

Such integration is essential for sustainable resilience. Physical measures, like landslide mitigation and preparedness drills, are maintained and scaled when they are embedded into local government planning and budgeting. At the same time, people’s resilience grows as communities see their active participation reflected in municipal strategies and national commitments. This combination of local ownership and institutional accountability creates solutions that endure, making resilience not just reactive, but systemic and long-term.

The impact of this unison is clear: LNNGOs and governance structures working together create solutions that are relevant, legitimate, and enduring. Local leadership and participation brings depth and inclusivity to projects, while alignment with municipal and national systems guarantees that they are sustained beyond individual project cycles. This dual anchoring, community ownership on one side and institutional accountability on the other, is what allows CORE-supported initiatives to move from reactive responses to a foundation for systemic, long-term resilience.

Conclusion

For communities perched on one of the world’s most active seismic belts, the question is never if another disaster will come, but when. Structural vulnerabilities, from rapid urban expansion to fragile infrastructure and deep socio-economic divides, magnify the impact of every shock. Against this backdrop, CORE’s emphasis on community-led preparedness and recovery responds directly to lived experience, recognizing that local institutions and governance are the first responders and the backbone of resilience.

Therefore, establishing the Nepal Resilience Fund-CORE was never just about financing. It was about reshaping the system so that communities are leaders of their own recovery. What is emerging is not just faster response, but a deeper shift: local solutions that endure beyond a single project, blending technical inputs with indigenous practices, and transforming resilience from a reactive posture into a collective way of life.

Before the Planting: Preparing the Soil for Localisation’s Next Harvest

Before the Planting: Preparing the Soil for Localisation’s Next Harvest

With Eric Onyango, Shahida Arif, Lulseged Mekonnen, Jonas Habimana, Nancy Sitima

2022 Africa Summit in Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi turns 125 years old this year, its quasquicentennial anniversary (best pronounced early in the morning!). What began as a modest railway supply depot for the Uganda Railway has evolved into one of Africa’s most dynamic capitals. The city’s name, Nairobi, is derived from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, meaning “a place of cool waters.”

Over time, the city’s slang name has transformed from “Nai” to “KaNairo”, reflecting both affection and the rhythm of its evolving identity.

Today, Nairobi stands as a continental and global hub. The United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), established in 1996, is the UN’s official headquarters in Africa, making the city one of only four global centres hosting multiple UN agencies under one roof. This has positioned Nairobi as a key site for international diplomacy and humanitarian coordination.

The city’s innovation and technology eco-system continues to flourish. Major companies such as Google and Microsoft have established regional offices here, and the Westland's district is fast emerging as an anchor for Africa’s tech-driven future.

Nairobi is increasingly being recognised as a strategic global hub, with several UN agencies relocating key operations from New York to the Kenyan capital, a move that underscores the UN’s commitment to being closer to the communities it serves.

Nairobi, Kenya, has the privilege of hosting the Africa Summits twice in the last three years. The first one in 2022 was the inaugural face-to-face meeting, which brought together leaders from across Africa to align on a shared vision and deepen collaboration. They contributed to the design of the Locally Led Development and Humanitarian Action programme, which is known as the Localisation Lab Initiative. The Summit also deepened the region's engagement in NEAR's Governance structure, including the Leadership Council and the Change Fund Oversight Body. 

The second one in 2024, where the Africa Local Leaders Platform was launched in March 2024 in Nairobi, made a significant milestone in advancing locally led action across the continent and for the NEAR movement in the region with opening many opportunities for the membership to effectively engage with the Network. During the convening, NEAR kick started the deliberations of the Strategic Plan 2024–2026 from the Africa Summit 2024 where Africa leaders had the opportunity to co-create and develop a common understanding of NEAR’s strategic priorities as well , exploring how members could collectively contribute to its implementation and lead to specific areas of work.

The Africa Summit in Lagos 2024 provided an opportunity to delve into the implementation of the Localization Labs Initiative, gaining a clearer grasp of NEAR’s four foundational pillars: Movement Building, Building Bridges, Solutions, and Learning.

Participants established a clear roadmap and way forward to strengthen locally led action across the region with the launch of South Sudan Localisation Lab, and Ethiopia Localisation Lab in 2024 and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Localisation Lab and Somalia Localisation Lab in 2025. We see active movements starting in Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Liberia and many others.

This week, the Africa Local Leaders Summit is back in Nairobi. Participants drawn from 11 countries will meet from 26-28 November under the theme ‘Continuum of Localisation’. The 2025 Africa Local Leaders Summit will provide a unique opportunity to reflect on progress since Nairobi in 2023 and Lagos in 2024, experience the journey of founding labs South Sudan and Ethiopia, explore the priorities for the new labs and share regional lessons, and co-create concrete pathways to amplify collective voices and local solutions for transformative change in their receptive contexts and at the regional level.

Through sessions dedicated to revisiting past experiences, solutions, collective learning, and launching new initiatives, participants will jointly define the next phase of the localization movement in Africa. The Nairobi gathering will also showcase country-level progress, strengthen partnerships, and reaffirm the central role of African actors in shaping both the regional and global localisation agenda.

Nairobi is more than a place of cool waters, it is a field where the future of African Localisation is being sown, once again, by those who know the soil best. 

Reflections from Local Leaders

“The gap between those who control resources and those who need them is still staggering. Really thinking clearly about who your decision makers are, and if you can shift those decision makers to have greater impact has been an uphill task for many local actors. So many foundations are just talking to themselves or talking to academics; they are not actually talking to the local actors and end users who will benefit from those resources.

Despite the slow progress, effective, locally-led models for aid and development already exist e.g in Kenya we have M-Changa platform, spontaneous local philanthropy in disasters and local actors are increasingly advocating for a complete re-examination of the aid system. These models emphasize community ownership, flexible funding, and contextually relevant solutions, often proving to be quicker and more cost-efficient. The journey has shown that true localization demands not just new policies, but a fundamental change in mindset and a genuine willingness by international actors to relinquish control and trust the leadership of local CSOs in the Global South.”  -Nancy Sitima, NEAR Member, Kenya.

“My reflection is that NEAR is  a great network to achieve a localisation agenda  based to existing Localisation Impact Measurement  developed  by NEAR and used by many stakeholders. NEAR is influencing decision makers via advocacy process  and is still shifting the power to National and  Local NGOS via  existing Change Fund and  by equipping members to be delegates.  New solutions within Labs from different countries give NEAR a unique  model for Localisation ownership.” -Jonas Habimana,DRC Localization Lab Convener.

“The Ethiopian Localisation Lab stands as a testament to the strength of collaboration among local actors. Over the past year, we have built a vibrant lab grounded in shared learning, advocacy, and leadership-amplifying local voices and advocating for a more inclusive and sustainable humanitarian system.”

 My expectation:

“As we gather for the NEAR Africa Summit in Nairobi, we carry the spirit of partnership, collaboration and the lessons from our journey. This summit is a moment to reaffirm our commitment to locally led action and to push forward a collective agenda that places local and national actors at the center of decision-making and resource allocation," -Lulseged Mekonnen,Ethiopian LocaliSation Lab Convener.

Reflections from the Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Summit: United in centring communities as the heart of humanitarian action

The IV Regional Summit of the NEAR Network in Latin America and the Caribbean

//English below//

Reflexiones de la Asamblea Regional de América Latina y el Caribe: Unidos para centrar las comunidades como el corazón de la acción humanitaria

La IV Asamblea de América Latina y el Caribe de la Red NEAR se celebró en Bogotá, Colombia, los días 13 y 14 de noviembre de 2025, y reunió a 33 miembros y socios de 10 países de la región, incluidos los nuevos miembros de Ecuador y Paraguay, así como Brasil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haití, Honduras y Venezuela. La reunión proporcionó un espacio para revisar el estado de la localización en la región, compartir los avances y retos de los Laboratorios de Localización y reflexionar sobre los contextos sociales y políticos que influyen en la labor humanitaria. Nuestros anfitriones fueron tres de nuestros miembros de Colombia, los miembros fundadores del Laboratorio de Localización de Colombia: SAHED, Fundación Halü y Corpo Caminar.

Los participantes recibieron información actualizada a nivel mundial de la Red NEAR como parte de su décimo aniversario, junto con los avances de la Estrategia 2024-2026 y sus cuatro pilares: construcción de movimientos, construcción de puentes, soluciones y aprendizaje. Los representantes de los países presentaron información actualizada de sus Laboratorios, seguida de paneles con miembros de CRGR, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia y Venezuela, que debatieron sobre los esfuerzos de movilización, la cartografía de donantes y los procesos de aprendizaje emergentes.

Las sesiones interactivas y el trabajo en grupo ayudaron a identificar prioridades comunes entre los países, en particular la necesidad de fortalecer las alianzas regionales para la localización, mejorar la visibilidad del liderazgo local y promover una participación comunitaria más significativa. Colombia y Venezuela también compartieron los avances en las iniciativas de geolocalización dirigidas por los laboratorios, reafirmando la importancia de la coordinación regional para encontrar soluciones adaptadas al contexto.

Un compromiso que destaca

Quizás la reflexión más fundamentada vino de Vrinda Dar, directora de membresía de NEAR, quien fue al meollo de la cuestión sobre por qué estos esfuerzos son importantes: «Lo que más me llama la atención es la responsabilidad que cada uno de ustedes y sus organizaciones tienen con las comunidades».

Al final del día, esta responsabilidad —hacia las personas, la dignidad y la resiliencia— es el hilo conductor de todos los debates y decisiones.

Avanzar juntos

La Cumbre de América Latina y el Caribe no concluyó como un final, sino como un punto de partida para 2026. Los miembros se marcharon con energía renovada, conexiones más sólidas y un amplio acuerdo sobre la necesidad de desarrollar una hoja de ruta regional estratégica hacia 2026, centrada en el fortalecimiento del liderazgo local, el avance de la cooperación Sur-Sur y la construcción de un movimiento regional cohesionado dentro de NEAR LAC.

Testimonios

Aldrin Calixte, de Haiti Survie, de Haití, comparte: «Es un verdadero placer para mí haber participado en esta reunión sobre América Latina y el Caribe. Como saben, esta es una región donde los riesgos climáticos antropogénicos son elevados. Tomemos Haití, por ejemplo. Durante este intercambio, compartimos nuestras experiencias y creo que trabajar juntos nos permitirá alcanzar nuestro objetivo común, que es crear un mundo mejor. Además, fortalece las relaciones de trabajo dentro de la región y garantiza que el trabajo que hacemos en la región pueda compartirse con otros grupos de otras regiones. Por lo tanto, ha sido un verdadero placer estar aquí y continuaremos con el trabajo. Creo que el nuevo año 2026 será un año muy importante para la red. Por lo tanto, a nivel regional, continuaremos trabajando juntos para fortalecer esta red, que, en mi opinión, está haciendo un trabajo extraordinario».

"Llegué a la Asamblea Regional con muchas expectativas y me voy profundamente enriquecida. Escuchar las experiencias de otros países y compartir los desafíos que atravesamos en Paraguay reafirmó la importancia de articularnos más, tejer redes y fortalecer el liderazgo local. Conozco ahora a personas y organizaciones de enorme trayectoria cuyo trabajo inspira y motiva. Regreso a mi país con aprendizajes valiosos y con el compromiso de seguir impulsando plataformas y coaliciones en defensa de los derechos humanos y la participación ciudadana. A pesar de los retrocesos y las dificultades que vivimos como región, esta Asamblea me recuerda que, unidas y unidos, podemos seguir construyendo un mundo más justo, igualitario y equitativo". - Mariene Rodríguez — Semillas para la Democracia, Paraguay

"Participar en la Asamblea Regional de NEAR fue una oportunidad para compartir el trabajo que realizamos desde hace años para impulsar ciudades y comunidades más inclusivas, sostenibles, resilientes y seguras. Me llevo aprendizajes muy valiosos de los debates sobre la cooperación y sobre los desafíos que enfrentamos para avanzar en la localización de los fondos en los territorios. Este espacio también permitió reflexionar sobre cómo fortalecer nuestra resiliencia como organizaciones, sostener comunidades de aprendizaje y seguir aportando al desarrollo y bienestar de nuestros países". - Gabrielo Campo — Tandem, Ecuador

Juan Luis Vásquez, de la Asociación para la Educación y el Desarrollo (ACD) de Guatemala, comparte: «Esta experiencia nos ha sido muy útil para compartir lo que estamos haciendo en los laboratorios de cada región y, sobre todo, para compartir que en Centroamérica y Guatemala hemos comenzado a poner en marcha iniciativas en las comunidades, donde queremos dar voz y rostro a las comunidades, a los líderes comunitarios, a las mujeres, a los ancianos, que también son una fuente de conocimiento o personas que imparten sabiduría y transfieren ese conocimiento e identidad cultural a las generaciones más jóvenes, para que no se pierda su idioma, se reconozca su estructura organizativa y se les dé la voz que necesitan. Creemos que seguiremos implementando LABS en cada área y con más fuerza hacia las comunidade

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The IV Regional Summit of the NEAR Network in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) was held in Bogotá, Colombia, on 13 and 14 of November 2025, bringing together 33 members and partners from 10 countries across the region, including new members from Ecuador and Paraguay, as well as Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Venezuela. The gathering provided a space to review the state of localisation in the region, share progress and challenges from the Localisation Labs, and reflect on the social and political contexts influencing humanitarian work. Our hosts were three of our members from Colombia, the founding members of the Colombia Localisation Lab: SAHED, Fundacion Halü and Corpo Caminar.

Participants received a global update from the NEAR Network as part of its 10th anniversary, along with progress on the 2024–2026 Strategy and its four pillars: movement building, bridge building, solutions, and learning. Country representatives presented updates from their Labs, followed by panels with members from CRGR, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, and Venezuela, who discussed mobilisation efforts, donor mapping, and emerging learning processes.

Interactive sessions and group work helped identify common priorities across countries, particularly the need to strengthen regional alliances for localisation, enhance the visibility of local leadership, and promote more meaningful community participation. Colombia and Venezuela also shared progress in Lab-led geolocation initiatives, reaffirming the importance of regional coordination for context-driven solutions.

A Commitment That Stands Out

Perhaps the most grounding reflection came from Vrinda Dar, Membership Director at NEAR, who cut to the core of why these efforts matter:

“What I see that stands out most is the accountability to the communities that each of you and your organisations hold.”

At the end of the day, this accountability – to people, to dignity, to resilience – is the thread running through all the discussions and decisions.

Moving Forward Together

The LAC Summit concluded not as an ending, but as a launching point for 2026. Members left with renewed energy, stronger connections and broad agreement on the need to develop a strategic regional roadmap toward 2026 – centred on strengthening local leadership, advancing South–South cooperation, and building a cohesive regional movement within NEAR LAC.

Testimonies

Aldrin Calixte, from Haiti Survie, from Haiti, shares, “It is truly a pleasure for me to have participated in this meeting on Latin America and the Caribbean. As you know, this is a region where anthropogenic climate risks are high. Take Haiti, for example. During this exchange, we shared our experiences, and I believe that working together will enable us to achieve our common goal, which is to create a better world. It also strengthens working relationships within the region and ensures that the work we do in the region can be shared with other groups in other regions. So, it has been a real pleasure to be here, and we will continue the work. I believe that the new year 2026 will be a very important year for the network. So, at the regional level, we will continue to work together to strengthen this network, which, in my opinion, is doing extraordinary work.”

"I arrived at the Regional Assembly with many expectations, and I am leaving deeply enriched. Hearing the experiences from other countries and sharing the challenges we face in Paraguay reaffirmed the importance of strengthening our coordination, building networks, and promoting local leadership. I met inspiring people and organizations with remarkable experience and commitment. I return home with valuable lessons and a renewed drive to continue advancing platforms and coalitions that defend human rights and citizen participation. Despite the setbacks and difficulties we face as a region, this Assembly reminds me that—together, across countries and organizations—we can keep building a more just, equal, and equitable world." -Mariene Rodríguez — Semillas para la Democracia, Paraguay

"Participating in the NEAR Regional Assembly was an opportunity to share the work we have been doing for years to promote more inclusive, sustainable, resilient, and safe cities and communities. I am leaving with valuable insights from the debates on international cooperation and the challenges we face in advancing the localization of funding in our territories. This space also allowed us to reflect on how organizations can strengthen their resilience, sustain learning communities, and continue contributing to the development and well-being of our countries." - Gabriel Ocampo, Tandem, Ecuador

Juan Luis Vásquez, from Association for Education and Development (ACD) in Guatemala shares, “This experience has been very useful for us to share what we are doing in the laboratories in each region, and especially to share that in Central America and Guatemala we have been starting to have initiatives in the communities, where we want to give a voice and a face to the communities, to community leaders, to women, to the elderly, who are also a source of knowledge or people who impart wisdom and transfer that knowledge and cultural identity to the younger generation, so that their language is not lost, their organisational structure is recognised, and they are given the voice they need. We believe that we will continue to implement LABS in each area and with more power towards the communities.”

“We know that the people are in need:” Stopping at nothing to serve flood survivors in Afghanistan

Caption: Labourers in the Citizens Organization for Advocacy and Resilience (COAR) cash-for-work programme in Baghlan province, Afghanistan. Credit: COAR  

“We know that the people are in need:” Stopping at nothing to serve flood survivors in Afghanistan

When flash floods hit Afghanistan’s Baghlan province in 2024, damaging homes and washing out roads and farms, Citizens Organization for Advocacy and Resilience (COAR) was ready to support the thousands of people affected. These communities were already enduring food shortages, an economic crisis and a lack of public services—needs were high. 

As a vetted NEAR member, COAR applied for a Change Fund grant to launch a response. COAR’s application was approved, and the first installment of funding was received within 14 days. 

Drawing on experience as a national NGO in Afghanistan since 1989, COAR started its emergency response with a cash-for-work programme to repair roads, canals and other critical infrastructure that the floods had destroyed.  

But as the organisation waited for the second installment of the Change Fund grant, international sanctions tested COAR. Restrictions caused by the sanctions affect NGOs across Afghanistan, making flexible donor support and trust even more essential. 

Sameera Noori is COAR’s Executive Director. She reflects on the challenge of receiving the second fund transfer from the Change Fund in her own words: 

“There was a major delay for the Baghlan province flood response. This was because of the sanctions on Afghanistan. Many of the interconnected banks were also having issues transferring from one bank to another and then to Afghanistan.  

It was really difficult for us to convince the labourers, convince the community, especially the provincial authorities. We discussed it with the community, and we convinced them that we are working here for the long term. We have an office. We are not an organisation that was newly established. 

For the local communities and local authorities, they said because you have already implemented a number of other projects, we are trusting you. But still, you have to bring a permission letter from the Ministry side, from the HQ level from Kabul. 

So we went there to the Ministry of Economy. We discussed with them as well. And after one month, again, we didn't receive the installment.  

Twice or thrice in a week, our management committee was present in the Ministry of Economy. We regularly engaged with them to clarify the situation and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the project. We know that the people are in need. But it's not about our donor. It's not about our trust. It's all about the sanctions. So this process took at least three months. 

We had the support of NEAR, and we are thankful for all the support, for all their struggle, and also what we did at the community level. At each level, we tried our best.  

It was challenging to reassure the community and the local authorities because most of the people working in the government are not familiar with the technical aspects of humanitarian response. 

The last time we had a meeting with the Ministry of Economy, they informed us that without a resolution soon, our operations could be impacted. They encouraged us to resolve the matter promptly.  

Then we had to figure out a temporary financing arrangement to avoid halting activities. We had to take a loan from a money dealer because as a national NGO, we don't have any core funds. So we restarted our operation, and we just took a loan. Fortunately, by the end of that week, we started our operation again, and then we also received the installment after lots of struggle.” 

Amid disaster and conflict, local and national organisations are serving their communities every day. They understand their communities’ needs and are accountable to them — no matter what.  

But with rigid rules, risk aversion, donors’ lack of trust and bureaucracy, the traditional humanitarian aid system falls short. It doesn’t meet the most committed and effective organisations where they are.  

The Change Fund was created to support local leaders. To value their expertise, trust their work, and invest in their solutions. Since the Fund was launched in 2022, COAR and other Change Fund grantees continuously prove that they are deserving of the system’s trust — and its flexible and direct funding.  

The Change Fund is continually exploring, learning and evolving to get funds to local and national organisations across the Global South faster and more effectively. 

The broader aid system needs to do the same. We must support local and national organisations by operating from a position of trust, removing funding restrictions, and taking locally led approaches tailored to the resilient organisations that would do anything to deliver for their communities. 

The world needs locally led emergency response

The world needs locally led emergency response 

Here’s how the Change Fund is fueling the aid system's most effective local interventions  

Kaseyni is a port town on the shores of Lake Albert, one of Africa’s largest lakes. Across the water from Uganda in this area of Ituri province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), rivers stocked with fish stripe the landscape. The soil is the colour of the Robusta coffee that’s grown there. Rolling green hills mark the horizon. 

For decades, conflict has also marked Ituri province, affecting Kaseyni and millions of people in eastern DRC. 

“We have been living the crisis for a long time,” says Jonas Habimana, a self-described proud Congolese. 

“For many more than 20 years, the province has been affected by armed conflict with many displaced people. There are many people who have been living displacement for 10, 15, 20 years,” he says. 

As the conflict shifts and reignites, more communities are uprooted or repeatedly displaced. 

Jonas co-founded Bureau d’Informations, Formations, Echanges et Recherches pour le Développement, or BIFERD, in 2004 to support people affected by conflict and crises across the DRC. 

As the organisation’s Executive Director, Jonas sees overwhelming needs in communities and the distressing numbers that explain the situation. Across the DRC, 27 million people are in urgent need of aid in one of the world’s most complex and protracted humanitarian crises. 

Without access to clean water and sanitation, children contract preventable diseases like cholera and mpox. Families endure days without enough food. Schools crumble, becoming casualties of the conflict that has killed approximately 6 million people, with 7,000 deaths in 2025 alone.  

In Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, and other areas in eastern DRC, violence has displaced more than 7.3 million people. 

“Our presence was like an opportunity, because when IRC, Mercy Corps, OXFAM, IOM, Trócaire and those funders were ending their programmes, the attacks and conflict in the zones around had been registered, and many people had also been displaced in this period,” Jonas says. “We arrived in the zone while no NGOs were there responding.”  

That’s why Jonas and his team flagged the situation as a crisis to NEAR’s Change Fund and rushed to respond to the escalating needs. 

Within 72 hours of the Change Fund acknowledging Jonas’ warning and declaring it a crisis, BIFERD applied for a Change Fund grant to launch a response. 

Once a crisis is declared and pre-approved NEAR members apply for a grant to respond, the Change Fund’s locally led Oversight Body reviews the applications and awards a grant within days. 

Jonas says that timeline is unheard of among other funds. 

“For example, here in DRC, the pooled fund can activate a crisis, and the people can be applying, but the feedback will be coming sometimes one month, two months, three months after, when the situation has changed and when people have been seriously suffering,” Jonas explains. 

Forty-eight hours after BIFERD submitted its grant application to the Change Fund, it was approved. 

And within 14 days of the crisis declaration, BIFERD was distributing life-saving supplies in Ituri and surrounding areas in eastern DRC. 

Poised to respond 

With 1,500 hygiene kits, jerrycans for water, and menstrual supplies, BIFERD initiated its support to individuals and families displaced by the fighting. The team fixed water systems, built latrines and distributed Plumpy’Nut to children suffering from malnutrition. Blankets, cooking supplies and clothes went to people who fled their homes and took refuge in camps for the internally displaced.  

Caption: A water supply system BIFERD’s team installed during their response in eastern DRC. Credit: BIFERD  

When BIFERD’s team saw students trying to learn outside because their schools had been demolished, they extended their efforts to rehabilitating the buildings and providing books. 

As a national organisation, BIFERD had focal points in Ituri. It could rapidly assess needs and respond. BIFERD used its team and sourced supplies from trusted vendors who were based in the area and familiar with emergency response. 

Although large international organisations were working across the DRC, that wasn’t enough. 

“The presence of organisations is an issue, but also covering existing gaps is another issue,” Jonas says. “We have many NGOs at the country level, but depending on how big the crisis is, the needs are still very high — higher than the actual response in this context.” 

And as conflicts flare around the world, Jonas wonders how aid donors will continue to respond to the DRC. 

“Why? It’s like DRC is a forgotten crisis,” Jonas says, exasperated. “And Ituri province is really a forgotten province where there are many needs in terms of humanitarian assistance.” 

Funding follows trust 

The problem that Jonas raises is well-known within the humanitarian sector: soaring needs, dwindling funding, and chronic delays in getting what resources are available to the people most affected. 

Local and national organisations, which are in the area when emergencies hit and remain after international organisations shift their support to other crises, receive a minuscule portion of global aid funding.  

Across the humanitarian system, only 3.6% of all funding went directly to local and national organisations in 2024, according to data from the Global Humanitarian Assistance Report.  

These organisations are falsely labeled as “risky,” “lacking capacity,” and “unable to deliver.” In short, the traditional aid system withholds its trust from them. 

Extensive donor requirements make it difficult for local and national organisations to apply for and receive funding. International organisations are better positioned to secure traditional grants, but their responses drain large portions of the funding before it reaches communities and add layers of complexity. 

And that drastically delays emergency interventions. 

The time from crisis declaration to response in the current aid system can vary widely. It can take several weeks to several months to mobilise resources and implement a response. That’s in an emergency, when the stakes are measured by people’s lives. 

A better way 

BIFERD’s response — and the emergency interventions of 29 Change Fund grantees across the world’s most complex crises — counter the traditional aid system’s lengthy approach of centralised, top-down funding. Their responses prove that localising humanitarian aid is possible. And more efficient. And more effective. 

In 2022, NEAR, supported by some of its 300 members from across the Global South, launched the Change Fund. It was intentionally designed to challenge the ideas that local organisations can’t be trusted to lead responses and can’t be funded quickly or directly. 

"We wanted to foster a funding ecosystem that is responsive, adaptable, and equitable, ensuring power and decision-making are localised,” says Falastin Omar, NEAR’s Change Fund Manager. 

The Change Fund’s peer-to-peer grantmaking system, governed by an elected Oversight Body of NEAR members, makes that a reality. From crisis declaration to grant approval, Oversight Body members draw on experiences rooted in their work in Global South communities. Those perspectives are critical in approving grants that will be impactful and sustainable for the implementing organisations. 

One example: the Centre for Peace and Democracy in Somalia applied for a Change Fund grant, but the proposal didn’t account for sufficient overhead costs. The Oversight Body responded by inviting them to factor that into their budget and revise their application.  

“What happens is that most often, civil society organisations are conditioned to just implement,” Oversight Body member for Africa Naomi Tulay-Solanke says. “So we forget about sustainability. We forget about even our own organisation and our own members, how they have to survive.”  

Prioritising those members and organisations is the foundation of the Change Fund. 

"For the very first time ever in my work experience, I came across a very unique financial solution that is only for the local/national organisations,” says Sumera Javeed, an Oversight Body member for the Asia-Pacific region. “There isn't any hybrid model. There isn't any long and lengthy requirements for the funds disbursement.” 

The Change Fund’s application and reporting processes are intentionally simple. And flexibility is a key component of the grants. They are unrestricted, allowing organisations to update their responses based on real-time changes in the emergency. 

"Flexibility leads to quality,” Falastin says. “That flexibility allows you to reimagine what's possible. You're not going to achieve quality funding if you're inflexible from the get-go." 

The future of aid 

Through its three-month emergency response, BIFERD reached more than 104,000 people in eastern DRC, exceeding its goal to support 17,000 people by more than 500%. 

BIFERD’s widespread impact is more of a rule for Change Fund grantees than an exception.  

"Ninety-nine if not 100% of them supported more people in the end than they committed to,” says Hibak Kalfan, NEAR’s Executive Director.  

“It's the flexibility of the grant that has empowered them to be able to support as many people as possible." -Hibak Kalfan, NEAR’s Executive Director 

The results from Change Fund grantees refute claims that local and national organisations cannot manage successful, cost-effective programmes. 

“The impact we have been making is because, as a national organisation, we are using local people, and the bureaucracy is very low,” Jonas says of BIFERD’s extensive reach.  

And at least 70% of BIFERD’s funding goes directly to the communities it serves.  

“It's an added value,” Jonas says.  

For Hibak, real change in the humanitarian aid sector would mean recognising that added value by believing and investing in local organisations. 

"As a system, we stop leading with internationally led solutions, and we start leading with locally led solutions,” Hibak says, outlining her vision. “To me, that's the marker of us being more sustainable and us being more successful."  

From ‘ego-systems’ to ‘ecosystems’: renewing humanitarian action

By the Advisory Panel on Humanitarian Action

The Advisory Panel on Humanitarian Action has been established by NEAR and ODI Global to provide donors, governments and humanitarian organisations with strategic proposals and advice on what change is required at this inflection point for humanitarian action. The panel is made up of individuals with expertise from a wide range of organisational backgrounds and perspectives, contributing as independent experts rather than representatives of their institutions. This paper sets out initial proposals that the panel believes should shape the choices now facing donors, governments and humanitarian organisations.

The Advisory Panel on the Future of Humanitarian Action – co-hosted by NEAR and ODI – has released, From Ego-systems to Ecosystems: Renewing Humanitarian Action. 

The paper challenges a system that too often serves itself rather than the people it’s meant to serve. It calls for ecosystems of solidarity – locally-led and internationally-supported networks built on trust, equity, and shared purpose.  

This isn’t another reform plan. It’s a call for political courage and collective leadership from across the humanitarian community – and an invitation to rethink how action is led and supported. 

Read full paper here.

Change Fund Principles in Action: Locally led: The story of CDP Foundation and partners in the Philippines

Change Fund Principles in Action: Locally led: The story of CDP Foundation and partners in the Philippines 

Join us as we continue our series of impact stories from NEAR’s Flagship Solution: The Change Fund, highlighting five of the Fund's Principles: Swift, Trust-based, Locally led, Context Sensitive + Flexible, Accountable + Always Learning. Our next story is about our member, Center for Disaster Preparedness Foundation (CDP), in the Philippines, exemplifying the Change Fund being Locally Led as principles in practice. 

When the Center for Disaster Preparedness Foundation (CDP) in the Philippines applied for a Change Fund grant to respond to Typhoon Gaemi and the Southwest Monsoon, communities there were already weary from disaster.  

CDP’s grant was approved, and the organisation started supporting affected areas within weeks. By then, the Philippines had been hit by six more typhoons. 

“It's becoming the norm that the Southwest Monsoon is there, and then it will be exacerbated by several tropical cyclones,” Loreine Dela Cruz, CDP’s Executive Director, says, acknowledging the impact of climate risk in the Philippines. 

For the past three years, the Philippines has ranked the highest on the WorldRiskIndex, a global assessment of disaster risk from extreme natural events and climate impacts. 

By forming a consortium of four community-based organisations, CDP launched a response to Typhoon Gaemi and the Southwest Monsoon rooted in local knowledge and leadership. 

They worked in diverse regions, from Metro Manila's urban communities and coastal areas in Bataan to Bangsamoro in the south. Each partner brought a deep understanding of their context.  

"Local actors know their communities best,” says Eena Geslaine Barrun, CDP’s Anticipatory and Humanitarian Action Team Manager. “They understand the nuances, the risks, the histories and the relationships that outsiders often miss." 

Unlike traditional humanitarian responses, each organisation in the consortium had equal decision-making power, collaboratively designing strategies from proposal to implementation. 

Key to their approach was empowering communities with microgrants for their own solutions. In Quezon City, women challenged gender norms by leading efforts to rebuild walkways and bridges. Other communities cleared drains and continued maintaining them together. 

And the response went beyond immediate relief. Community members were trained to offer psychosocial support to their neighbors. Fishing and farming families developed disaster preparedness plans. In every stage, the communities actively lead their response. 

The Change Fund's support played a crucial role, allowing flexibility that traditional donors don’t. Loreine says, independently, CDP’s response would have been limited. 

But through collaborative, community-based actions, the impacts on more than 26,000 people across the Philippines show that even the most complex disaster responses should start with the people living through them. 

The Change Fund supports local leaders like Loreine and Eena, strengthens local organisations like CDP, and ensures resources for crisis-affected communities. 

Salam, Localisation and Zurt: The Ethiopian Localization Lab Showcase

Salam, Localisation and Zurt: The Ethiopian Localization Lab Showcase 

by Eric Onyango, Africa Regional Representative

On 29 October 2025, the Ethiopian Localization Lab (ELL) convened a vibrant Innovation Showcase and Networking Event with 20 members at the Tolip Olympia Hotel in Addis Ababa. The half-day event brought together members of ELL, local civil society organisations, and partners to celebrate achievements in localisation, exchange innovative practices, and strengthen collaborative networks.

The day began with registration and informal networking, allowing participants to connect before the official proceedings. Mr. Lulseged Mekonnen, AISDA’s Executive Director, and ELL Convenor, the welcomed attendees with opening remarks and invited me to address the attendees, setting the tone for a day of learning, sharing, and collaboration.

ELL members introduced their organisations, each highlighting their role in promoting localisation across Ethiopia. This session fostered understanding of the diversity and strengths within the Lab, creating a platform for shared learning.

The ELL brings together a diverse group of local organisations driving impactful, community-rooted change across the country. Their work spans humanitarian response, education, gender equality, youth empowerment, WASH, and livelihoods, reaching thousands of households nationwide. Members such as HRO Ethiopia lead multi-partner initiatives on gender and youth, while others champion women’s empowerment and address pastoralist challenges through education, peacebuilding, and social accountability. One of the lab members supports over 140 community-based organisations, operate across seven regions, and respond to the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by conflict and drought through livelihood recovery, livestock feeding, and food assistance. With a strong focus on research, policy engagement, disability inclusion, and environmental protection, several Lab members also have cross-border experience in Kenya, Oromia, and Somalia, advancing social cohesion, intercommunity peace, and resilience. Together, these organisations exemplify the strength and innovation of local actors leading Ethiopia’s localisation movement.

AISDA presented the ELL Journey, highlighting key localisation pillars, successes, challenges, and emerging opportunities. This presentation provided valuable context for participants, illustrating how ELL has been advancing local leadership, decision-making, and capacity-building in humanitarian and development efforts.

The Innovation Showcase allowed volunteer ELL members to present their field experiences and innovative approaches to localisation. These presentations offered practical insights, demonstrating how local actors are shaping solutions that are contextually relevant, sustainable, and impactful.

A lively interactive discussion followed, focusing on “Building Bridges for Sustainable Localisation and their Challenges”. Participants explored strategies to strengthen collaboration, improve resource access, and tackle systemic barriers, ensuring that local voices drive decision-making in humanitarian action.

The event concluded with a Networking and Collaboration Session, where members explored partnerships and potential joint initiatives. Closing reflections summarized key takeaways and outlined actionable next steps, reinforcing ELL’s commitment to fostering a cohesive and impactful network of local actors.

The ELL Innovation Showcase underscored the transformative potential of localisation when local organisations are empowered, connected, and supported. Through continued collaboration, learning, and innovation, ELL members are advancing a vision of sustainable, locally led development across Ethiopia.

To crown the visit, I was treated to an authentic Ethiopian experience — a traditional meal known as “Kurt”, which is raw beef delicately seasoned and shared among friends. In Ethiopian culture, sharing Kurt is more than just a meal; it is a symbol of respect, friendship, and unity. Serving raw meat to a guest signifies high honor and hospitality, while eating together from a shared platter reinforces trust and social bonds. Traditionally reserved for special occasions, holidays, or important gatherings, it was a fitting conclusion to a meaningful week, marking my first engagement with the Ethiopian Localization Lab.

NEAR at Peace Connect: Weaving Solidarity Across Continents

NEAR at Peace Connect: Weaving Solidarity Across Continents

By Wejdan Jarrah, NEAR’s Regional Representative for MENA and Advisory Group Member of Peace Connect

From 13 to 17 October 2025, Nairobi, Kenya hosted Peace Connect, an inaugural gathering that brought together 540 peacebuilders from 85 nations. It was a sanctuary of hope, focussed on building community, sharing deeply personal stories of resilience, and reimagining what locally-led peace truly means. NEAR was not merely a participant but a co-architect, playing a key role within the Advisory Group. The event brilliantly prioritised transnational solidarity, psychosocial care, and the amplification of voices from the Global South. It was an experience both monumental and deeply intimate.

What emerged from those five days felt like the birth of a movement. Vrinda Dar, NEAR's Membership Director, reminded us that NEAR is a movement of local leaders committed to a fair, inclusive, equitable, dignified, and truly locally-led aid system. Her words highlighted the critical role NEAR members play in transforming the aid eco-system by empowering local agency and shifting power, resources, and decision-making to those closest to the world's most pressing challenges. This inspiring message was immediately followed by powerful testimonies that truly cracked open hearts, vividly bringing to life the profound urgency and unwavering spirit of locally-led peace.

Among these powerful voices, several resonated deeply:

• Sameera Noori from the Afghanistan Localisation Lab articulated the vital importance of resources reaching local communities, highlighting how grassroots efforts sustain hope.

• Luate, a peacebuilder from South Sudan, shared moving insights on fostering reconciliation through human connection and empathy.

• Mahmoud Hamada from the Palestine Localisation Lab offered a poignant perspective on peacebuilding under occupation, stressing the imperative for international actors to empower local expertise.

• Faith Chelangat Tonui, an advocate for Women and Youth, Peace and Security in Kenya, compellingly argued for the central role of women's and young people’s leadership in all peace processes.

• María Rudecinda Orellana from El Salvador brought a powerful Central American perspective, focusing on restorative justice and community healing driven by local wisdom.

The urgency of locally-led action was further underscored by frontline testimonies, perhaps none more impactful than that of Amjad Shawa, a leader  from Gaza. His searing account detailed the daily struggle for survival and the immense courage of local aid workers.

"In Gaza," Shawa declared, "our communities are not just surviving; they are fiercely creating life, innovating peace, and demonstrating resilience every single day. We are the first responders, and we hold the solutions." It was a powerful, undeniable call to action.

These diverse narratives became the beating heart of Peace Connect, affirming that true transformation begins with amplifying those closest to the challenges. The movement for locally-led peace is deeply human, driven by courage, profound insight, and an unwavering commitment to building lasting change from the ground up. It was an honor to witness.

What Peace Connect Achieved

Peace Connect emerged as a profound space for solidarity. In this haven, peacebuilders from regions scarred by conflict, like Gaza and Sudan, found a shared heartbeat and a collective yearning for peace. The trauma-informed design, complete with quiet wellness corners, created a safe environment, fostering deep reflection on healing, resilience, and the power of local wisdom. It was truly a space where everyone could breathe and just *be*.

A deeply impactful theme throughout the event was the profound importance of internal strength and locally-driven solutions. Luate, a peacebuilder from South Sudan, eloquently articulated this truth after powerful testimonies from Dr. Abdulhamed (Sudan), Zahra (Sudan), and Mrs. Rand (Palestine): "peace begins within us, and that forgiveness and resilience are the strongest tools we have to rebuild our communities." This sentiment was palpable, especially as Mrs. Rand shared her poignant story of Palestinian resilience, illustrating how joy and strength can emanate from within, even amidst unimaginable hardship, inspiring community rebuilding.

These discussions naturally extended to the urgent emphasis on mental health and the invaluable role of cultural practices in healing. It became clear that while external aid is vital, the most profound and sustainable forms of recovery often blossom from indigenous practices and an empathetic understanding of psychological well-being. This perspective marked a significant shift, acknowledging the deep trauma experienced by communities and highlighting the necessity of embedding holistic care into every peacebuilding strategy.

Over five intense days, the collective experiences and sharp insights shared by leaders like Faith Chelangat Tonui (Kenya), María Rudecinda Orellana (El Salvador), Sameera Noori (Afghanistan), and Mahmoud Hamada (Palestine) offered a powerful, living roadmap for sustainable peacebuilding. These key learnings profoundly transformed my understanding of the challenges and opportunities for peace:

• Advancing Localised WPS Agendas: Faith Chelangat Tonui passionately championed co-creating Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace and Security (YPS)  initiatives deeply rooted in local contexts, moving beyond "one-size-fits-all" approaches to truly empower women and the youth  in peace processes.

• Addressing Invisible Violence and Healing Traumas: María Rudecinda Orellana drew critical attention to the often-overlooked "invisible violence" impacting post-war societies, emphasising the urgent need for comprehensive healing and restorative justice for lasting peace.

• Building Sustainable WPS Movements from the Ground Up: Sameera Noori underscored that future WPS movements must amplify local voices, dismantle structural barriers, and unequivocally center women's agency, drawing vital lessons from Afghanistan.

• Catalysing a Shift in Power to Local Actors: Mahmoud Hamada powerfully articulated that united local voices can effectively pressure international and funding agencies for fairer partnerships, decisively shifting power and resources directly to communities. This was reinforced by Luate's observations on self-sufficiency models, like Ritah's agricultural center in Nepal, demonstrating how local efforts can define success and reimagine aid.

Peace Connect was far more than a conference; it was a powerful affirmation for all 540 peacebuilders, reminding us that we are not alone. It was a unique space where laughter mingled with tears, strategies were honed, and dreams of a more just future were collectively envisioned. NEAR's unwavering commitment, woven into the event's fabric, reinforced the movement's dedication to dignity, solidarity, and the belief that solutions reside closest to the problem. We returned with renewed hope and the profound knowledge that a global community stands ready to champion building peace from the ground up, ensuring lasting transformation and impact for everyone.

Change Fund Principles in Action: Accountable + Always Learning: The story of Haiti Survie in Haiti

Change Fund Principles in Action: Accountable + Always Learning: The story of Haiti Survie in Haiti

Join us as we continue with our series of impact stories from NEAR’s Flagship Solution: The Change Fund, highlighting five of the Fund's Principles: Swift, Trust-based, Locally led, Context Sensitive + Flexible, Accountable + Always Learning. Our fourth story is about our member, Haïti Survie, in Haiti, exemplifying the Change Fund being Accountable + Always Learning as principles in practice.

If your efforts to help people get basic supplies are under attack, how do you continue? 

Workers with the local organisation Haiti Survie regularly ask themselves that question. Co-founder Aldrin Calixte and his team find ways to continue assisting communities caught up in violence in Haiti’s capital despite dangerous conditions.  

From February to March 2025, violence in Haiti escalated and set a sobering record: 60,000 people were forced to flee within a month. 

For individuals and families who’d been uprooted, the Lycée des Jeunes Filles was a safe zone to take refuge, drink water, and rest. Until it wasn’t. 

The area came under attack several times, and the people Haiti Survie was supporting there were sent onto the streets again, seeking safety. 

The situation is risky, not only for community members, but also for the Haiti Survie team. Each time team members go to work in those areas, they conduct a quick assessment. Real-time evaluation and adaptation are a constant part of their response. 

Even when people move from one of their sites, Haiti Survie works to find them and continues providing support. 

“Accountability, for us, is one of our policies,” Aldrin says. “We have to be accountable to those persons, because we work for them." 

Keeping communities informed about activities from the start of an emergency response through all stages of support is how they build community capacity and prioritise each person’s dignity. 

With those commitments in mind, Haiti Survie reached more than 3,800 people with water and hygiene interventions, cash transfers, psychosocial support, and other assistance during a five-month project launched with a Change Fund grant. 

In the world’s most challenging humanitarian crises, community-based support is critical. People need local organisations that will continue their work even when the situation worsens. And those organisations need flexibility to carry out the most effective responses. 

The Change Fund supports local leaders like Aldrin, strengthens local organisations like Haiti Survie, and ensures resources for crisis-affected communities. 

External Blog: Making the Case for Locally Led Cash – Again

This article originally appears on Conrad N. Hilton Foundation website here: https://www.hiltonfoundation.org/news/making-the-case-for-locally-led-cash-again/

22 October 2025

by Barri Shorey, Senior, Senior Program Officer, Refugees, Disasters and Aviation

Photo credit Hilton Foundation website. Caption: (From left to right): Cate Turton, Director, CALP; Jan Egeland, Secretary General, Norwegian Refugee Council; Loreine dela Cruz, Executive Director, Center for Disaster Preparedness and NEAR network member; Barri Shorey, Senior Program Officer Refugees initiative and Disasters; Kate Phillips-Barrasso, Vice President for Global Policy and Advocacy, Mercy Corps; Alice Armanni Sequi, Chief, OCHA Pooled Fund Management Branch; Tara Soomro, Ambassador to ECOSOC, UK FCDO.

The Urgency of Centering Locally Led Cash Assistance in Humanitarian Response

The humanitarian sector has been making the case for cash aid for decades. Civil servants, researchers, international non-government organizations (INGOs) and local communities have built credible evidence to show the efficiency and effectiveness of direct cash assistance. But this time, the case we’re making is concerted and urgent. If the humanitarian system as we know it is to reset, then there has never been a better time to center locally led cash.

….

Evidence-Based Cash Aid: Efficiency Through Local Action

Cash is more efficient and effective, especially when it is locally led. With Official Development Assistance slashed, there is increasing pressure for funders and nonprofits to do more with less. Where philanthropy likes to be innovative and catalytic in their approach, the research shows the best steward in crisis is cash. 

In 2023, cash assistance made up 85% of humanitarian funding delivered by U.N. agencies and INGOs—a clear sign the development sector recognizes its value. Yet national and local actors, who are closest to the crises, received just 2% of that funding.

Through our Disaster Relief and Recovery program, we support NEAR’s Change Fund, and through our Partnerships team, we fund their Localisation Labs. Both initiatives are designed to shift power and resources to local responders—those best positioned to act quickly and effectively in times of crisis. The Change Fund has built an impressive track record, with local organizations leading response and recovery efforts in some of the world’s most complex emergencies. You can explore their stories on NEAR’s blog—most recently, Local responders lead recovery after Cyclone Remal and floods in Bangladesh by Falastin Omar.

…

Read full article here.

Change Fund Principles in Action: Context Sensitive + Flexible: The Story of SAHED, Colombia

Change Fund Principles in Action: Context Sensitive + Flexible: The Story of SAHED, Colombia 

Join us for the next few weeks on a series of impact stories from NEAR’s Flagship Solution: The Change Fund, highlighting five of the Fund's Principles: Swift, Trust-based, Locally led, Context Sensitive + Flexible, Accountable + Always Learning. Our third story is about our member, Fundación para el Saneamiento, Ambiente, Emprendimiento y Desarrollo Sostenible (SAHED), in Colombia, exemplifying the Change Fund being Context Sensitive + Flexible as principles in practice.

In territories of Colombia’s Bajo Atrato, people in municipalities like Carmen del Darién, Istmina, and Murindó live at a crossroads between natural riches and complex structural violence. 

Armed groups such as the ELN and the Clan del Golfo dispute this territory and create serious impacts: violence, forced displacements and family confinements.  

The presence of armed groups limits mobility and rights. Protections for the environment are weak. And daily life is coloured by uncertainty and fear. 

For local organisation Fundación para Saneamiento, Ambiente, Higiene Emprendimiento y Desarrollo Sostenible, SAHED, these are only some of the considerations that influence its work. 

SAHED also factors in cultural diversity, local knowledge, and the unique dynamics of the territories in its humanitarian responses. 

When floods swept through the area, accessing clean water and protecting children from dengue and diarrhea – amid the conflict – became urgent. 

SAHED knew that working with these communities required cultural sensitivity, flexibility, and a deep territorial understanding.  

“Our goal is not to intervene from outside, but to build with communities, with respect, with dialogue, and with a deep ethical commitment,” SAHED Director Jorge Cardenas De La Ossa says.  

So the first step was to listen. Through community meetings, house visits, and social mapping exercises, the SAHED team learned about what was lacking, like aqueducts and health services. And they also learned about the community’s dreams and priorities. 

That intentional listening laid the groundwork for SAHED to serve more than 8,900 community members with water, sanitation and hygiene resources. 

From the moment SAHED received the Change Fund grant, Jorge recognised the fund’s understanding of the Colombian context. That allowed SAHED to support communities in the ways it had learned.

“We had room to adapt the timeline and strategically redirect resources in response to changes in the security situation,” Jorge says.  

When working in areas where illegal armed groups are active, SAHED adjusted routes and schedules to guarantee the team’s safety and continue serving the community. The unrestricted Change Fund grant didn’t complicate those decisions with additional requirements. 

In communities braving insecurity, that flexibility makes support possible. 

The Change Fund supports local leaders like Jorge, strengthens local organisations like SAHED, and ensures resources for crisis-affected communities. 

The Grand Bargain Annual Meeting: What happened, and where do we go from here?

The Grand Bargain Annual Meeting: What happened, and where do we go from here?  

By Brianna Guidorzi 

Last week, the Grand Bargain Annual Meeting was held in Geneva, Switzerland. NEAR was there with representatives from our Secretariat and our members who co-lead National Reference Groups. These are some of our reflections on the week and where we go as the Grand Bargain enters its tenth year.  See also NEAR’s Statement: Under pressure: The Grand Bargain 3.0’s final year of implementation and future. 

National Reference Group (NRG) Workshop before the Grand Bargain Annual Meeting

This time last week, Principals were sharing official statements on the future of the Grand Bargain. While there were some sceptical and dissenting voices, what emerged was that the large majority of Grand Bargain Signatories want to see the Grand Bargain continue – but with significant changes to its makeup, prioritisation, and even its name. The question now is: Where do we go from here?  

The “boost” one year on: Recognition that the National Reference Groups are critical to the future of the Grand Bargain 

In Geneva, we heard directly from representatives of the seven “Priority” NRGs – across Colombia, Myanmar, the Philippines, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Lebanon, and Ukraine. NRGs shared their progress from the last year while also making their challenges and asks clear: the NRGs need more and deeper engagement with Signatories at the country levels, to bridge the gap between global rhetoric and country level realities. They also called for support to other NRGs beyond the seven priority contexts, as well as the need to bring these NRG representatives to next year’s Annual Meeting. In the words of Barbara Dätwyler Scheuer from the Swiss Development Cooperation, “NRGs should be the heart, backbone, and grain of the Grand Bargain”.  

This sentiment was reflected in the Principals Segment, where many Signatories – particularly donor governments, but also a handful of INGOs – spoke to how NRGs bring decision-making closer to crises, play a vital role in accountability, and that their role should be central to the Grand Bargain moving forward.  

Let’s act on the call for greater inclusion   

The unique makeup of the Grand Bargain – bringing together local civil society, donors, UN agencies, INGOs, and Red Cross/Red Crescent – is evoked repeatedly. It remains a point of pride among Signatories, despite slow and incremental progress with commitments over the last nine years. But, as NEAR has long advocated for, the Grand Bargain should – and will need to be – more inclusive to remain relevant into the future.  

In addition to calls to deepening the role and representation of the NRGs, as well as local civil society more broadly, Signatories tabled inclusion of the wider system beyond those in the room: Global South governments, emerging donors, private sector, diaspora, and development actors. As one Principal mentioned, inviting in other actors to step up may mean that current actors need to create space and step back.    

The work ahead: NEAR re-enters the Facilitation Group  

While there was an overall signalling that the Grand Bargain should transform rather than come to a close, many questions remain unanswered: How can the space evolve to have the right set of actors as the sector undergoes significant changes – while also ensuring that the Grand Bargain becomes more focussed (as Signatories have called for) and delivers better on its commitments? Amidst other reform processes, can the Grand Bargain catalyse something deeper? And will the endorsements for NRGs translate to the necessary political and financial supports for them to play a successful role in accountability?  

NEAR will now move into the Facilitation Group, the main coordination and steering body of the Grand Bargain. As the Global South and NRG Champion within that group, we look forward to answering those challenging questions, to contribute to shaping the future of the Grand Bargain.  

When the waters rise, so do we: Local responders lead recovery after Cyclone Remal and floods in Bangladesh

When the waters rise, so do we: Local responders lead recovery after Cyclone Remal and floods in Bangladesh 

 By Falastin Omar, Change Fund Manager at NEAR

When Cyclone Remal struck Bangladesh’s southwest coast in May 2024, winds and storm surges tore through 20 districts, damaging homes, embankments, and schools, and displacing millions. Weeks later, floods inundated Noakhali, Feni, and Cumilla, compounding losses for communities still recovering. 

The NEAR Change Fund responded to both crises, activating two locally led consortia that together reached more than 43,000 people across the country’s most climate-vulnerable districts. 

Locally led from start to finish 

For the Cyclone Remal response, Dwip Unnayan Songstha (DUS) led a consortium: Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), Rupantar, Jago Nari, SANGRAM, and Society Development Agency (SDA).  Together, they reached some of the hardest-hit coastal and riverine communities across Bhola, Patuakhali, Barguna, Khulna, Bagerhat, and Satkhira, providing clean water, shelter repair, food, cash, and protection services. 

In parallel, DUS led a second consortium with Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) and Aid Cumilla to restore livelihoods and rebuild infrastructure in the flood-affected districts of Noakhali, Feni, and Cumilla. 

Within weeks of the crisis declaration, teams were on the ground repairing tube wells, building latrines, restoring access roads, and distributing hygiene materials. The combined interventions provided clean water, cash transfers, and emergency shelter to households that had lost everything. 

Sumera Javeed, Oversight Body Member of the Change Fund, observed during the recent learning visit, “what stood out most was the depth of community involvement and the sense of ownership cultivated by local partners implementing the Change Fund projects.” 

The project also integrated climate adaptation elements, planting trees, promoting home gardening, and strengthening links between humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding actors. Each partner leveraged local vendors and volunteers, minimizing costs and ensuring resources stayed within the community. 

A re-excavated community pond provides safe water for families recovering from Cyclone impact.

Flexibility in the face of adversity 

Extreme weather, political unrest, and banking disruptions could have halted progress. Instead, the consortia demonstrated the flexibility that defines the Change Fund. When rising salinity made tube wells unusable in coastal areas, partners installed community water tanks and when cash-flow shortages delayed vendor payments, they turned to trusted local suppliers. 

This adaptability was possible because partners were empowered to make decisions in real time. The Change Fund’s flexible structure allowed them to modify activities, reallocate budgets, and adjust procurement methods as the situation evolved. Even amid political instability and transport strikes, local teams found ways to keep implementation moving by sourcing materials locally and mobilising community volunteers. 

Digital cash transfers through NAGAD and bKash allowed families to purchase materials and food quickly, while Cash-for-Work programmes supported the repair of damaged roads and community spaces. Each decision reflected a grounded understanding of context and the agility of local actors to adapt in real time.

As reflected on by Md. Rafiqul Alam, Executive Director, DUS & Chairperson, NAHAB, “These initiatives stand as a strong example of network members’ collaboration, localized decision-making, and flexible funding mechanisms that make a real difference in humanitarian response and recovery efforts.” 

Sustainability and learning through local leadership 

Almost a year after Cyclone Remal and the devastating floods, the impact of these locally led responses continues to be visible across the affected districts. Because the response was driven by organisations rooted in their own communities, the outcomes have proven durable not just immediate relief. 

Livelihoods restored through home gardening and fisheries have continued to sustain families long after the projects closed. Water points and sanitation facilities remain functional under the care of local maintenance groups established during implementation. District-level collaboration between partners, local government, and community leaders has also deepened, leading to joint planning for future disaster preparedness and climate resilience. 

A farmer displays vegetables grown from seeds distributed through the Change Fund's cyclone Remal response. Agricultural inputs supported families replant their home gardens, restore nutrition, and strengthen resilience.

In Barguna District, a community member stands beside her restored home garden. Through the NEAR Change Fund's Cyclone Remal response, she received seeds and support to replant and rebuild her livelihood after the floods.

Community members, who were central to decision-making and monitoring, now serve as stewards of these interventions. Their involvement has ensured that lessons from the crisis, on preparedness, accountability, and collective action are retained within the community itself. 

In Barguna Sadar, a community member uses installed hand-pump part of NEAR Change Fund’s post-flood recovery support restoring access to clean water and sanitation after the 2024 eastern flood.

This enduring impact demonstrates that when local responders lead the response, recovery becomes not just faster, but more sustainable. The Change Fund’s approach has shown that locally anchored leadership transforms humanitarian action into long-term resilience. 

Transforming how aid works 

The Bangladesh response epitomises what the Change Fund was built for: swift, flexible, locally led action in the world’s most climate-vulnerable settings. 

Sumera reflected on the broader significance that “their approaches are deeply grounded in listening, respect, and inclusivity. Instead of imposing external models, these organisations co-design interventions with communities, ensuring that every action resonates with local needs, values, and capacities.”  

Listening and learning — Shahida Arif, Asia-Pacific Regional Representative (left in white) ,and Sumera Javeed, Member of the Change Fund Oversight Body (right in pink), meet with flood-affected communities in Noakhali to hear firsthand how Change Fund support has helped families rebuild their lives.

Through the Change Fund, NEAR continues to strengthen the capacity of national organisations like DUS, DAM, Rupantar, Jago Nari, SANGRAM, SDA, YPSA, and Aid Cumilla, ensuring that resources reach those most affected, not months later but when they are needed most. 

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For more on these projects, please see the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77wbQJI6T3Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77wbQJI6T3Q

Pathway to Localisation Workshop – Burkina Faso, 23-25 September 2025

Pathway to Localisation Workshop – Burkina Faso, 23-25 September 2025

The Pathway to Localisation Workshop was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 23–25 September 2025, bringing together 25 local NGOs from Burkina Faso, three focal points from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and one representative from Mali. Organised by NEAR in collaboration with Pledge for Change (P4C) and IRC Burkina Faso, the workshop aimed to deepen collective understanding of localisation, strengthen collaboration among civil society actors, and identify practical actions to accelerate locally led change across the Sahel.

Day 1: Laying Down the Foundation

The opening day set the tone with a focus on grounding participants in the core principles and history of localisation. Through icebreakers, group reflections, and discussions on “Localisation Hopes and Challenges,” participants connected personally to the theme and built a sense of shared purpose.

Sessions covered the evolution of aid in Africa, unpacking colonial legacies and systemic dependencies that continue to shape power dynamics in the humanitarian and development system. NEAR introduced its mission, strategy, and Localisation Performance Measurement Framework (LPMF), a tool that guided discussions on partnership quality, funding equity, and participation. The day concluded with a data-driven session reviewing pre-workshop survey insights, where participants validated key barriers and opportunities for advancing localisation in Burkina Faso.

Day 2: Movement Building and Action Planning

The second day moved from reflection to collective action. Through storytelling and collaborative exercises, participants explored how local movements can transform barriers into opportunities. Power mapping and stakeholder analyses helped identify leverage points for shifting influence toward local actors.

In breakout groups, participants developed action plans and accountability frameworks that outlined practical steps and ownership structures to drive localisation at both national and regional levels. The energy in the room was tangible as participants emphasised the need for sustained collaboration, equitable partnerships, and stronger local leadership. The day ended with participants sharing their personal and institutional commitments to advancing localisation beyond the workshop.

Day 3: Multi-Sector Dialogue

The final day convened a broader dialogue between local organisations, donors, and Pledge for Change signatories based in Burkina Faso. The session provided a space for open exchange, honest reflection, and collective sense-making around the realities of localisation in practice.

Through a series of rotating “fishbowl” discussions, participants explored four key themes: Locally Led Systems for Change, Authentic Storytelling, Equitable Partnerships, and Accountability. These conversations created space for INGOs and donors to listen directly to local actors’ experiences and to co-develop ideas for more balanced collaboration.

The day concluded with a synthesis of key messages and commitments, focusing on how to translate global pledges into tangible, context-driven actions in Burkina Faso and across the Sahel.

Conclusion

The workshop marked a pivotal step toward reimagining partnerships between local actors, INGOs, and donors. It fostered trust, strengthened a shared understanding of localisation, and built momentum for collective action. Participants left with renewed energy, clarity on their roles, and a unified call to move from rhetoric to reality, advancing localisation as both a principle and a practice.

Reflections from the Advisory Panel

by Sema Genel Karaosmanoğlu, Hayata Destek Derneği / Support to Life (STL), member of the Advisory Panel on the Future of Humanitarian Action and former Chair of NEAR’s Leadership Council

When we first came together as the Advisory Panel on the Future of Humanitarian Action, I remember thinking: what exactly are we trying to do here? A dozen people from across the world – with experience from academia, public work, civil society, the UN, and beyond – all carrying different experiences, perspectives, and power dynamics. No clear process, no neat plan. Just the ambition to ask hard questions about where humanitarian action is heading.

That uncertainty was uncomfortable, but also exciting. It pushed us to carve out our own space. As NEAR, we had side conversations, compiled some of our ideas, and brought them into the room. That preparation mattered – it gave us confidence and helped shift the discussion.

Over time, the purpose of the panel has become clearer. This is not about another technical reform blueprint. It is about creating an independent space to say what many already know: that humanitarian action is not one system but an ecosystem – made up of equal and interconnected parts of a diverse, dynamic and networked universe. And if this ecosystem is to have legitimacy, it must be locally led, internationally supported, and globally principled.

PHOTO CAPTION: Four members of the Advisory Panel on the Future of Humanitarian Action. From left to right: Sema Genel Karaosmanoğlu, Natalie Samarasinghe, Yves Daccord, and Adelina Kamal.

For me, the real strength lies in the mix of voices. Global South leaders bring grounded realities that cut through abstraction, while others bring the inside view of state and UN politics. With NEAR and ODI’s convening power, we are reaching not just donor governments but aid recipient states and non-traditional donors, pulling in new actors who have been undermined yet are vital pieces of the ecosystem.

Several months in, I find myself more hopeful. Even now, just at the start, the panel is already making waves – connecting conversations that are usually kept apart, and showing the power of a truly diverse collective voice.

In the coming months, our task is to sharpen these ideas into something donors and system leaders cannot ignore: a vision that challenges them to stop tinkering at the edges and start addressing the political choices at the heart of humanitarian action. With resources shrinking, conflicts multiplying, and legitimacy in question, this moment demands more than business as usual. That is why this panel matters – to speak plainly, to unsettle where needed, and to offer a compass for a system at risk of losing its way.

For more information on the Advisory Panel on the Future of Humanitarian Action, please see NEAR’s page: https://www.near.ngo/advisory-panel-on-the-future-of-humanitarian-action

Networked Finance Mechanism Event Reflections

by Sandrina Da Cruz, Solutions Director at NEAR

NEAR hosted an event on the sidelines of this year’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) entitled, “Financing Global South Futures.” The discussion focused on NEAR’s recommendation of a Networked Financing Mechanism (NFM) – what if locally led Global South financing mechanisms were interconnected and optimized to learn from and strengthen each other and collectively garner increased resources for community-identified priorities?

This was my first time attending UNGA. And what an incredible debut – the air was filled with tensions – grasping to reasons to remain hopeful, calling for urgent action, suppressing disillusionment, and creating space for actionable, bold visions. NEAR was ready! After all, one of our values is to be a disruptor, “We are fundamentally changing the aid sector. We spark new conversations, bringing creative problem solving to shift power in an outdated system, paving the way for what comes next.”

Imagine an intimate gathering of leaders from across the philanthropic, local and international NGO and bilateral domains. No panels or formal presentations. The 20 guests arrived in time to quickly eat breakfast, hug old friends and meet new colleagues. And then we got to work. This was an action-oriented conversation to pressure test a networked financing concept anchored in collaboration and learning, that centres local leaders, challenges western-centric models, and decentralises decision-making.

PHOTOS taken at the NFM Breakfast meeting on sidelines of UNGA 2025.

All participants had received a draft concept note containing the thinking behind and the objectives of the Networked Financing Mechanism “NFM”. NEAR was clear that this was an invitation to co-design with us: to offer constructive critique, observations and ideas. Most of our time together was dedicated to taking turns reflecting, sharing ideas, asking questions, and building on each other’s insights through the following questions:

• What’s exciting and holds protentional about the NFM concept?

• What doubts do you have? What are the biggest risks in pursuing a model like this?

• What would you need to know/see to build trust and include the NFM into your own strategies?

• What’s unclear?

PHOTOS taken at the NFM Breakfast meeting on sidelines of UNGA 2025.

Participants were excited that NEAR started the conversation with the principles of the NFM – equity, transparency, local ownership, accountability, flexibility, and sustainability. They asked questions about how to design a decentralized, Global South-led governance model – one that does not replicate the failures of the current system. One person mentioned that risk sharing “is the nut we have to crack”. We were cautioned against only pursuing the reallocation of institutional funding and to consider alternate partnerships and financing. We were encouraged to swiftly move towards action, design and test prototypes at scale. We heard from multiple guest that they wished we had more time to discuss and design together which we’re taking as a positive sign!

We’re grateful for the inspiring visions and constructive feedback shared by these co-designers which will shape the design of the networked financing mechanism. NEAR will be hosting additional pressure testing events and publishing a paper on this topic in the coming weeks which will be shared with all members.

A colleague who recently joined the NEAR secretariat and is an “UNGA veteran” reflected that she had not experienced an UNGA gathering that created such a trusted space for open, candid and constructive dialogue. I hope this experience empowers us to engage in local, national and international gatherings as our authentic selves. Authenticity builds trust, trust strengthens partnerships, and together we’re constructing a new imagination of what’s possible for the emerging system.

NEAR MEMBERS: Please reach out to the Regional Representative for your area with your ideas and recommendations and if you want to be involved in this initiative.

PHOTO of Loreine Dela Cruz speaking at the NFM Breakfast meeting on sidelines of UNGA 2025.

NEAR at UNGA 2025

NEAR at UNGA 2025

by Anita Kattakuzhy, Director of Policy at NEAR

New York in September is always a whirlwind. Convoys, barricades, the crush of institutional bureaucracy – and alongside it, a thousand parallel gatherings where civil society, foundations, and governments all try to capture some of the attention swirling around the UN. UNGA is crowded and chaotic, but it is also a chance to test ideas, meet allies, and take the temperature of the system.

This year, what stood out was the gap between the language of reform and the practice of it. In the High-Level events focused on humanitarian action, the rhetoric was ambitious: solidarity, local leadership, even a shift from speaking of a “humanitarian community” to a “humanitarian movement.” Yet the panels were dominated by UN and INGO leaders, and the proposals leaned heavily on UN-led coordination and pooled funds. Progress in words, perhaps, but the reality of who holds the mic and practice – on a wide scale – has not shifted.

UN80 conversations were no clearer. Lofty talk of inclusion, stability, efficiency floated around, but again and again attention circled back to succession politics. With Guterres due to leave in 2026, the question of who comes next has already become the gravitational pull of reform. The risk is obvious: reform recentralised in New York, tied to personalities rather than structural change. Yet there is also opportunity: political attention is high, and that creates openings for more ambitious alternatives to break through.

PHOTO CAPTION: Loreine Dela Cruz and Anita Kattakuzhy at UNGA

Against this backdrop, NEAR came to New York with a different energy. We didn’t chase headlines, we positioned ideas. We tested bold concepts with funders and allies, we co-hosted conversations on power and responsibility, and we brought Global South leadership into the conversation.

At The New Humanitarian and Refugees International panel and CALP’s “Direct by Default” cash event, NEAR Delegate Loreine Dela Cruz insisted that local civil society leaders are not case studies but agenda-setters, shaping the system rather than being shaped by it.

And throughout the week, a new phrase floated into donor conversations: “donor reset.” Still undefined, still contested - but an opportunity for NEAR, nonetheless. If it is to mean anything, we must ensure it signals genuine change: co-governed finance that shifts both resources and risk, able to strengthen, not undermine, local leadership (like the NFM!).

For NEAR, this UNGA was a reminder of why we show up. To push past rhetoric and demonstrate that distributed leadership – locally governed models – are not only possible, but urgent. To remind system leaders that solidarity is not a slogan but a practice. And to ensure that as the aid system debates its future, the Global South is not spoken for, but speaks for itself.