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Asia-Pacific Leaders Launch Kathmandu Covenant, declaring a New Era for Locally Led Humanitarian Aid
The Asia-Pacific Local Leaders Summit in Nepal introduces community-governed AASHA Fund, demanding a fundamental power shift from Global North donors and International Non-Governmental Organisations
KATHMANDU, Nepal – 19 August 2025 – In a historic move to reclaim the future of humanitarian aid, local and national leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region today signed “The Kathmandu Covenant: A Commitment to Resilience, Inclusion, Solidarity & Empowerment.” The covenant, launched at the Asia Pacific Local Leaders (APLL) Summit, marks a turning point, moving beyond the debate on “localisation” to actively dismantle a failing, top-down aid system and build a new paradigm centered on community ownership and Global South leadership.
Held on World Humanitarian Day and the tenth anniversary of the Gorkha-Kathmandu Earthquake, the summit challenges the deep-seated power imbalances that have long defined international aid. The covenant serves as both a declaration of principles and a direct call to action for donors, international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), and governments to fundamentally reconfigure their roles and funding mechanisms.
“For too long, the global humanitarian system has been a machine fuelled by crisis, prejudice, and profit, where our inclusion is reduced to tokenism,” said Win Tu Kyi, Coordinator of Local intermediary Alliance of Myanmar. “This covenant is our collective response. It is not an invitation to be included; it is a declaration that we are taking ownership of our own future.”
The urgency for this transformation is rooted in a shared experience of systemic failure. “I have repeatedly seen how international aid systems, despite good intentions, fail to reflect or respond to the realities faced by local actors and communities,” stated Sameera Noori, Executive Director of COAR in Afghanistan. “We refuse to be victims of this failure. We are building our own answer.”
The Kathmandu Covenant: A Blueprint for a New Ecosystem
The covenant is the culmination of years of collaboration through the Asia Pacific Localisation Lab (APLL), a movement forged by the NEAR Network and partners across the region. It rejects the role of local actors as mere implementers and asserts their position as primary designers, decision-makers, and drivers of humanitarian, development, and peace efforts.
“This is not just another forum—it has been an affirmation of our work. Being part of this movement feels like being part of a regional family,” added Sovandara Hean of the Cambodia NGO Forum.
The covenant’s demands are clear: a radical shift in funding flows to support local CSOs directly, the establishment of truly equitable partnerships, and institutional reforms that respect and embed local expertise within the global aid architecture.
“Local Leaders and their communities across Asia and the Pacific are not waiting for systems to change. They are already leading recovery, building peace, and creating resilient futures,” said Shahida Arif, Asia and the Pacific Regional Representative at NEAR. “This Summit and the Covenant give them a unified platform to do it on their terms.”
A Chorus of Local Leadership: Voices from the Frontlines
The covenant is backed by a coalition of seasoned leaders who are already putting its principles into practice.
The covenant is not just a document; it is a reflection of a movement already in motion, driven by a coalition of seasoned leaders who are putting these principles into practice. This shared conviction is articulated by Puji Pujiono, senior advisor to the Pujiono Center in Indonesia, who stated, “A Global South platform is essential to play an active and influential role in shaping our own future.” This vision is being realized through tangible, locally driven action. In Bangladesh, Ehsanur Rahman, Advisor for NAHAB, explained how they adapted global tools “into our local language, Bangla, to suit our context,” calling them “tools forged by us, for us.”
In Nepal, Eak Raj Chhatkuli of FOCUS-Nepal confirmed the direct impact of such capacity building in helping his organization function better on the ground. At the heart of this work is a new philosophy of collaboration. Mohammad Amad, Chairperson - National Humanitarian Network -Pakistan, insists this must be a move away from “asymmetrical, transactional models,” a principle amplified by Sumera Javed of HANDS Welfare Foundation in Pakistan, who describes it as “building power horizontally… without having to rely on Northern intermediaries.”
This momentum is creating systemic change, such as the new Community Resilience Fund in Nepal, highlighted by Surya Narayan Shrestha as an alternative to shrinking funding. As Loraine de la Cruz of the Philippines Localisation Lab affirmed, the movement’s strength is its “bench of bankable, reliable leaders from nine countries who trust each other,” a sentiment echoed by Pansy Tun Thein from Myanmar, who noted, “collective voices are stronger and better heard.”
From Principles to Practice: Launching New Solutions
The summit translated the Covenant’s vision into tangible initiatives:
The AASHA Fund: The first community-centred, regionally governed pooled fund in the Asia-Pacific. Meaning ‘hope’ in many Asian languages, AASHA will mobilise resources for local organizations to deliver dignified, timely, and effective crisis responses while building long-term resilience.
Nepal Localisation Lab: The summit celebrated the launch of the Nepal Localisation Lab, the fifth national lab in the region. These labs empower local leaders to drive the localisation agenda from the ground up. “The Lab is the living heartbeat of localisation, where real leaders come together not to compete, but to complement each other,” said Akmal Ellyas Ali from PIANGO.
Indonesia Localisation Lab: Asia-Pacific local leaders acknowledged the importance of Indonesian Localisation Lab facilitating the devolution of the humanitarian coordination power from the customary UN-led Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) into a platform to be co-led by local and national CSOs dubbed the Indonesian Humanitarian Coordination Platform (IHCP).
The Road Ahead: A Call to Action for Global Partners
The Kathmandu Covenant is a clear call to action. The leaders gathered in Nepal are taking this agenda forward with a concrete roadmap to hold the global system accountable. They will champion these principles at upcoming key global forums, including the Regional Humanitarian Partnership Week in Bangkok (December 2025), the NEAR Network's Global Assembly in Qatar (October 2026), and the 10th anniversary of the Grand Bargain in Turkiye.
“A humanitarian future shaped by the Global South is not a distant aspiration—it is a demonstrated reality,” concluded Puji Pujiono “The question for our global partners is no longer if you should support local leadership, but how and when you will join the movement that is already throttling forward with full force.”
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About NEAR
NEAR (Network for Empowered Aid Response) is a Global South-led network of over 300 local and national civil society organizations in over 40 countries across Africa, Asia & the Pacific, Latin America & the Caribbean, and the Middle East & North Africa. We believe that a just, effective, and dignified aid system must be led by those closest to the challenges.
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Rachel Roseberry
Communications Lead at NEAR
Email: rroseberry@near.ngo
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