Localisation Performance Measurement Framework (LPMF)
Turning Localisation Commitments Into Accountability - and a clearer path to action
Please find the LPMF here, in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Bangla and Japanese:
“The LPMF was created with one goal in mind: to make localisation measurable, adaptable, and achievable.”
What Is It?
The Localisation Performance Measurement Framework (LPMF) was developed between 2017 and 2019 to fill a gap the humanitarian system had overlooked: a practical way to understand and assess progress on localisation.
Created with and for local and national organisations, the LPMF translated broad commitments, particularly under the Grand Bargain, into clear, accessible areas of change. For many organisations, it became the first tool that made localisation concrete, measurable, and possible to talk about with confidence.
Nearly a decade later, the LPMF remains one of the simplest ways to unpack core dimensions of localisation. It continues to serve as an entry point for organisations exploring where they stand and what shifting power in practice really involves.
Why It Still Matters Now
The localisation agenda has grown, shifted, and matured since the LPMF was created. Political dynamics have changed dramatically. Measurement efforts have multiplied. Yet a coherent, community-centred way of tracking progress is still missing.
This is why the LPMF continues to be used across the sector today. Not as a definitive standard, but as a useful foundation. It remains:
A shared language: helping organisations move beyond rhetoric into clear, relational conversations about power, resources, and decision-making.
A practical guide: simple enough to apply, flexible enough to adapt.
A learning tool: breaking down localisation into accessible parts for organisations taking their first steps.
A point of reference: informing programme design, partnership reviews, research, and strategy development.
How It Has Been Used
Actors across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Europe have used the LPMF for programme framing, baseline assessments, partnership analysis, policy reviews, and socialising the dimensions of localisation within networks and consortiums.
Organisations have adapted the LPMF in creative and practical ways, including:
Measurement: National Alliance of Humanitarian Actors Bangladesh (NAHAB); partnership assessments in Türkiye; Asian Disaster Preparedess Centre’s preparedness programming across Asia.
Programme and project design: WHH and Malteser’s GLAM project across eight countries; ADPC’s benchmarking approach.
Policy-setting and strategy: IRC’s partnership review; NORCAP’s localisation strategy.
Research and analysis: ALNAP/NEAR/StL studies in Somalia and Türkiye; Expertise France’s work in Lebanon.
Learning and orientation: Socialisation at Japan’s localisation symposium; use within NEAR’s Localisation Labs; onboarding tools for new partners and LNNGOs.
This diversity of use shows the LPMF’s enduring relevance.
A Path Forward
While it reflects the debates of its time, its clarity continues to help organisations understand where they are and what meaningful progress can look like. The LPMF will remain publicly available because it continues to serve many organisations well. But it is also part of a longer journey.
We are working with members to update the vision, expand the dimensions of change, and explore new tools that reflect the political and practical realities of today – including the leadership of Global South actors, new financing models, accountability to communities, and the shortcomings of existing system-wide commitments.
The Localisation Performance Measurement Framework (LPMF) is a practical system designed to document progress toward localisation. Built for local and national actors, yet relevant across the humanitarian system, the LPMF provides a shared language and structure for assessing how far organisations have come in shifting power, resources, and decision-making closer to communities.
Whether you're a local CSO, an INGO, a UN agency, a donor, or a research institution, the LPMF offers a clear pathway for evaluating localisation efforts with rigour, transparency, and purpose.