Overview and Background
A disconnect exists between the needs and aspirations of disaster-affected communities and the actions of those who define the terms of the humanitarian system, compromising the effectiveness of that system. Currently, global humanitarian policies and approaches take little account of the relationships of disaster affected populations with local actors and agencies, including local government, civil society, and Southern Non-Government Organisations, who are usually the first on the ground in the wake of humanitarian crises.
These entities as well as local businesses and the national private sector play a vital role in responding to emergencies and post-crises rehabilitation.
A Global Network of ‘Southern’ local and National NGOs, has been discussed for some time, based on these discussions, Adeso commissioned a study in 2014 to develop a more systemic understanding of the current demand, feasibility and scope of such a network. The report findings revealed positive and widespread support for the creation of such a network.
A side-event at the Global Forum for Improving Humanitarian Action held in New York in June 2015, with over 20 leading organisations, working with local communities officially endorsed the network, reaffirming the need for a stronger local voice in the humanitarian and development eco-system. Additionally a consistent message, during the WHS consultations ‘was frustration from governments and local organisations who struggle to be seen by the international community as the primary agents of response and to access resources, and feel their governance and coordination structures are pushed aside by international actors rather than respected and strengthened.’ One Humanity: Shared Responsibility- Report of the Secretary-General for the World Humanitarian Summit.
The WHS (2016) outcomes and ‘Grand Bargain’ commitments reinforced national and local systems, ensuring accountability to affected people, with 399 individual or joint commitments and an additional 88 commitments made to invest in local capacities, including by increasing the amount of funding channelled to local responders. WHS - Commitments to Action, September 2016.
The NEAR Network was launched, at a side event of the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016, which realised and celebrated the on-going consultations, with local and national organisations in Africa, Asia, Middle East and Latin America, which provided further evidence for the network, as well as a repository of voices from the communities in which they serve.
These voices and issues that reaffirm the vital need for NEAR Network and resultant shaping of the network’s strategy and framework.
As a membership network that brings together civil society organisations and NGOs primarily from the non-OECD countries (except Mexico, Chile, Turkey and Korea), its priorities and strategies have been developed through consultations with members and wider civil society from the ‘south’. This is the first-ever strategic plan of NEAR, which has been developed in the course of 2016 and 2017 through several rounds of discussions with members and in the Leadership Council (LC). An initial draft strategy was developed in 2016, which examined evolving context of humanitarian aid and the NEAR Networks key priorities.
There will be a further process of engagement with existing and new members, with the final strategy presented, discussed and validated by members, at the first General Assembly in 2018.
This document outlines the NEAR Networks strategic themes and approaches over 2018 -2020.
It is anticipated that the simplicity of this format will assist the NEAR Network to communicate its strategic ambition and engagement to its membership. The strategic plan will subsequently be translated into key languages and offers a flexible framework, which defines the core themes of engagement whilst providing room to further develop and operationalize specific priority areas until 2020