Financing refugee leadership and agency

Local actors and refugee leaders are not being given the funding and, by extension, the recognition and influence they need and deserve. This event examines the barriers, obstacles and opportunities for financing local leadership and agency.

Caitlin Sturridge

Facilitator

November 6, 2024 | 15:00 - 16:30

Multipurpose room 14

Development Initiatives Poverty Research Ltd

United Kingdom

English

Reference:

NE 14-05

WUF12

Networking Events

Summary

Refugee-led organisations (RLOs) are a crucial cog in the refugee-response machine, providing essential services to their communities, as well as being more likely to lead responses that are accountable, legitimate, transparent, effective and impactful.

Despite growing consensus that RLOs require quality multi-year and flexible funding, they continue to be underfunded and side-lined in refugee responses. This reflects similar challenges faced by other local and national actors (LNAs) who receive receive insufficient, short-term and tightly earmarked funding.

In 2022, just 1.2% ($485 million) of total international humanitarian funding reached local actors directly, with an even smaller proportion of funding allocated to RLOs specifically ($26.4 million).

Administrative, bureaucratic and regulatory constraints are a major barrier. But these could be overcome with technical measures and the resolve to drive them through. The crux of the problem goes beyond funding and is about the system as a whole, and the unequal power dynamics that underpin it.

Against this backdrop, this event brings together RLOs, local and national NGOs, researchers and humanitarian actors to examine the barriers, obstacles and opportunities. In doing so, the event draws on research by ODI and Development Initiatives: https://odi.org/en/publications/the-failure-to-fund-refugee-led-organis….

Objectives

This event has two main objectives. The first is to raise awareness and drive change towards localising humanitarian funding and empowering local actors, such as RLOs. Those at the top of the humanitarian system need to take greater responsibility and accountability for driving change and, as described by an RLO representative, start ‘putting actions behind their words’.

The second objective is to bring RLOs and local actors together with national policy-makers and international donors – in order to bridge some of the gaps that exist between these groups. Distance and disconnects with donors, in particular, undermine accountability by blocking communication and reinforcing unequal power relations that sustain an unfair and inefficient funding system.