Advocacy

To drive a wider transformation in the humanitarian sector, we need to advocate boldly and speak the truth to power.

As a system change network, we work relentlessly to drive radical transformation in the humanitarian sector to meet current and future challenges. Our programmatic experience –along with our continuous learning from and with our diverse global network – gives us the knowledge and the legitimacy to make the case for change.

Our advocacy work is centred on locally-led and anticipatory action. This means prioritising and opening spaces for the voices that have been traditionally unrepresented or ignored – those at the frontline of crises. We are co-creating a community of advocates drawn from our diverse membership. What we all have in common is a humble spirit and a deep sense of urgency to go beyond commitments or pledges and make change a reality in concrete ways.

In the G7 summit, we recommended many things in relation to localisation, the decolonisation of aid and anticipatory alerts, and our voices were being captured. It was really amazing to see. Our visibility has really improved a lot. We are able to reach a larger audience in the humanitarian sphere not only in our own state and in our own province but at the national and global level.

Tirtha Prasad Saikia, NEADS, India

What we are advocating for

We are asking decision-makers to:

commit to a more power-balanced system based on the needs of at-risk communities
shift resources and decision-making to those closer to the frontline
change humanitarian aid funding from a reactive to a proactive system based on anticipatory action
support locally-led and anticipatory humanitarian action.

Our advocacy work

We use our convening power to bring together our local and national members, along with partner organisations, to reach those in power.

Our advocacy work focuses on unlocking doors and advocacy opportunities, especially for our local and national members and enabling them to influence decision-makers through external engagement. This includes:

taking part in regional and global meetings
producing advocacy and policy briefs
participating in key international platforms
campaigning for locally led and anticipatory actions
disseminating key research to drive change.

We have attended Group of Seven (G7) meetings, UN global climate summits (COPs) and other UN events and have directly engaged with the G7, UN leaders and the UK’s International Development Committee.