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This blog is written from the perspective of someone working in an international humanitarian network, speaking to others in international humanitarian institutions.

Reflecting on humanitarian trends over the past decade, one thing is clear: localisation and/or locally led action are ways of working that are here to stay.

The Sharing Knowledge and Ideas under Local Leadership (SKILL) Grant was developed in 2021 so that Start Network’s local members could lead collaborative research projects and learn through partnerships. From January 2022, with grants of up to £15,000 GBP, eight local or national NGO organisations worked with a variety of partners to research humanitarian issues that they chose. Through this report, we document their experiences, impact and learning.

As Western donors and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), we most often have disproportionate power in relation to local and national organisations.

A locally led humanitarian system that is accountable to people at risk or affected by crisis is also one where communities have agency and voice over humanitarian interventions that respond to their needs.

The new Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Martin Griffiths, has officially started his role as the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, the most senior humanitarian role at the United Nations. He will be leading the policies and strategic decisions of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) which will have an impact across the humanitarian sector and the way the sector responds to crises.

This year, our local and national members took part in the Civil Society 7 Summit hosted by the UK government and Bond. Our local and national members engaged in conversations and roundtables, discussing and making recommendations on seven priorities.

More than 30 Start Network members have supported a letter to the UK Prime Minister, raising our concern over the decision to merge the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office because of its potentially devastating consequences for humanitarian aid.