As localization gains momentum, international nongovernmental organizations are rethinking their roles. For Day 3 of Pro Week, we look at the broad trends in the aid sector, how they are empowering local leaders — and what the future holds for INGOs.
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Also in today’s edition: We look at a former U.K. aid chief’s anxieties, and we crunch the numbers on the 50 biggest U.S. INGOs — including who they are and where they get their money — in our latest special report for Pro members.
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Flying solo (sort of)
For the past three years, a coalition of organizations in South Sudan has been making waves. Nearly five years after the 2016 Grand Bargain — a global pledge to direct more humanitarian funding to local groups — the Local Response Pooled Fund, or LRPF, was created to fast-track this goal.
“The song has always been that we don’t have capacity, or the right systems, or the proper mechanisms,” LRPF’s Rombek Rombek says. “So, we came together to discuss exactly what we need to do, as local NGOs, to meet international standards.”
Today, nearly 200 South Sudanese organizations are part of this network, which has funded 25 locally driven programs. Initially struggling for funds, the LRPF sought help from Save the Children, which provided technical, fundraising, and operational support. While the group receives guidance — and 35% of its funding — from Save the Children, the international NGO was never meant to stick around forever.
“It was clear on day one,” Rombek says. “[Save the Children said] we are going to introduce you how to fly, and we are going to introduce you who to fly to. But we won’t keep on flying you there.”
And now nearly every INGO is rethinking its role in the aid sector, and debating how, when, and if they should continue showing up.
This shift reflects a broader trend among INGOs toward localization. The Western INGO model from the 70s and 80s no longer fits, says Tim McCully from Corus International. Localization — a movement to put money and decision-making power in the hands of local leaders — means rebalancing power between INGOs and local groups. “For me, localization is not a zero sum, either or proposition,” he says.
As the aid sector evolves, INGOs must adapt, letting local organizations lead. “Our role is shifting,” says Bill O’Keefe of Catholic Relief Services. “It has been shifting, and it’s continuing to shift.”
Read: What is the future of the INGO? (Pro)
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Transition phase
Marsabit, Kenya’s largest and most drought-prone county, also has the highest poverty rates. So about 20,000 people in the county, including 50-year-old Oromoya Silango, receive unconditional cash transfers to support their families via the Hunger Safety Net Programme, launched nearly two decades ago and initially supported by the United Kingdom.
The U.K. contributed $203 million in the first two phases, reaching 100,000 low-income households and providing emergency payments to 270,000 more. Now, in the project’s third phase, the U.K. government has handed over major aspects of the program — including leadership and implementation — to the Kenyan government.
The program has been a case study for the debate on the localization of aid and whether it needs to focus more on handing over power to governments as opposed to nonstate players. A Center for Strategic and International Studies report found that the failure to take into account the relationship between the NGOs and their governments undermines localization efforts, writes Anthony Langat for Devex.
But while the debate continues, the HSNP remains a lifeline for thousands in Marsabit, helping families survive and thrive. As Kenya takes greater ownership, sustained investment and international cooperation will be crucial for the program’s future success.
Read: Kenya localizes UK-funded drought assistance program
+ As part of Roots of Change, a series exploring locally led development and the localization agenda, we’re inviting you to two LinkedIn events next week. Join us on July 29 for From the ground up: Strategies for local development success, which will be moderated by Devex Global Development Reporter Elissa Miolene. Register for that here.
The second event, moderated by Devex Business Editor David Ainsworth, is on July 31 and is about strengthening the partnership between local and international organizations. Sign up for that here.
And INGO was his name-o
Nonprofit organizations are a formidable force in global development, with the 50 largest U.S. INGOs reporting a massive $28.1 billion in their latest tax filings. That’s a 2.4% increase, or $661.8 million, from the previous year's $27.5 billion, highlighting their growing financial influence comparable to the biggest donors.
While Devex often focuses on how these organizations spend their resources and their key projects, we have broken the data into sources of their funding and the trends in their financial growth. This report and charts, compiled by my colleague Miguel Antonio Tamonan, will provide all you need to know about the what, when, where, why, how, and who of INGO funding.
Fun fact: We found no correlation between an organization's financial performance and executive compensation.
Download the report: The 50 largest US INGOs — and where they get their money (Pro)
What’s in a name?
Former U.K. Conservative development minister Andrew Mitchell raised a warning flag that international development may be sidelined under the U.K.'s new Labour government, citing the fact that his successor, Anneliese Dodds, saw the words “international development” removed from her official title and is splitting her time between the post and another role in government.
Mitchell noted Labour’s silence on future aid plans both before and after taking power on July 5. He remains vigilant about the potential marginalization of development within the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
“We will be keeping a close eye on whether the ‘D’ in FCDO falls silent once more,” Mitchell says, speaking in his new capacity as shadow foreign secretary for his defeated Conservative Party.
Reflecting on his tenure, Mitchell urged the new government to consider reinstating a separate aid department, reversing its 2020 merger with the foreign office. Labour has dismissed this idea and further reduced the aid portfolio by referring to Dodds as a “minister of state” within the FCDO.
An FCDO spokesperson affirmed Dodds’ role as minister for international development and emphasized the government’s commitment to cross-departmental collaboration. “Any suggestion to the contrary is simply wrong.”
Read: Mitchell fears UK development will 'fall silent' under Labour
ICYMI: Anneliese Dodds is the new UK development minister (Pro)
Political musical chairs
The European Parliament's development committee has a new chair in Irish centrist MEP Barry Andrews, and my colleague Vince Chadwick tells me NGOs are celebrating.
For at least the past three years, there has been a battle for the soul of the European Union's development policy. On the one hand, the European Commission is trying to mount a more openly-self-interest-driven approach that helps to stem migration, secure supplies of critical raw materials and energy, and help European companies compete against China on infrastructure projects.
On the other hand, support for least developed countries is waning — from 35% of the commission's bilateral ODA in 2010 to 12.5% in 2022. And aid advocates have been recalling the EU's treaty obligation to make the alleviation of poverty the principal objective of its aid work.
Andrews — a former CEO of the Irish humanitarian NGO GOAL, barrister, and minister for children and youth affairs — falls squarely in the second camp, and has been giving the commission both barrels for a while.
He's not a fan of the “Global Gateway,” the commission's latest brand for its aid spending, saying in 2022 that “it’s a strategy to put together what was already going to happen and present it as something new, and if our partners are tricked by this then more fool them.”
The DEVE committee has one magical power, the ability to drag commission officials before it to explain, usually in public, what they are doing and why. On that basis alone, Andrews' tenure, for an initial two and half years, guarantees those sleepy late-afternoon committee hearings will still be worth tuning into for a while yet.
ICYMI: How to read Europe's future development vision (Pro)
In other news
South Africa passed a broad climate change act that will set emission caps for major polluters and push every town and city to publish climate adaptation plans. [Reuters]
The Biden administration is arranging fresh peace talks to end the Sudan war, following months of behind-the-scenes negotiations, according to officials. [Foreign Policy]
July 21 set a new global heat record with the global average surface air temperature reaching 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.76 degrees Fahrenheit), according to an EU climate monitor. [Al Jazeera]
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About the author
Helen Murphy
Helen is an award-winning journalist and Senior Editor at Devex, where she edits coverage on global development in the Americas. Based in Colombia, she previously covered war, politics, financial markets, and general news for Reuters, where she headed the bureau, and for Bloomberg in Colombia and Argentina, where she witnessed the financial meltdown. She started her career in London as a reporter for Euromoney Publications before moving to Hong Kong to work for a daily newspaper.
