If the fictional Rip Van Winkle awoke after the last seven years of localization talk, he might have thought little time had actually passed. What started officially in 2016 at the World Humanitarian Summit as a global call to move more decision-making power and development funding closer to the communities that stand to benefit most, has seen progress move at a snail’s pace.
The story of World Connect’s journey working with USAID as a small, international NGO focused on locally led development illustrates a number of opportunities and a few challenges USAID faces in its localization efforts.
Less than 1% of the $187 billion in global and humanitarian aid reached the local level in 2018, and just 0.4% of humanitarian aid went to local and national NGOs in 2021. USAID’s Samantha Power is the newest leader with the biggest platform working to make meaningful progress on this noble goal, but even she acknowledges the stubborn persistence of challenges to this urgent global objective.
About the author
Pamela Nathenson
Pamela Nathenson is the executive director of World Connect, a nonprofit that co-invests with communities to advance development on their terms. She earned a master’s in International Health from Boston University’s School of Public Health and has built organizations and programming in global development and public health for 25 years.
