While there’s plenty of discussion among people and organizations about what it means to be locally led, they struggle with the practicalities of implementing the approach. That’s according to Christine Sow, the president and CEO at Humentum, a leading global nonprofit working with humanitarian and development organizations to improve operations and accountability and make communities more equitable and resilient.
According to the Global Humanitarian Assistance Report, only 3.1% of global humanitarian funding went directly to local and national groups in 2020, falling far behind the 25% target set at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. But while the way current funding is structured is an obstacle, an increasing number of funding agencies are moving in the right direction, Sow said.
Humentum recently shared a series of reports, bringing together insights from hundreds of funders, policymakers, and international and local NGO leaders on what is needed to advance the locally led development agenda. “What we hear from them is that they are willing and ready to go, but they need to have funders taking them seriously, listening to them, and they need to be at the table … really building them and their perspectives into the processes from the beginning,” Sow said.
Through Humentum’s equitable, resilience, and accountability index, and its Theory of Change, the nonprofit is supporting organizations that are pursuing the adoption of locally led development approaches.
In her discussion with Devex’s Editorial Director Richard Jones, Sow elaborated on where the development community currently stands when it comes to implementing the agenda, how to overcome barriers, and how Humentum is supporting the operationalization of locally led development.
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