Local and national disaster responders are crucial to saving lives in emergencies, but to receive international funding, they often find themselves implementing the plans
LHL MAPPING OF COVID - 19 RESPONSES
Navigate around the eighteen (18) Local Non Government Organizations and learn more about their Covid-19 reponses and which sector of the society they serve. Have a glimpse of their issues and challenges, opportunities for collaboration and crowd-funding, and other key information for decision making and practice sharing.
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This research explores whether and how local humanitarian leadership (LHL) promotes or constrains women’s leadership. It involves case studies from Bangladesh and South Sudan,
Critics of international humanitarian aid have long suggested that the system needs to be more inclusive of actors from crisis-affected countries. Increased attention to
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LOCAL HUMANITARIAN LEADERSHIP
Local humanitarian leadership is built upon the premise that humanitarian action should be led by local humanitarian actors whenever possible. When disasters strike, local people spring into action to save lives. They perform search-and rescue operations and first aid, and make sure there is food and shelter for their neighbors. They understand the languages, cultures, and geography of the disaster-affected areas. They are the first to arrive and the last to leave. In many cases, their local and national governments are ready and willing to lead the way on evacuations and aid delivery, and to collaborate in reducing future risks. In other words, many local and national responders are well qualified to take charge in times of crisis. But there are inequities in the humanitarian system: the UN and major international aid agencies receive the lion’s share of international funding for disaster responses, and with it an inordinate amount of decision-making power during emergencies.
Meanwhile, local leaders are often overlooked and overshadowed.
This needs to change.
The LHL COVID-19 Practice Group brings together local organizations and local actors from different countries to jointly inform COVID-19 response and advocacy work. The network is seeing the COVID-19 response as providing an opportunity to transform the humanitarian system to be more locally led.