The Rhetoric and Reality of Localisation: Refugee-Led Organisations in Humanitarian Governance

Abstract

When refugees flee war and persecution, protection and assistance are usually provided by United Nations organisations and their NGO implementing partners. In parallel is a largely neglected story: refugees themselves frequently mobilise to provide protection and assistance to other refugees. At a global level, there has been a shift in international policy rhetoric towards ‘localisation’ and inclusion of refugees, which potentially provides an opportunity to engage with refugee-led community organisations (RLOs). However, RLOs rarely receive access to international recognition or funding despite often being regarded by refugees as an important source of assistance.

In this paper we draw upon ethnographic research on the interactions between international institutions and RLOs in Kampala, Uganda, to explore how ‘localisation’ unfolds in practice within humanitarian governance. In the absence of a clear policy framework for localisation at the global level, national level representatives have considerable discretion in whether and how they partner with RLOs, leading largely to their exclusion – and the development of alternative support strategies by RLOs. We suggest that an effective localisation agenda will require much more attention to the role of power and interests at the local level if RLOs are to be engaged as meaningful actors in humanitarian assistance.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Robert Hakiza, founder of Young Africans for Integral Development (YARID), and Bolingo Ntahira, founder of Hope of Children and Women Victims of Violence (HOCW) for their contribution to this research, as well as all of our other informants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. For full call, see: http://web.monitor.co.ug/Tenders/2015/06/16/unhcr-partners23062015.pdf.

2. Our own requests for meetings with UNHCR Uganda or InterAid with refugee-led organisations during our research were met with either silence or disinterest.

3. Refugee Scandal: OPM suspends 4 officials. 6 February 2018. https://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Refugee-scandal–OPM-suspends-4-officials/688334-4293038-mtpxyx/index.html.

4. Refugee activist, WhatsApp message to refugee-led network, 8 May 2018.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [grant number ES/P003931/1].