What do refugees from across Africa want to tell the global forum?

Abbas Kigozi Events, Participation and Leadership, Refugees and IDPs

Abbas Kigozi, Robert Hakiza and JeanPaul Kasika on priorities of refugees in Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, and Malawi that need to be heard at this week’s gathering in Geneva – including access to basic services, secure legal status and protection against forced returns.

Six things INGOs must do to fund local partners fairly

Dominic Vickers Innovation, Participation and Leadership, Power Shifts

Why are local organisations still missing out on funds for overheads that don’t just keep the lights on but are vital to their survival? Dominic Vickers reports back on a webinar that brought SIDA, UNHCR, Oxfam and Development Initiatives together to tackle the thorny problem of ICR, or Indirect Cost Recovery.

Be humble – and don’t compete: how INGOs can choose solidarity with local organisations

Carlos Mejia Influencing, Participation and Leadership, Power Shifts

When a well-known INGO establishes a national office it needs to be careful not to poach opportunities and funding from existing local organisations. Carlos Mejía reflects on what he has learned about being a good ally as the first leader of one of Oxfam’s newest affiliates, Oxfam Colombia.

Three ways INGOs can shift power in humanitarian response: lessons from Ukraine

Isabelle Tallec Humanitarian, Power Shifts, Refugees and IDPs

In the run-up to World Humanitarian Day this week, Isabelle Tallec looks at Oxfam’s locally led response to the Ukraine crisis, working with dozens of local and community organisations to support the most marginalised groups of refugees and displaced people.

Compliance for INGO partners is riddled with colonial attitudes: here’s how that can change…

Dominic Vickers Governance, Innovation, Power Shifts

As international NGOs, we need to stop assuming partners are risky, respect local standards, accept we should prove ourselves as much as partners do, and slash the form-filling, says Oxfam compliance advisor Dominic Vickers. In fact, how about encouraging partners to apply for funds by video?

From a Rohingya refugee’s perspective, who is local – and why does it matter?

Razia Sultana Gender, Power Shifts, Refugees and IDPs

Interactions between refugee women and aid workers with little connection to Rohingya culture can go terribly wrong, says Razia Sultana of Oxfam partner RW Welfare Society. To win women’s trust, INGOs need to engage with whoever is ‘as local as possible’

They were promised a fair share of power and resources… so why are local humanitarian actors still waiting?

lydia Zigomo Aid, Humanitarian

In May 2016, at the first-ever  World Humanitarian Summit, world leaders, humanitarian actors and the UN pledged to share power and resources with the local, front-line organisations who are critical to saving lives in humanitarian crises. Five years later, have they delivered on their commitments? The answer, unambiguously, is no. The Istanbul summit promised to “empower national and local humanitarian …