Paper details

Paper authors	Kate Sutton
In panel on	What is holding us back? Humanitarian Reform and the Shift to Locally-Led Response
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

This report presents the findings of research conducted across the Pacific region in 2017 on the localisation of humanitarian action. Findings respond to the main research question “what would a successfully localised disaster management ecosystem in the Pacific look like, and what changes do Red Cross and the broader humanitarian system need to make to get there?” This research project endeavoured to ‘walk the talk’ of localisation. Fiji National University was a lead agency in the research and Pacific Island national researchers comprised over 50 per cent of the research team. The team included practitioners and researchers from Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu. The first component of the research gave voice to Pacific perspectives on what localisation of humanitarian action means in their own contexts. While much of the global framing of localisation of humanitarian action is relevant, humanitarian actors in the Pacific emphasise different aspects. In particular, Pacific actors recognise localisation of humanitarian action as a process in which both national and international actors have complementary roles, but the emphasis is on shifting relationships. The second component of the research gave voice to what Pacific actors feel needs to shift in relation to the areas of capacity development, relationships, finance, human resources, policies and standards and legal areas.

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