Paper details

Paper authors	Samantha Melis
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 paper aims to contribute to a contextually sensitive debate on the challenges of a more locally-led response to socio-natural disasters by exploring two case studies; the response to the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal and the 2017 mudslide and floods in Sierra Leone. The paper is based on 8 months of research in Nepal and Sierra Leone, where qualitative interviews were conducted with national and international responders, civil society actors and affected communities. The response to these socio-natural disasters illustrates some of the challenges to localization, wherein actors are maneuvering within and between different levels, in circles of contestation, to legitimize their role in the co-governance of the response and to either support a more locally led response, or to keep control and resources. A context of institutional changes and fragile state-society relationships, characterizing many post-conflict states, adds another layer of complexity. While the two cases highlight different challenges to the localization agenda, they also share similar dynamics. In both countries, the state-centered localization discourse was found to be disconnected from practice. The comparative analysis of this paper adds a valuable perspective to the debate, as it integrates both contextual challenges and recurrent overarching themes, necessary to reflect on a more realistic approach.

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