“Ally with and support local organizations”: outcomes of the World Humanitarian Summit

Mozaik Foundation volunteers re-paint school after Balkans floods, May 2014Conflicts, civil unrest, and natural disasters (particularly exacerbated by the effects of climate change) are driving suffering and humanitarian need to levels not witnessed before. And while these needs are undeniably immense, recent conversations have shifted away from how humanitarian assistance may best react in times of crisis, to how crises can be avoided in the first place: by making communities more resilient, prepared and equipped; by addressing root causes; and by bringing development, humanitarian and peace-building efforts together.

This was the backdrop to the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) convened in Istanbul in May 2016, which brought together more than 9000 participants from 173 countries in order to chart a new way forward for humanitarian responders. Speaking to the urgency of the topic, Antoine Gérard, Chief of the WHS Secretariat, put in plainly: “We can’t ignore the fact that the people affected by disasters and conflict have asked us to do much better.”

Emerging from the WHS is the paper The World Humanitarian Summit: A Pivot Point in Philanthropy’s Contribution to Humanitarian Crises, hosted on the SDG Funders Philanthropy Platform. The report aims to seize an important moment in time, and use it to shift how philanthropic institutions conceive of their role in humanitarian efforts, by evolving and adapting their practices to be more effective organizations in those efforts. Significantly for community philanthropy worldwide, one of the ten specific and actionable recommendations offered at the WHS, and by the report, is to “ally with and support local organizations.”

And this is important. As noted in the report by Jenny Hodgson, GFCF Executive Director, historically a small proportion of humanitarian assistance reaches the grassroots, where the need is often greatest, and local groups have been “systematically excluded – by language, by process…the very groups that might be the ones to advocate for local communities are the…ones that are marginalized.” But whether it is an earthquake in Nepal, floods in the Balkans, or a hurricane in New Orleans, the GFCF has witnessed time and again how community philanthropy organizations are key both in an emergency situation (mobilizing volunteers, acting as an information hub, making small grants quickly, etc.) as well as when it comes to long-term rehabilitation work (in which trust, respect and a deep understanding of local context are imperative).

Danny Sriskandarajah, Secretary General of CIVICUS, dreams even bigger: “The goal is that local communities solve most of their problems without the help of the international community.” In the report, he further encourages philanthropy to “reduce the threshold for local actors to receive resources.” So there is undeniably a pivotal role for community philanthropy organizations to play, as the report also makes the case, based on a growing body of research, that in many contexts, relatively small amounts of money are sometimes what make the biggest difference.