Paper short abstract:

As Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its third year, Ukrainian humanitarian leaders are pursuing social justice outcomes—particularly representing marginalised and vulnerable groups—while navigating the power imbalances and compliance requirements of the international humanitarian system.

Paper long abstract:

On 24 February 2022, Russia escalated its years-long agitation in the region by invading Ukrainian territory. The resulting war—now approaching its third year—upturned life for all Ukrainians, many of whom found themselves providing urgent humanitarian assistance and crisis response within their own communities. This paper presents finding from interviews with active Ukrainian humanitarian and crisis leaders who are currently working in Ukraine to provide humanitarian and aid assistance at home. Based on 20 interviews with Ukrainian humanitarians, Ukrainian-language survey responses, and a desk review, this paper takes an ethnographic approach to bringing the voices of active Ukrainian crisis leaders to international academic and practitioner debates about agency and rights, localisation, and social justice in the humanitarian system. The paper outlines three main findings: first, Ukrainian-based and led organisations are pivotal to an equitable humanitarian response, particularly for marginalised and vulnerable populations who might otherwise be overlooked by international humanitarian response; second, localised leadership and decision-making agency also facilitate an effective, sustainable, and meaningful reconstruction phase (e.g. stable localised leadership can span the humanitarian-development nexus, particularly when the international humanitarian system inevitably withdraws funding); and finally, the international humanitarian system—while providing vital funding and assistance—simultaneously imposes an administrative and compliance burden that requires significant retraining and resourcing from local organisations to access and implement funds through local programming, which risks undermining the localisation agenda and perpetuating power structures and siloes within the system which are no longer-fit for-purpose.