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Paper short abstract

An international collaboration to promote grassroots women’s participation and leadership in conflict contexts: Can a focus on equitable partnership working enhance the agency of ‘the locals’?

Paper long abstract

The drive for ‘localisation’ in the humanitarian sector has existed for decades, with recent processes such as the 2016 Grand Bargain promoting ‘localisation’ and ‘participation’ to address the humanitarian funding gap and the 2023 UNOCHA Flagship Initiative calling for ‘systemic and participatory community engagement’ and ‘decentralized area-based coordination’ (i.e. localisation) to redesign humanitarian action. Yet, little authentic change in how humanitarian organisations engage local communities is demonstrable. Now, with global aid budgets slashed and a humanitarian reset on the horizon, there is still more drive towards localisation. In this paper, we reflect on efforts towards equitable partnership across a multi-country programme, whether this can increase local agency, and how different actors’ conceptualisation and rationale of ‘local agency’ shapes peace and development practices.

This paper analyses efforts to promote women’s participation and leadership in conflict and crisis-affected settings (Bangladesh, Colombia, Ethiopia and Ukraine). Across these four contexts, a common methodology is used with local women’s groups to support their reflection, organising and action. This methodology, rooted in participatory action research, aims to build participants’ confidence and agency - ‘power within, power with, and power to’ (Veneklasen & Miller 2007, Batliwala 2021). We reflect on the use of a co-designed partnership rubric to explore and respond to the challenges of navigating power dynamics across a multi-partner programme, and its value as a tool for amplifying local perspectives and increasing local agency.