According to a report by the United Nations Development Programme, around 85% of enterprises have halted their production. Meanwhile, 63% of the businesses that are still in operation can only work at less than 30% of their usual capacity.  

To support rebuilding and expansion efforts, Global Communities is providing grants to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperatives in the region. This initiative is made possible with backing from the Swedish Government, the Palestine Investment Fund and local partner Wefaq Society for Women and Child Care.  

To date, a total of 10 grantees have been able to create 83 new full-time jobs, preserve nearly 12.5 acres of farmland and reach more than 34,000 internally displaced people with essential food and water sources. 

“This support has been crucial,” said Ne’Ma El Qebt, whose food business was destroyed at the beginning of the war. Since then, she has been trying to maintain some semblance of an operation. 

“Following another sudden displacement from Rafah, I lost my equipment and relocated to Khan Younis, where I began rebuilding the Bint Al-Balad Kitchen,” she said. 

After applying for a grant through Global Communities, Ne’Ma received support to obtain essential equipment, cooking gas and worker wages. Now, the business has doubled its production capacity, stabilized its finances and provided full-time employment for 25 women.  

In addition to creating new jobs, these grants have also leveraged the capacities of local businesses and civil society organizations to meet the urgent food and water needs of displaced families.  

Despite losing its Khan Younis branch, Al-Rabee’ Kitchen was able to sustain operations in Deir Al-Balah Governorate, using grant money to set up a nylon-covered location with wood-burning stoves, nearly twice the amount of cooking pots, and a solar heating system.  

This support enabled the business to expand its meal production by 34%, resulting in the daily production of 22,000 hot, nutritious meals for internally displaced people (IDPs). The kitchen has also provided over 1,000 hot meals to vulnerable groups, including cancer patients and impoverished families in displacement camps. 

“We offer assistance to IDPs in Deir Al-Balah every day,” said kitchen manager Mohamed Rabee. “… Things are getting better. Previously, we were displaced to several places. At that time, we assisted others as much as possible.” 

In a region grappling with severe water shortages, Al-Safadi Water Well is addressing a critical need for 6,000 people. Prior to receiving a grant through Global Communities, the well lacked an energy source to pump water. This prompted the local management board to approach Global Communities for support developing the well.  

“The water pump’s capacity was increased from 1.5 horsepower to 3 horsepower, and a solar energy system was provided to operate the well,” said Othman Siam, a member of the local management board. “As a result, we could supply water for free and almost continuously to nearly 600 displaced families in the area.” 

According to Abu Mohamed, an elderly man who has been displaced to Deir Al-Balah, the well has been a critical source of water to meet his daily needs. 

“The water well saved us a lot of effort and trouble in getting water,” Abu said. “Before the [grant], we walked about 2 kilometers and sometimes a kilometer and a half to get water to wash our hands and feet.”  

Upgrading the well also positively impacted local farmers’ lands, which had previously suffered from water shortages. Now, water prices have been reduced by 40% for farmers and they are starting to see the benefits of more affordable and consistent irrigation. 

“Thanks to this grant, these lands were rehabilitated, crops were revived and the number of farmers in the area increased,” Othman said. “Things are going for the better.” 

According to Abu Alaa, a local farmer who uses the Al-Safadi Water Well, the grant support came at “the right time during this difficult situation.” 

As the Israel-Palestine war continues to exacerbate economic instability in the region, the grants provided through Global Communities have not only enabled businesses to rebuild and expand but have also fostered resilience and hope among the local population. The entrepreneurs and citizens behind Bint Al-Balad Kitchen, Al-Rabee’ Kitchen and Al-Safadi Water Well have demonstrated remarkable perseverance, transforming their challenges into opportunities for growth and community well-being. Their efforts illustrate the profound difference that targeted support can make in times of crisis.

While Global Communities welcomes the current ceasefire in Gaza, it will be a long road ahead to rebuild the territory and economy. We urge the international community to support efforts to achieve a lasting peace that addresses the root causes of the conflict and ensures the dignity and security of all individuals in the region.

The post From Destruction to Determination: How Grants are Reviving Gaza’s Small Businesses appeared first on Global Communities.

Growing up as an only child, Olha Gez always dreamed of having a big family of her own one day. Now, she runs a family-type orphanage in Dnipropetrovsk oblast — providing a safe haven for some of the most vulnerable children experiencing the war in Ukraine.

“My childhood dream came true when I brought these children home,” the foster mother says. “… They slept and snored so sweetly.”

Currently, Olha and her husband foster 11 children, ranging in age from 5 to 16 years old. To support the family, Olha’s husband had to take a job as a construction worker in another region of Ukraine. Although the state’s social assistance funds are sufficient to cover food expenses, Olha mentions that meeting the rest of their needs has been difficult, especially during the ongoing war.

“We live in a remote place where almost no one comes to visit us,” she says. “That is why we are very happy and grateful for any help.”

Supporting foster families during the war is a crucial but often overlooked aspect of humanitarian work. These families are responsible not only for the welfare, upbringing and development of many children from vulnerable backgrounds but also for ensuring that the children feel safe, even when fighting is happening right next door. In recent weeks, Dnipropetrovsk oblast has had more than 10 air raids a day with the frontline just 3 miles from the Russian border.

Recognizing this challenge, Global Communities partnered with Maximum Charitable Foundation, a civil society organization that supports children in difficult life circumstances, including those in orphanages and foster families. Under the Community-Led Emergency Action and Response (CLEAR) program, Maximum received funding from the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA) to set up a mobile team that travels to remote and hard-to-reach locations.

“Some foster families live more than 30 kilometers from each other, and the roads are often broken, so it is not easy for the state services to get to these families,” says Olga Glushkova, a Maximum case manager. “Our team reaches the most inaccessible places or families who do not have access to social institutions and provides case management services — social and psychological support to children and their families.”

Since partnering with the CLEAR program, Maximum has been able to provide a range of support to 77 families in Dnipropetrovsk oblast, including the Gez family. In addition to hygiene kits, the foundation supplies children in frontline territories with emergency backpacks that contain items they might need while staying in a bomb shelter during an air raid: a thermos, blanket, flashlight, whistle and anti-stress toy. The mobile team also conducts home visits to provide psychosocial support sessions. A social worker and psychologist organize joint activities to benefit both the caregivers and children.

According to Anna Sulima, a psychologist at Maximum, these visits are essential for families adapting to difficult life circumstances or in unique arrangements such as family-type orphanages. Mothers and other caregivers are given an opportunity to share their experiences and discuss any issues they might be having, while children participate in art therapy. Activities with modeling clay and other forms of play help them become more open, overcome their fears and anxiety, and share their innermost feelings in creative ways.

After a recent session, Solomon, one of Olha’s sons, expressed his hopes for the future as conflict continues close to the family’s home: “I dream that the war ends, that a peaceful, calm, free life finally comes to our family, and we live in peace together.”

While the CLEAR program received an extension that will allow Maximum to support families for another two months, Global Communities is committed to introducing the foundation’s impactful initiatives to other non-governmental organizations that might be interested in providing additional support. Maximum also plans to seek out additional funding, so its vital work can continue for vulnerable families throughout the region.

The post Supporting Foster Families Amid Ongoing War in Ukraine appeared first on Global Communities.

For decades, the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence have underpinned humanitarian action. They provide a foundation for delivering aid with integrity and fairness, and they help ensure that assistance reaches those in need based on vulnerability and urgency, rather than political or personal interests. In recent years, however, we have seen significant challenges in the application of these principles, including their outright violations. Attacks on aid workers, access restrictions and other constraints imposed by parties to armed conflicts inhibit the ability of humanitarian agencies to deliver effective, principled assistance.

Recently, a group of humanitarian workers from our organization met to discuss the risks and challenges to principled humanitarian action. The following colleagues participated in the exchange: Jasper Vaughn, Communication and Information Management Officer, Humanitarian Response; Elise Hannaford, Director, Humanitarian Response; Eva K. Mejia, Country Director, Honduras; Marshall Karidozo, Director of Monitoring & Evaluation and Acting Program Director, Syria; Will Musombi, Senior Advisor, Humanitarian Response; and Noah Steinberg Distefano, Senior Regional Manager, Americas.

The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

Paula: What are the origins of humanitarian principles and what do they mean for Global Communities?

 Jasper: The onset of the modern set of humanitarian principles dates back to the 19th century, when they were first promoted by the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Today, these principles are embedded in the international humanitarian law, including four Geneva Conventions, ratified by almost all countries in the world. These treaties lay out legally binding obligations aimed at protecting individuals who are not participating in hostilities, including civilians.

In 1994, the humanitarian principles were codified in the voluntary Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (the Movement) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Disaster Relief.  Global Communities is signatory to this code.

While the humanitarian principles are well-defined by the international community, there are still tensions and misconceptions about their practical application.

Paula: What are the challenges associated with the implementation of humanitarian principles and how do you address them?

Elise: In theory, the humanitarian principles sound straightforward, but in practice, humanitarians face challenges around their implementation and they are unevenly applied across crisis contexts.

The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has led to a serious reckoning in the humanitarian community. Our organization has lost two colleagues, Hani Jnena and Alaa Abu Al-Khair, who have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the start of the war in October 2023. Many of our colleagues have also lost their family members. These tragic losses are profoundly felt by our teams. Our colleagues work tirelessly to deliver lifesaving assistance to their communities while facing unfathomable danger, severe trauma and significant logistical challenges caused by widespread insecurity and restrictions on aid. We continue to call for an immediate ceasefire and unequivocal adherence to international humanitarian law so that we can deliver aid in a safe and timely manner. As we continue to provide assistance in Gaza, we will keep evaluating our response to ensure that we adhere to the humanitarian principles.

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Jasper: Well said, Elise. In recent years, humanitarian assistance has become very politicized. We have seen governments attempting to influence humanitarian actors to pursue non-humanitarian goals, such as foreign policy or military objectives. It can be very difficult for humanitarian actors to balance their adherence to the principles with these intense pressures from high-level political figures or even donors.

In addition, in fast-paced and emergency environments, it can be challenging for humanitarian actors to know how to best include local governments as necessary partners in humanitarian action without compromising principled aid delivery. First, if a government is a party to a conflict, our collaboration with them may be worrying to our program participants, who may no longer see us as an independent or neutral party. Second, local governments often have strong opinions about which populations should receive aid. If these populations are not those most in need of humanitarian assistance, we risk compromising the principle of impartiality.

Aid diversion is also a threat to humanitarian principles. This can happen when stakeholders prevent aid from going to populations most in need and instead divert it to other groups. Also, donor requirements designed to prevent aid diversion may unintentionally hinder the timely and effective delivery of humanitarian assistance. It is crucial to balance these safeguards with the need to ensure that aid reaches those in need without unnecessary delays or obstacles.

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Eva: I would like to share a real-life example from Honduras, where Global Communities has been operating since 1985. For nearly four decades our main focus was sustainable development. This changed in 2020, when our country experienced a superimposed humanitarian crisis caused by two devastating hurricanes, Eta and Iota, which hit us in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the aftermath of these disasters, we began implementing the Honduras Emergency WASH and Shelter (HEWS) program (2020-2022), funded by the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA). In the span of weeks, our country team turned into a humanitarian actor, and we became bound by the humanitarian principles.

At the very beginning, our staff were not familiar with these principles, and it was challenging for them to apply them while selecting program partners and recipients of aid. In development programs, the selection criteria can be different. For example, while we certainly want to reach the most vulnerable populations, we also apply the “cost-benefit” and “value for money” lens when choosing the communities we work with.

Additionally, we are used to working closely with local governments, and we did not predict that this would be a problem. Yet we soon learned of a growing perception that we were providing humanitarian aid mainly to neighborhoods and communities who were sympathizing with the Honduran government. After an internal reflection, we realized that we need to get better at using the humanitarian approach and terminology to coordinate assistance with local actors and to communicate the eligibility criteria to our communities. 

We learned a lot within a short period of time, and we took decisive actions to overcome these challenges. The key was to build trust within the communities and to link local leaders with municipalities for a more coordinated, transparent and principled response.

Now, four years later, we continue implementing humanitarian projects and we have a very strong relationship with BHA. Thanks to Global Communities’ Global Support Team, our staff is well-trained on humanitarian principles, and we systematically monitor their application.

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Elise: Well said, Eva. Your team’s experience in pivoting between development and humanitarian work is incredibly valuable as we support other country teams in becoming humanitarian-ready.

 

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Marshall: To me, all four humanitarian principles are intertwined, and it is very rare to witness a situation where only one principle is threatened or violated.

The Syrian context, where I work, is extremely complex. Ten years ago, when Global Communities began its work in Syria, we focused on the blanket distribution of life-saving commodities, such as food and water. Today, our goal is to provide more systematized support to internally displaced people, but we face interference from local committees, camp managers and other local actors who exert power over a specific area. For example, they sometimes give us lists of people who should or should not receive aid, which is in complete violation of the principles of independence and impartiality. In response, we have instituted a robust verification mechanism, which includes community-based needs assessments and validation exercises with other humanitarian stakeholders.

We are incredibly committed to delivering aid in an impartial way. One of the best practices in addressing these challenges is hiring local staff who understand the language, culture and power dynamics in their communities. They have been very helpful in identifying and responding to the instances of bias and discrimination. In some cases, we also employ third-party monitoring teams who lead these verification exercises, and we do our best to ensure that our distribution centers are out of reach of military establishments.

Finally, Global Communities has been very active in Syria’s cluster system, which strengthens coordination and accountability for the delivery of services.

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Elise: Many thanks for your examples, Marshall. Your monitoring & evaluation team plays a key role in ensuring that we abide by humanitarian principles, and I appreciate that we have such a strong team.

I also want to mention the importance of our community feedback mechanisms, which not only improve the quality and accessibility of our programming but are also pivotal in holding us accountable and preventing misconduct.

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Will: Humanitarian principles are extremely important. In conflict settings, it is critical for us, humanitarians, to engage in dialogues with leaders on both sides of the conflict and assure them of our commitment to neutrality. We have to explain that our mission is solely to deliver humanitarian aid. That we will not take sides and we will not discriminate against people based on which side of the conflict they are on. That we do not have a political or military agenda. Establishing clear communication channels and trust with all parties is key to ensuring a safe and uninterrupted passage of people and goods. Otherwise, we can face bureaucratic and security-related impediments to our work.

Unfortunately, over the past few years, we have seen increased targeting of aid workers. We see attacks on humanitarian convoys. Hospitals are being bombed. Humanitarians are being killed, kidnaped and detained. This is unacceptable. Humanitarian relief personnel must be respected and protected at all times.

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Elise: Indeed. I also want to highlight how challenging it can be to abide by the humanitarian principles during the first phase of an emergency response. We need to make quick decisions with imperfect information, and even with the best intentions, there can be unintended consequences. It’s important to have open discussions, learn and improve.

Paula: How do you apply humanitarian principles to the selection of program partners?

 Elise: Many local organizations we work with have dual mandates. The key is to ensure that they apply humanitarian principles in the process of delivering humanitarian aid. We conduct scrupulous verification and monitoring of our current and prospective partners, and we strengthen their capacity to engage in principled emergency response. We take any violations very seriously and address them immediately.     

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Jasper: This balancing act also applies to our relationships with donors, especially government donors. Governments may participate both in humanitarian and non-humanitarian activities within the same crisis context. For example, they may engage in diplomacy or send military assistance to a conflict party while also financing humanitarian aid to conflict-affected populations. Humanitarian actors must constantly think how to preserve their independence and neutrality in these very complex situations. While the humanitarian principles are well-defined by the international community, there are still tensions and misconceptions about their practical application.

Paula: How do you balance the principle of impartiality with social inclusion and gender integration while developing eligibility criteria for recipients of humanitarian aid?

 Elise: These principles may seem contradictory, but most often, they are not. Our goal is to provide appropriate support to those most affected by a crisis and be as inclusive as possible. For example, while we cannot exclude anyone based on gender or age, often women and girls, and children generally, are most vulnerable in crisis settings and may get prioritized for aid. Our Child Protection in Emergencies programming is a good example of this. This is not an exclusion of other populations, but rather a recognition that children are most in need of protection in a particular context.      

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Marshall: Local cluster systems are incredibly helpful in developing appropriate, context-specific eligibility and vulnerability criteria. In Syria, for example, there is a ranking system, and everything is validated and shared with our community representatives. This creates a common understanding about who qualifies for assistance, which helps reduce community tensions and pushback. 

Paula: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Noah: In addition to the core humanitarian principles, which are static, there are also minimum humanitarian standards, for example the Sphere standards. They are more technical in nature and aim to improve the quality and accountability of the humanitarian sector.

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Elise: This is a good point, Noah. You are right, the humanitarian principles do not shift, but the minimum standards get updated regularly. In fact, the Core Humanitarian Standards on Quality and Accountability were updated earlier this year. Our Humanitarian Response Team is reviewing them, and we will ensure that our country teams are up to date.  

Paula: Thank you for your insights!

The post Humanity at Risk: Addressing Challenges to Principled Humanitarian Action appeared first on Global Communities.

With support from the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA), through the Honduras Agricultural System Support (HASS) program, Glendy has seen her life flourish in ways she never anticipated. And it all started with a family garden.

Before participating in the HASS program, Glendy had to travel almost 14 miles to the nearest town to buy produce. Now, thanks to resources and training she received through HASS, a variety of fresh vegetables are literally at her fingertips. Every morning, she and her family get up early to water and take care of the land. With the daily harvest, Glendy is able to feed her children in a healthier and more sustainable way, significantly improving their quality of life and future.

Before, we had to wait for a car to come to the community once a week to buy vegetables or make a trip to the town. But since I have the family garden, I have fresh vegetables every day.”

Glendy, HASS program participant

In addition to improving her household’s nutrition, Glendy uses the leftover harvest from her garden to earn extra income. She sells the produce to community members and even inspired other women with gardens to follow her example. Together, they created a messaging group that allows them to coordinate sales to meet the area’s demand. With the income generated from these sales, Glendy purchased a variety of seeds to diversify her garden. Now, she grows everything from carrots and tomatoes to cucumbers, onions, green beans and radishes. Profits have also enabled her to cover her children’s school expenses.

Access to resources such as home gardens is especially significant for women, as it opens up new opportunities for entrepreneurship, income generation and family support.

In this sense, Glendy’s leadership and initiative did not go unnoticed. Her commitment and skills led to her selection as a volunteer agricultural collaborator with the HASS program. In this role, she advises and supports other small-scale farmers, ensuring they correctly apply the techniques learned during training. She also provides guidance on crop management, among other tasks.

Glendy says this new role has empowered her and changed the trajectory of what she believes is possible for her life. She is motivated to continue her studies, convinced that education will open up new opportunities and guarantee a better future for her and her family. For Glendy, it’s not just about achieving her own goals but about being an example for her children. She wants them to grow up knowing that, with hard work and dedication, it is possible to change the course of their lives.

“My greatest satisfaction is to hear my children tell me they are proud of what I have achieved,” she says. “Also, thanks to this project, I was able to discover the leader inside me. People in my community now recognize me, and there are other organizations that have approached me to support them.”

Since working as a volunteer agricultural collaborator, Glendy has had the opportunity to manage clean-up campaigns, exchange seeds among the women who have gardens, and inspire others to transform their dreams into achievable realities. Organizations outside of the HASS program have even offered her internships to strengthen her skills as a community leader. Her dedication and success are a prime example of how women — when given the right opportunities and resources — can transform their lives through agricultural work and entrepreneurship.

The post Cultivating New Leaders, Healthier Futures through Family Gardens appeared first on Global Communities.

Global Communities has a rich history of implementing Child Protection in Emergencies programs. Our interventions are multifaced, ranging from psychosocial counselling and art therapy classes to life skills, literacy and parenting sessions. In countries where institutional services are weak, Global Communities delivers these services directly, including through child-friendly spaces and mobile teams. In other countries, such as Ukraine, these services are delivered by local actors, with technical assistance from Global Communities’ national staff and the Global Support Team.

In this interview, Emily Galloway, our Sr. Technical Advisor for Protection, shares how Global Communities is applying localization principles to child protection interventions within our Community-led Emergency Action and Response (CLEAR) program in Ukraine. CLEAR works in the Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv oblasts to address urgent protection, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene needs among conflict-affected populations.

The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

Paula: CLEAR is grounded in the principles of localization. How has Global Communities applied these principles to the program design and implementation?

Emily: Global Communities has been implementing a development program focused on local governance in Ukraine since 2016. When Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022, we were able to quickly leverage our existing relationships with local communities to craft a locally led response to the humanitarian crisis. Thankfully, our donor—the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA)—was receptive to a program that was much different from our typical approach.  

First, our proposal was much less detailed than usual. Instead of listing exact activities, locations and partners, we provided a scope of what we might do depending on our partners’ interest. Of course, we included standard child protection activities, such as awareness raising and case management, but we built in flexibility that would allow us to co-create specific interventions with local partners.

Second, our partner selection process was different. Instead of focusing solely on partners with the greatest capacity and experience, we selected organizations that were motivated to enter the humanitarian sphere or eager to gain child protection expertise. This tiered partnership model allowed us to work both with larger organizations that could launch a rapid emergency response with minimal support and smaller organizations that were missing from the crisis response. For example, we included women-led groups and community-based organizations operating in rural, less populated areas, where government services are not available. This way we could address niche needs in hard-to-reach communities.

Third, we invested time and resources in the co-creation process. We provided our partners with activity options, and they shared with us community needs. Together, we agreed on their scope of work in child protection.

And finally, we worked with each partner on a tailored capacity strengthening plan. Certain things were not negotiable. For example, all of our partners had to be familiar with humanitarian principles, minimum standards on child protection, child safeguarding and donor’s rules and regulations. Otherwise, the partners could choose their own growth objectives. 

Paula: What are the enabling factors for applying the localization approach in Ukraine’s humanitarian context?        

Emily: Ukraine has a very strong civil society and a decentralized governance system, which we have worked with for years. This has allowed us to capitalize on community strengths and often work within existing structures. For example, our partners could relatively easily establish child-friendly spaces in local schools, libraries or other community centers. In addition, Ukraine has an excellent cadre of psychologists, who were already providing services to children prior to the conflict. What they needed was upskilling. We trained them on how to respond to the needs of children in conflict settings and offered them tools to expand their services. Now, many of them use art therapy, which is a very effective therapeutic modality in times of crisis.

In addition, we have heavily relied on our amazing national staff. They are highly dedicated, motivated and invested in their communities, and they have played a leading role in designing and implementing the program. 

Paula: What are the challenges of localizing humanitarian assistance interventions? 

Emily: The greatest challenge is competing priorities, specifically the need to balance life-saving emergency assistance with capacity strengthening activities, such as training, mentorship and lots of meetings and discussions. On the one hand, we have children who urgently need protection services. On the other hand, we have minimum standards and donor compliance requirements which our partners are
obligated to follow. It takes a lot of time and effort to do both in parallel, especially with more than a dozen organizations.

A short timeframe of humanitarian projects complicates things further. We typically have 12, maybe 18 months to do start up, implementation and close down. Furthermore, child protection is usually one of many components of a humanitarian project, so there is a lot to juggle.

Paula: Balancing the need for rapid response with the need to strengthen local capacities is complicated. How do you address this challenge?  

Emily: The key is to select highly motivated partners, prioritize activities that can be implemented early on, and then layer additional activities when possible. When it comes to capacity strengthening, it is crucial to distinguish strict requirements (e.g., child safeguarding or financial compliance) from good practices (e.g., recommended child protection tools), and focus on what is necessary and most important at a given time. It is also imperative to focus on the practical side of capacity development so that local partners can easily apply the knowledge they have gained in their daily operations. This includes ongoing technical assistance, collaborative decision-making and real-time support. Finally, it is important to leverage existing resources and coordination mechanisms, such as protection clusters.

All of this requires frequent tweaks and adaptations, which can be quite overwhelming for us and our partners. But ultimately, we have better programming, which is more sustainable and responsive to the niche needs of the communities we work with.

Paula: How have you adapted your standard approaches to operationalize localization principles under CLEAR?

Emily: First, we had to acknowledge the uncertainty that comes with a flexible program design. We could not simply implement a one-size-fits-all approach to child protection. Instead, we had to leave room for trial and error and simplify our processes so that we could more easily adapt the program to the ever-changing community needs.

Second, we had to become more comfortable with power- and resource-shifting. This required a critical reflection about our role in the program. Ultimately, we have received funding for the project, and we are accountable for its technical quality. Yet we are putting our partners in the driver’s seat. Building trust with our partners has been incredibly important. We are now in the second phase of the program, and we have made a lot of progress.

And third, we have been very intentional about addressing burnout among our staff and partners. They are the ones who work on the frontlines of an international conflict. They experience both direct and vicarious trauma. And on top of that, they absorb so many burdens of working on a humanitarian assistance project. Their health and well-being is our top priority and we have included funding for staff care into our budget. We have also encouraged our partners to incorporate it in their budgets.

Paula: What are some of the most significant localization achievements of the CLEAR program? What are you most proud of?

Emily: One of our objectives is to strengthen our partners’ capacity so that they can receive direct funding from other donors. One of such organizations is Lampa: a young, small and very motivated organization working on the frontlines of the conflict in the east of Ukraine. Lampa is an amazing partner. They provide comprehensive child protection services and really understand children’s layered needs. Thanks to CLEAR, Lampa now receives independent funding from the United Nations and other donors.

Another objective is to reach communities and vulnerable groups that would be otherwise overlooked by donors and international organizations. We have had many successes in this regard. For example, we have partnered with Civic Initiatives, which works in small, rural areas to train local art therapists who can then remain in their communities and serve the needs of children in the long run. I am also excited about the work of larger organizations, such as Chernihiv European and Search for Innovation, which engage local grassroots groups to provide services to children with disabilities.

The key takeaway is that localization is possible from the beginning of a crisis. It is not easy, and it requires adaptation, but it ensures greater sustainability and responsiveness to community needs.    

Paula: What changes would you recommend at the policy level to better support localization efforts in humanitarian interventions?

Emily: I have several recommendations for humanitarian donors:

1. Require adequate budgeting for capacity strengthening. Both international and local partners need solid funding for capacity strengthening activities, including training, mentoring and ongoing support. We cannot expect local partners to comply with the requirements and minimum technical standards they are not familiar with.

2. Encourage flexibility in program design and co-creation with local partners. In a rapidly changing context, interventions included in a proposal may no longer be the priority once the program rolls out. For example, no one anticipated local markets in liberated areas of Ukraine to resume so quickly. As a result, many actors distributed large amounts of non-food items (NFIs) when they could have balanced the NFIs with vouchers or cash assistance to support local businesses. The co-creation process allows us to address the most pressing needs and gaps as they emerge.

3. Fund longer projects. The standard 12- or 18-month timeframe is insufficient to build rapport and trust with local partners and to implement parallel humanitarian assistance and capacity strengthening interventions.

4. Simplify compliance requirements and decentralize decision-making. We can streamline and speed up program implementation if our in-country staff can approve partnerships under a certain financial threshold, and if our partners are less bogged down in bureaucracy.

Paula: Thank you for your insights. How can our audiences learn more about CLEAR and our child protection activities?

Emily: I encourage you to watch the recording of my presentation about this topic, which I delivered at the 2024 Annual Meeting for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action. To learn more about our protection programming, please read my recent blog Protecting Children in Emergencies: Perspectives from Syria and Ukraine and review our technical factsheet, Protection in Emergencies. You can also find me on LinkedIn.

Emily Galloway

Sr. Technical Advisor, Protection

Emily has more than ten years of experience working domestically and internationally with displaced and crisis-affected populations. With Global Communities, she is responsible for providing technical support and guidance to humanitarian protection programs, including Child Protection and Gender-Based Violence, and leading protection mainstreaming efforts within the Humanitarian Assistance portfolio. Emily also has experience in Safeguarding and PSEA in emergency response and is dedicated to ensuring we provide support to communities safely and with dignity. Prior to Global Communities, Emily worked for the International Labour Organization, primarily implementing child labor programming in Somalia. She also supported refugees newly resettled in the U.S. in many capacities.

Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master’s Degree in Peace & Conflict Studies from the University of St. Andrews.

Global Communities is home to a diverse team of professionals with a broad range of expertise and perspectives that help us build the world we envision: one of expanded opportunity, where crises give way to resilience and all people thrive. In our new “Pass the Mic” series, our global staff share innovative ideas and in-depth insights on timely topics spanning the development, humanitarian and peace nexus. Learn how our colleagues are co-creating a more just, prosperous and equitable global community.

The post Pass the Mic: Localizing Child Protection Interventions in Ukraine’s Humanitarian Context appeared first on Global Communities.

Localization is one of the most significant movements shaping our industry today. Major donors are beginning to focus their philanthropy on those who are closest to the knowledge, action and impact. The shift towards localization is reshaping the role of international nongovernmental organizations in the development and humanitarian assistance sector. Instead of traditional top-down approaches, international organizations are called upon to decentralize their decision-making, embrace local leadership and advance locally-led solutions.

I recently sat down with our President and CEO Carrie Hessler-Radelet to discuss why investing in locally-led solutions is the most effective approach to foreign assistance. We also talked about how Global Communities is turning its localization commitments into action while remaining engaged and invested in shaping a more just, prosperous and equitable global community.

The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

Paula: Your Strategic Vision 2030 demonstrates a strong commitment to locally led development. Why is localization the most effective approach to development assistance?

Carrie: I have worked in the development sector for over 40 years, and I have learned an important truth: talent, intellect and motivation are equally distributed around the world, but opportunity is not. International organizations like ours have the responsibility to invest in the power and potential of individuals and communities we work with so that they can thrive.

Locally-led development is the most effective approach because our communities have the best understanding of what they need. They also know what works and what doesn’t. They often have the solutions but lack the opportunity or the resources to attain the vision they have for themselves. Localization puts those who are closest to the problem and the solution in the driver’s seat. It strengthens citizen engagement and mobilizes local talent, leading to enhanced aid effectiveness and greater sustainability.

Paula: What steps does our sector have to take to embrace locally led development?

Carrie: First, we need to critically examine the ways in which our current business models and our own actions may unintentionally perpetuate power imbalances between the Global North and our partner communities. This takes serious reflection. Second, we need to adapt our operational environment and decentralize decision-making. Third, we need to empower our own global staff, particularly in our country offices, to lead our organization into the future defined by localization. And fourth, we must invest in our local partners and shape more equitable relationships with them, grounded in the idea of capacity sharing.

We all have something to share. We all have something to give. We all have something to learn. Together, we are stronger. This is the core of how we must work together in the future.

Paula: What is your vision for Global Communities’ role in the localization movement?

Carrie: Our commitment to locally-led development is decades-old, and it is rooted in our cooperative development history. Localization is also ingrained in our mission, which is to connect local ingenuity and global insights to save lives, advance equity and secure strong futures. Our philosophy moving forward is to be as local as possible and as international as necessary. Our role is to support our local partners, bring knowledge from other settings and invest in the power and potential of the communities we work with.

We have created a localization working group and a localization strategy, which will guide our work in this area. We are at the beginning stages of operationalizing it, but we have already made significant progress. For example, the vast majority of our staff are host country nationals, and we are beginning to decentralize our decision-making so that it is as close to the action, impact and local knowledge as possible. The content of our work in many of our country programs is deeply focused on locally-led development, too.

In addition, we are incredibly proud to have successfully localized several country programs. For example, Project Concern International (PCI) India and Project Concern Zambia (PCZ) are now entirely independent organizations, working with Global Communities as equal partners. They have their own boards of directors and management structures. We work together through service management agreements, and we are committed to each other’s success. But Global Communities is not their parent organization. The localization working group will help us figure out a way to work more effectively with these local entities.

My long-term vision is to create a global partners network, i.e., an ecosystem of country offices and local entities that are committed to the same ideals and to each other. Their missions will be strategically aligned, and they will share capacity with one another.

Ultimately, Global Communities will no longer be an American organization led from the Global North. Rather, we will be a global organization that shares capacity, power and knowledge with the network. This is what really excites me about the future.

This is a long-term effort, which requires a significant mind shift across the organization. We need to keep releasing our own power and privilege. This is what we are doing right now. We are embarking on a journey to build a new culture, which in some ways is the hardest. But it is also at the very heart of the vision we have set for ourselves.

Paula: How can our audience learn more about locally-led development?

Carrie: Thankfully, we are not alone in this effort. We are a part of a larger group called the Movement for Community-led Development (MCLD). Their hashtag is #ShiftThePower. They are a wonderful partner. I am a Board Member, and we are actively involved in their forums and discussions. We are absolutely committed to advancing their mission, and we gain a great deal of insights from the community they have created.

Paula: Thank you for your insights, Carrie!

Stay tuned to learn more about how Global Communities is applying localization principles in our sustainable development and humanitarian assistance programs.

The post Adapting for the Future Defined by Locally-Led Development: A Q&A with Our President Carrie Hessler-Radelet appeared first on Global Communities.

“We are addressing the most profound needs I’ve ever witnessed, transcending mere survival and food security, to fundamentally sustain the human spirit in our vulnerable communities,” said Ra’ed, who directs Global Communities’ food assistance program in Gaza. 

The decision to increase the number of meals was driven by an acute awareness of the dire circumstances facing those most affected by the Israel/Palestinian war. The entire population of Gaza is currently facing acute food insecurity, including one million people for whom famine is imminent.

Global Communities has escalated its operations, including the addition of a new distribution site, to accommodate the increased demand for food. To date, our Palestinian-led team has provided nearly 2.1 million hot meals to those in need. This is in addition to more than 157,000 food parcels we have distributed outside United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) centers since January. Each food parcel provides two weeks of support for a family of five people.

“At Global Communities, our priority and guiding principle is the delivery of humanitarian aid to those severely affected,” said Carrie Hessler-Radelet, CEO and President of Global Communities. “Our dedication to this cause is matched by the incredible courage of our staff in Gaza, who, despite their own losses and hardships, continue to facilitate our humanitarian response with steadfast dedication. Their courage in the face of danger is a powerful testament to the values we hold dear at Global Communities.” 

As the conflict enters its seventh month, women, children and newborns continue to suffer disproportionately. In February 2024, the Global Nutrition Cluster released a report documenting the deteriorating nutrition situation in Gaza due to food insecurity, lack of access to safe water and sanitation, widespread disease and a collapsed health system. Over 90% of children under 2 and pregnant and lactating women are eating two or fewer food groups each day, and the food they have access to is of the lowest nutritional value. 

In early March, to help address this crisis, Global Communities started an initiative to reach pregnant and lactating women and children ages 3 months to 5 years old with Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements (LNS). To date, we have reached 8,000 people with LNS and plan to scale up our operations to reach approximately 105,000 people monthly. 

Read more here about our ongoing relief efforts in Gaza.

The post Global Communities Ramps Up Hot Meal Distribution, Nutrition Assistance in Gaza  appeared first on Global Communities.

To better prepare communities for natural disasters and improve interagency coordination at the national level of Guatemala’s Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction (CONRED), Global Communities is implementing the SE-CONRED Capacity Strengthening Program (SCSP). Since July 2021, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA), the SCSP has aimed to reach 9,880 individuals with disaster risk reduction (DRR) training, workshops or practices by July 2024.

To that end, the program has provided support to municipalities and SE-CONRED in the formation of 11 Local Coordinators for Disaster Risk Reduction (COLREDs). COLREDs are a key partner in DRR, as they help generate and update a database on vulnerability conditions at the local level. They also aid in the use of social networks for early warning. The SCSP has also trained municipal and CONRED technicians in 20 municipalities on how to guide citizens through the process of community risk mapping and developing a local risk plan.

“It’s in your hands to turn bad into good,” said Marisol, a COLRED member from Piedras Negras who recently participated in a community risk mapping workshop. “… I had the pleasure of contributing my knowledge, [but] my contribution is a small grain in the ocean. I consider that there is a lot to do.”

The 52-year-old widow and mother of two lives with her elderly parents in what the COLRED identified as a red zone, meaning it is at high risk for extreme weather events. She said it was helpful to learn more about the geography of her neighborhood through walkthroughs designed to document weaknesses and strengths and feels better prepared to communicate needs should an emergency take place.

“It has been a joint effort to get to know parts of the community that we did not know or imagine,” Marisol said. “We are proud to have our COLRED in the neighborhood, which will be very useful in case of emergencies before, during and after a storm or other phenomenon.”

Some have already experienced immediate benefits from the community-level alliances between the Municipal Directorate of Disaster Risk Reduction, CONRED system and COLRED. In November 2023, 65 families in Piedras Negras who experienced flooding due to the winter rains received humanitarian assistance, including a one-time distribution of mosquito nets and fumigation against mosquitoes.

The SCSP technicians also coordinated with practicum students from San Carlos University to conduct a household census in theEl Estrecho neighborhood of Puerto Barrios, Izabal. Municipality staff and COLRED members helped carry out the activity, which mapped community members who live in high-risk sectors. Doing so enables local authorities to account for what resources might be needed in an emergency.

In the village of Santa Eloisa Chitamil in San Juan Ixcoy, local farmer Don Marcos was initially apprehensive when invited to a community risk mapping workshop. Despite having personally experienced the challenges caused by landslides and heavy rains where he lives, he had never participated in a formal risk identification process. While the workshop progressed, however, his perspective changed dramatically. As he watched the maps being drawn, Don Marcos began to recognize patterns and critical areas in his community he had not previously considered. His detailed knowledge of the terrain and his experience in agriculture proved instrumental in identifying risk areas and developing effective mitigation strategies.

“Through my experience, I’ve learned the importance of being prepared and working together with the community to face natural hazards,” Don Marcos said.

His input was especially valuable in identifying areas prone to landslides and suggesting preventive measures to protect the community’s crops and homes.

Yet another example of successful collaboration is in the Switch Quebrada and Rancho Grande communities, where citizens are forming their own COLREDs with support from the SCSP and the Municipal Office of Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management (OMGIRD).

After creating disaster risk maps, each community started preparing their own local risk plans. At the same time, in response to heavy rains and severe cold fronts, the munipality of Morales — through the OMGIRD — arranged for Switch Quebrada to receive support from the Guatemalan Red Cross. The humanitarian organization provided hygiene kits containing bleach, laundry detergent, soap, toothpaste, hand towels, water containers and mosquito nets to families with children and elderly members who live in flood plains. The SCSP then coordinated with the Guatemalan Red Cross to replicate this intervention in four nearby communities and reach more Guatemalans.

As of March 2024, the SCSP has exceeded its initial target goal and reached 10,032 participants in 12 communities, increasing the local municipalities’ capacities in disaster risk reduction. The SCSP is also working at the national level of CONRED to update and create tools that systematize technical evidence, experiences and knowledge and help guide the actions of the Executive Secretariat of the CONRED System.

The post Charting a Safer Future: How Guatemala’s Communities are Preparing for Natural Disasters appeared first on Global Communities.

Global Communities has a rich history of providing emergency aid and protection services to refugees and internally displaced people in many crisis settings, from Ukraine and Gaza to Syria and Guatemala. This includes our Child Protection in Emergencies (CPiE) programming, which supports the well-being of children and addresses risks created or exacerbated by crises. In emergencies, children are often the most vulnerable and at-risk population group. They face a range of threats, including violence, exploitation, family separation and a loss of education.

Global Communities employs community-based and multisectoral approaches to CPiE. We work to strengthen children’s resilience, prevent further harm and foster protective environments by engaging with children’s families and communities. We partner with caregivers, community leaders, local authorities, schools, nutrition specialists and health workers. Our CPiE interventions are usually implemented through Child-Friendly Spaces (CFS), community-based organizations (CBOs) and mobile teams trained to provide a variety of services to children. They encompass both prevention and response services, ranging from awareness raising and recreational activities to psychosocial counselling and case management. They are designed to meet children’s most immediate needs and support their long-term recovery. CFS allow children and caregivers to receive assistance in physically and emotionally safe environments. Mobile teams bring services to children and parents where they are: in their homes, schools or healthcare facilities. This increases access and outreach to the most vulnerable.

Children enrolled in our CPiE programs also participate in life skills sessions and basic literacy and numeracy training, which helps them return to school when they are able to. Moreover, we facilitate parenting sessions which offer information about early childhood development, help caregivers manage their own stress, and provide parents with tools to help their children cope with the crisis. Our crisis response also includes cash assistance, for instance to ensure that children have stable housing, and other specialized services, for example removing children from harmful work.

Global Communities implements large CPiE projects in Syria and Ukraine. These are very distinct contexts, requiring different approaches.

• In Syria, we have been providing direct services in displacement camps since 2016. We are the primary service provider in our communities because of the lack of local authorities and institutional services.
• Our Ukraine CPiE programming began in 2022 in response to the full-scale Russian invasion. Here, we employ a localization approach and provide services primarily through our local partners, typically CBOs. The goal is to fill gaps in state services and strengthen the capacity of local actors to deliver humanitarian assistance.

Caring for War-Affected Children in Ukraine

For over two years, Ukraine has been engulfed in a full-scale war, with devastating consequences for its children. As of March 2024, 600 children have been killed, 1,357 children have been injured and 3.2 million children need protection services.

The impact of the war on children cannot be overstated. Physical and psychological violence, displacement, loss of homes and loved ones, and restricted access to education and services prevail in their lives, negatively impacting their well-being. Furthermore, since the war started, the risks of child exploitation, neglect, abuse and gender-based violence have increased. Children affected by the armed conflict have lost not only their usual living conditions but also their social connections. They have been forced to part with their friends, classmates, teachers and sometimes family members. These changes have caused severe stress, anxiety and trauma.

Since 2022, Global Communities has been implementing the Community-Led Emergency Action and Response (CLEAR) program, financed by the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Child protection is one of the key pillars of CLEAR. Most CPiE interventions are led by small organizations whose employees have experienced the consequences of the war themselves. They apply the best practices of child protection in their communities with the program’s technical support grounded in global insights. These interventions include recreational activities, psychosocial services (such as art therapy classes) and life skills education for children, and psychosocial support for parents. Our partners not only help improve the psychological well-being of children and their parents, but they also support the integration of internally displaced people into host communities, which fosters social cohesion. Our program participants establish new social connections and make new friends, which helps reduce feelings of alienation. This is very important for children’s further development and well-being.

Healing through Art in the Sokyriany Community

One of CLEAR’s partner CBOs, Poshuk Innovatsi (Search for Innovations), works in Sokyriany—the most remote hromada (territorial community) of the Chernivtsi oblast (region). Global Communities is the only international organization providing humanitarian assistance to internally displaced people in this community.

Chernivtsi is located in the western part of Ukraine, which has been relatively unaffected by direct hostilities, but has received tens of thousands of displaced people fleeing the fighting in the east. Children who arrive at Chernivtsi from the occupied territories demonstrate signs of severe stress, anxiety and trauma. They are scared to be separated from their parents, do not want to leave their temporary homes and have problems with sleeping at night. Their parents are stressed, too. Busy addressing their families’ urgent needs, like housing and livelihoods, they often lack time to focus on their children’s emotional needs.

Poshuk Innovatsi began its CLEAR programming by meeting individually with displaced families to show them that they were not alone and to inform them about psychosocial support available to them through CLEAR.  After that, the CBO involved staff of local schools to support the integration of displaced people. Then, they organized a series of creative lab classes for displaced and local children, where they could express their feelings through different activities, such as drawing, painting and sculpting.

At first, displaced children used dark colors and drew tanks, explosions and soldiers. During the clay therapy sessions, they ruined their own crafts, bursting with anger. Later, psychologists who facilitated these activities explained to the children how to express and process their feelings more flexibly. For example, the kids learned how to tear fabric and use it make Motanka dolls, which are traditional Ukrainian talismans representing prosperity, goodness and hope. When displaced children showed signs of improvement, they started working in pairs with local children and making friends.

Children are the most vulnerable category among internally displaced people. Often, they cannot express their worries with words, and we can see them only through their drawings, crafts, games, movements and behavior. Our task was to help them cope with the emotions caused by the horrors of the war and the challenges in a new place of living. We wanted them to relax and start living full lives.

Inna Yatsyshyna, Director of Poshuk Innovatsi

Poshuk Innovatsi’s social integration efforts culminated in a heartwarming family eco-picnic. There, children and their parents could relax in nature, connect with each other and participate in fun activities. Alongside new local friends, they planted trees, contributing to the emotional and physical well-being of their community.

Supporting Displaced Children and Caregivers in Syria

There are 5.5 million internally displaced people across Syria, including more than 2 million in camps and informal settlements. Idleb and Aleppo governorates in the northwest host the most displaced families, many of whom had to flee multiple times over the course of the 13-year conflict. The majority of displaced people living in camps have exhausted nearly all their economic, financial, physical and social assets, and they are dependent on humanitarian aid, particularly for life-saving services such as water and food.

Protection of children remains a serious and widespread challenge in Syria. Specific issues include porous child protection referral mechanisms, weak case management, dysfunctional formal justice systems and a very limited access to specialized services, such as psychosocial support or care for survivors of gender-based violence. There is a dire need for comprehensive prevention and response interventions to reduce and mitigate risks to children caused by the conflict and displacement. Other needs include community sensitization and mobilization, and strengthening of local institutions, including traditional and religious bodies, so that they can provide better services to at-risk children.

Global Communities began protection programming in Syria in 2016, working both inside and outside of camp settings in northern Syria. To mitigate risks to children, we work through stationary CFS and mobile outreach teams. We implement most extensive CPiE programming in the Atmeh Camp, which is located in the Idleb governorate and hosts an estimated 170,000 people. Our teams provide a wide range of services to children and caregivers, including awareness raising on child rights, play and learn activities, life skills, parenting skills, peer support groups, counselling and referrals to essential services. We reach approximately 30,000 children and caregivers every year.

Promoting Girls’ Empowerment in the Atmeh Camp

Selin* is an 11-year-old girl who was born in the Atmeh Camp and – like most of her peers – has never had a home beyond the camp. Selin’s main caretaker is her mother; her father has been imprisoned for ten years. For a very long time, Selin lived in isolation. She used to avoid socializing with her peers, and she frequently showed signs of fear and confusion. When our team met Selin, they referred her to one of our social workers, who paid a home visit to her family.  

The social worker observed that Selin had significant domestic responsibilities, despite being so young. She had to take care for her brothers, in addition to caring for her elderly grandmother. She was not allowed to leave the house, and she could rarely play with other children. She was also caught in a conflict between her mother’s and father’s families regarding her care. The social worker took time to explain to Selin’s mom how important play and learn activities are for children’s development. The mom noted that Selin loved drawing and was very talented, so the social worker suggested enrolling Selin in structured psychosocial support services, including art therapy. Eventually, our team registered Selin at one of our CFS centers and invited her mom to participate in parenting sessions. This changed Selin’s mother’s perspective on the importance of play and relationships with peers.

These activities contributed to boosting Selin’s self-confidence, and she made new friends. Gradually, she began participating and playing with groups of children, overcoming the shyness and confusion that were initially apparent when she joined the center. Selin is now one of the outstanding children in the center, actively engaging in activities with other children.

Tarek Fakhereddin, Senior Child Protection Officer, Global Communities

Through interventions like these, child protection efforts not only provide immediate relief but also lay the groundwork for long-term resilience and recovery. Ultimately, by ensuring the safety and security of children, these initiatives contribute to building more stable and sustainable communities in the aftermath of crises. Investing in children’s physical, emotional, and educational needs not only ensures their individual growth and development, but also helps to mitigate the same risks experienced by children in their communities in the future.

*The name has been changed to protect Selin’s identity.

The post Protecting Children in Emergencies: Perspectives from Syria and Ukraine appeared first on Global Communities.

Last month, the World Bank held its 2024 Fragility Forum – a biannual conference that brings together policymakers, researchers and practitioners from humanitarian, development and peacebuilding communities to exchange knowledge and ideas about how to improve our approaches in fragile, conflict and violence-affected settings. This year’s theme was “Adapting and Innovating in a Volatile World.” 

After the Forum, I asked my Global Communities’ colleagues who attended the event for their reflections. Kelly Van Husen, Vice President for Humanitarian Assistance; Patricia Dorsher, Senior Manager for Humanitarian Business Development; Meena Grigat, Director of Humanitarian and Nexus Business Development; and Patrick Woodruff, Manager for Humanitarian Assistance participated in the exchange. The conversation was edited for length and clarity. 

Paula: In most of the sessions I attended, the panelists painted a bleak picture. The world is increasingly fragile, marred with compounded crises and intertwined risks, from protracted conflicts and climate disasters to chronic political instability and widespread food insecurity. The World Bank estimates that by 2030, almost 60% of the world’s poor will live in countries classified as fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS). During the opening session, Anna Bjerde, Managing Director of Operations at the World Bank noted that we cannot end poverty without addressing fragility. She also said, “I’m going to be very honest with you. … We are not preventing conflict.” Why? What are the key factors behind these alarming trends?  

Patricia: I have been working on our humanitarian assistance portfolio for the past few years and found it difficult to identify funders who are willing to address the root causes of conflict in contexts like Syria, where the outcomes are very political. For example, investing in infrastructure in the non-regime areas could help stabilize the lives for millions of people, but humanitarian donors do not see this as their purview and development actors do not want to pay for something where there is no recognized government counterpart to work with. We have been working to find intermediate solutions, but with funds decreasing, humanitarian donors want to focus on the urgent, lifesaving activities and not those that can help counter systemic fragility.  

Patrick: Well said, Patricia. Humanitarian and development organizations are often forced to choose between working with actors considered illegitimate by the international community and restricting or even halting programming to at-risk populations. This was evident after the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan. The disengagement of many actors, including donors, not only left many people at increased risk, but resulted in brain drain of trained humanitarian workers who fled the country or went underground. The lack of funding and support for national non-governmental organizations has led to devastating backtracking on hard-won gains in the rights of women and minority groups. We can see this trend in almost every major crisis today, from Ukraine and Syria to Gaza and the West Bank. Furthermore, many, if not most humanitarian and development organizations are overly reliant on government funding from the Global North. It makes it increasingly difficult to respond to the needs on the ground when the donor countries are aligned with one side of a conflict. While this is understandable from a political standpoint, porous funding streams leave hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people without lifesaving aid, in direct contradiction to the humanitarian principles.

Patricia: So true! During the session on “State Building in Protracted Crises,” I was struck by the discussion on Palestine led by Nigel Roberts, former Country Director for Gaza and the West Bank at the World Bank. Roberts talked about how the World Bank is designed to be apolitical – at least at a technocratic level – but is beholden to a board that is, by nature, political. Because of this dichotomy, the World Bank has missed many opportunities to help realize economic improvements and development objectives for Palestinians. This resonated with me. In humanitarian assistance, we frequently grapple with the mandate to be “neutral” and “apolitical,” and yet our largest government donors are responsible for carrying out domestic and foreign policies. Being neutral or apolitical is often thought of as the refusal to choose sides, but we fail to recognize that this is also a choice with consequences. It raises the question of what it means to be neutral or apolitical, and if it is ever truly possible.  

Paula: How can we, and others in the sector, address these challenges?  

Patrick: To me, some of the most impactful discussions at the Fragility Forum were around the need to stay engaged in challenging situations, including by finding ways to work with illegitimate or diplomatically isolated actors. Many panelists emphasized that humanitarian organizations have the moral responsibility to remain engaged in order to alleviate suffering. They also noted that continued engagement decreases the financial and social costs that result from humanitarian and development actors leaving in the face of these challenges. Of course, there is no easy solution to this, and every organization needs to make its own decisions based on acceptable risk levels. I think that the most important thing that organizations can do is to protect the foundations of humanitarian work, which is rooted in the principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence. By reinforcing these ideals, organizations will be better positioned to respond to crises based on needs. 

Meena: The sessions I listened to reinforced the importance of investing time and resources into developing an in-depth understanding of the local context. It is very important to build long-term relationships with local communities and actors, and to conduct political economy and conflict analyses. We must be ready to work with communities and local systems over the long-term in order to see impact. 

Patricia: I have to echo what Meena said. You can’t ignore the political context and conflict dynamics. Understanding them at the macro, meso, micro and even household levels is essential if we want to work effectively in fragile and conflict-affected areas. I also want to second what Patrick said about staying engaged. When a new crisis emerges, donors and implementers cannot just forget about conflicts that have been going on for years or decades. When Russia invaded Ukraine, there was a sudden reassignment of critical funding and programming to Ukraine and its refugees. Now, the devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza dominates the headlines. While we must respond to these new crises to the fullest extent possible, we must still remember about people in Yemen, Syria and other fragile states with protracted conflicts and instability. Their voices deserve to be heard, and their needs deserve to be met, too. I am proud of our programming in Syria, where we have been addressing food security, protection, water, sanitation and shelter needs for a decade. I truly hope donors will remain engaged there for years to come. 

Kelly: One theme that I heard repeatedly in the sessions I attended was around the need to be agile and innovative. This is not necessarily new, but the speakers highlighted how critical it is for implementers – particularly those working in fragile contexts – to be flexible: constantly evaluating, assessing and identifying new opportunities to shift programming to better meet humanitarian needs and more effectively achieve program outcomes. The Forum also reinforced the need for continued advocacy to our donors, policymakers and other stakeholders around flexible funding mechanisms. In a volatile world we live in, funding mechanisms must have built-in opportunities, such as crisis modifiers, to quickly adapt and pivot to rapid emergency response.  

Paula: Indeed. The ability to fluidly respond to changing circumstances is a game changer. We have witnessed how crucial this is in many contexts. In Ukraine, for example, our long-term development program – Decentralization Offering Better Results and Efficiency (DOBRE) – was able to quickly mobilize its networks and provide rapid emergency response right at the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. This paved a way for the Community-Led Emergency Action and Response (CLEAR) program, which we launched soon after in two regions overlapping with DOBRE. By layering life-saving humanitarian interventions with development assistance, we can more effectively respond to the crisis, set the stage for post-war recovery and foster lasting resilience to shocks and stresses.  

Ethiopia also comes to mind, where we are implementing the Resilience in Pastoral Areas South (RIPA South) project. In March 2022, amid one of the driest rainy seasons on record, RIPA South activated a Crisis Modifier to address urgent needs of the most vulnerable people affected by the drought. The Crisis Modifier sets aside funds for emergency response measures to save people’s lives, rescue livestock and safeguard economic gains made possible by development activities. We have categorized these interventions into three windows: livestock support, multi-purpose cash assistance and access to water, sanitation and hygiene.  

Paula: Where else is Global Communities adapting or innovating in the face of fragility and constant change? 

Kelly: Gaza was mentioned several times during the Forum. Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, 2023, we have pivoted more than 20 years of programming to address the urgent needs resulting from this devastating humanitarian crisis. Our teams are managing to adapt and innovate in Gaza, despite extremely constrained and dangerous circumstances. As you know, 2.2 million people are at the imminent risk of famine, and we are proud to serve as the World Food Programme’s (WFP) main implementing partner. We have been able to shift our WFP work from cash to in-kind assistance, and we have pooled resources and knowledge to partner with others, for example the World Central Kitchen, to provide hot meals. We are also distributing nutritional supplements to pregnant women, nursing mothers and small children who are at increased risk of malnutrition. In addition, we are setting up latrines and sinks, and he have provided winterization support to many families. This represents critically needed agility and creativity that has enabled us to continue working in this extremely challenging environment.  

Paula: Agility in adapting to evolving needs is vital in our efforts to ensure efficient, timely support in both stable and crisis conditions. I imagine we have had to adapt and innovate our own internal processes and mechanisms to make it happen.  

Patrick: Yes, absolutely. Global Communities is currently developing Protocols for Emergency Response, so that we are humanitarian-ready even in relatively stable environments. I am personally involved in this effort. We want to ensure that our organization has systems in place to respond to natural disasters and conflicts quickly and effectively. We place a heavy focus on increasing the resilience, preparedness and ability of our country teams to respond with existing programming. This is often done by leveraging our ongoing development programs, like in Gaza, Ukraine or Ethiopia. 

Kelly: We work at the intersection of sustainable development and humanitarian assistance, so strenghtening the capacity of our country teams to pivot from development programming to emergency response is one of our main internal priorities.  

Paula: Many panelists emphasized how important it is to strengthen local institutions and make them more inclusive in order to solve conflicts and maintain peace. For example, Bjerde said that it is crucial to focus not just on services but also on the institutions behind the services, making sure that their capacity is built. “When things go wrong, when things get difficult and hard, it’s those institutions that need to actually step up even more,” she said. What are your thoughts on this? 

Patrick: I agree. This brings up the topic of localization, which was frequently mentioned at the Forum too. To protect hard fought gains, we must ensure that local and national actors – who do the vast majority of the work on the ground – have the adequate resources and power to adapt their programming in a way that is contextually appropriate.   

Paula: Right. Ultimately, it is the local communities and institutions who have the intimate understanding of their needs and priorities, and who can design context-specific and culturally relevant interventions. This came up a lot in the session “Gender Equality in FCV Settings: Moving from Humanitarian Responses to Creating Resilience.” Amini Kajunju from the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development spoke very passionately about investing in community-driven solutions, leveraging local expertise and elevating local women leaders. She also stressed that civil society organizations are central to providing services in fragile settings, especially when state institutions are weakened. I know that our sector has a long way to go to fully realize the localization principles, but I think we are making strides. For example, localization is a core strategy of our CLEAR project in Ukraine, where we invest in small, community-based organizations (CBOs), which deliver emergency assistance and protection services to war-affected populations. Of course, this approach has its challenges. When I visited Ukraine last year, many CBO leaders shared their struggles with strict donor compliance requirements. We hear it in other settings, like Syria, too. This is where we come in with our capacity strengthening interventions, which are extremely helpful, but take time. 

Paula: How else did the conference connect with the work you are doing at Global Communities? 

Meena: The session “Troubled Borders: Subnational Conflict in Middle Income Countries” was relevant to the context in northern Ghana, where we have extensive experience implementing water, sanitation and hygiene programs. The region is one of the key focus areas under the U.S. Global Fragility Act. Communities in the districts along the borders of northern Ghana are part of interconnected trade and migration networks, and there are major concerns over the spread of violent extremism into these communities. The speakers stressed the complexity of border economies and governance institutions, and the need to consider market systems, the flow of goods and ideas, the role of the state, and the ability of local actors to arbitrate conflict. 

Paula: Great point. Conflicts and the climate crisis do not recognize borders. Several panelists also emphasized the need to support countries receiving refugees and discussed the global impact of the war in Ukraine. The fragility that has emanated from Russia’s invasion has cascaded globally, affecting countries not just in Ukraine’s vicinity, but states on other continents. For example, the conflict has had a major impact on the global wheat supply, resulting in a widespread food security crisis.  

Thank you for sharing your reflections. As some of the panelists noted, sustainable development is not possible without sustainable peace, and we need tectonic shifts and holistic approaches to address the interconnected global risks and polycrises. I left the Fragility Forum and our conversation with the following recommendations:  

• Anticipate better and be prepared to ensure effective, timely support when conditions change. 
• Remain engaged when challenges arise. Ensure stable funding streams. Continuity is vital when fragility grows.  
• Acknowledge that conflicts and the climate crisis do not recognize borders. 
• Focus on prevention and resilience building. Address the drivers and root causes of fragility. 
• Strengthen state institutions, engage the private sector and invest in civil society organizations, including women- and youth-led groups, which are often first responders in fragile settings and play a huge role in recovery efforts. 
• Improve governance and the rule of law. 
• Ensure that interventions are inclusive and gender-responsive. Talk to people you typically do not engage with. 
• Localize development and humanitarian interventions. 

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