The Dutch Relief Alliance, like all international, national and local actors, continues to learn how to translate Grand Bargain commitments into practice. Following the end of the 2018-2021 strategic period, the DRA Localisation Working Group initiated this report, by Koenraad van Brabant, to document and celebrate progress and achievements within the DRA, and kick off the Alliance’s ambitious collective localisation objectives for 2022-2025.

Referencing the 5 localisation action points, Koenraad illustrates a quick evolution from a primary focus on quantitative targets, to increasingly focusing attention on the qualitative aspects of collaborating with local actors.

The report draws on experiences from the Joint Responses in Somalia, Sudan and Yemen to illustrate how the DRA’s localisation efforts have grown since 2018. Localisation was translated into practice within JRs themselves, but the JRs also started to contribute to broader localisation efforts, sometimes thanks to JR resources.

The report explores practices and experiences in the three selected joint responses, analyses success factors and limiting factors for localisation, and identifies various point of attention to be addressed in the 2022-2025 strategic period.

As an alliance, DRA members have different perspectives, experiences and interests in localisation. Localisation remains largely defined by the context, the JR and the members. As such, the (changing) composition of a JR partnership shapes localisation efforts and results, and localisation within the alliance remains a balancing act between context drivers, collective DRA-wide commitments and interpretation by individual members.

From 2022 onwards, the DRA will build upon the significant progress made and pursue a localisation-by-design approach more explicitly. See full report using the link below.

DRA Report Localisation in Practice