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Case Context
The Arid and Semi-Arid (ASAL) region in Northern Kenya is ravaged annually by cyclic shocks including drought, flash floods and most recent the desert locus invasion affecting the social economic status of vulnerable communities. To address the immediate humanitarian needs, the Kenya Cash Consortium (KCC) – composed of the ASAL Humanitarian Network (AHN), ACTED, Concern Worldwide, Oxfam, and IMPACT Initiatives – implements multi-purpose cash assistance-based projects to address the basic needs and support the recovery of affected households.
With funding from the Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian aid (DG-ECHO), ensuring a locally led humanitarian response has been at the core of KCC’s working model. This is observed over the past four years as consortium partners have increased the investment in the role of national non-government organizations (NGOs) in the coordination, project development, and decision-making mechanisms. While achievements have been made, the consortium has also identified hindering factors that needs to be recognized and put on the agenda for relevant actors to discuss and find the best ways forward in achieving the Grand Bargain commitments.
This paper aims to highlight milestones made regarding locally led humanitarian response under the umbrella of the Kenya Cash Consortium projects over the past four years. It also endeavors to present lessons learnt and some of the best practices to inform the humanitarian financing system. Lessons show that localization is achievable as the consortium is centered on local leadership to reach communities affected by disasters.
THE PROGRESSION OF THE KENYA CASH CONSORTIUM TOWARDS A MORE LOCALLY LED RESPONSE
The concept of localization has been present in the sector for decades in the form of building on local capacities through direct funding, partnerships, capacity building, coordination mechanisms and representation. The recognition of it, however, only gained prominence in the international humanitarian agenda in the years leading to the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 with the launch of the Grand Bargain commitment. The latter was made by mainstream institutional donors and humanitarian organizations to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian operations while also providing additional resources to those in need.
A locally led humanitarian response is based on two tenets: (i) a critical mass of high-quality funding is attained, allowing an effective response, and ensuring accountability; and (ii) greater assistance is given for local responders’ capacity, leadership, and delivery as well as for affected communities’ involvement in resolving humanitarian needs .
Locally led humanitarian response in Kenya has over the years taken shape. With the support from DG-ECHO, the KCC members – AHN, ACTED, Concern Worldwide and Oxfam – have implemented three major projects since 2019, with a budget going from three million in the first year to over seven million in the last year.
Between 2019 and 2022, the consortium has increased the commitment and achievement in ensuring higher portions of the funding is channeled through local actors to increase reach, effectiveness, and accountability of humanitarian action. Indeed, in 2019 the KCC project was implemented from design to close-out phase by the three main international organizations, with minor activities allocated under the responsibility of the national organizations. However, a shift has been witnessed in the years that followed to expand the collaborative role of national organizations in the design and implementation of the project. By 2022, the KCC’s international organizations were responsible for the institutional and strategic management of the consortium, while the national organizations were responsible for the execution of the activities related to the cash transfer distribution.
Such progress has been possible through the set-up of a coordination structure through the AHN Secretariat that has been providing oversight, direction, and coordination of day-to-day project activities. Currently, the KCC counts nine national partners for the direct implementation of the activities, those being – SND, RRDO, PACIDA, RACIDA, WASDA, NAPAD, ALDEF, TUPADO, and SAPCONE. The latter partners are part of AHN – a platform of local and national organizations promoting more locally-led responses in Kenya. The last four years have been a trajectory that has witnessed a progressive handover of responsibilities among the consortium partners. National organizations took on the leadership in humanitarian community-led initiatives whilst growing a role in advocacy with both the county and national government. Working with the AHN members has allowed the consortium to leverage on the local capacities and presence, knowledge of the local context and the ability to reach marginalized and remote communities.