Stockholm Water Week 2018

Opportunities and Challanges of Localising WASH Humanitarian Assistance

The global humanitarian system is overstretched: crises are increasing in number and severity. The humanitarian WASH sector is seeking ways to meet these growing demands. The established centralised, process-driven mechanisms are a hindrance to contextualised response and the meaningful engagement of local actors. An increasing number of countries are calling for more locally led responses; some even resist to accept international assistance. In 2016, the World Humanitarian Summit advised a stronger localisation of humanitarian assistance and the “Grand Bargain” pledged to provide more support and funding to local and national responders. Two years later, this event aims to take stock of progress, identifying useful approaches, tools and partnerships to assist in localising aid, without compromising the quality of response and the humanitarian principles. Building upon a session with a similar focus at the Global WASH Cluster Meeting in April 2018, the event will utilise a café style format to share results and to encourage dialogue between humanitarian and development actors. Both have a strong interest in resilient societies. Complementarity of targeted investments and efforts is required to build capacity and better prepare local institutions and civil society to overcome the existing and looming challenges.