Connecting UN-led coordination and local actors’ networks to promote accountability for quality partnerships: Experiences of HCTs, clusters, Donor coordination groups and other platforms

During HNPW 2023, The Charter4Change in collaboration with the GB Localization Workstream and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denmark & IFRC convened a session to understand how L/N CSO networks can connect with UN/INGO/donor coordination processes towards strengthening accountability for local leadership and quality partnerships SeeSession Outcomes.

This year, Charter4Change, IFRC & IASC Task Force on Localization (Potentially) As a follow up on taking stock on what progress has been made are convening a session to explore how country-level humanitarian coordination processes led by UN actors, such as HCTs and clusters, and donor coordination groups can best engage with national/local actor-led networks to promote accountability for quality partnership.

Recent years have seen the Grand Bargain process issue recommendations on how ‘intermediary agencies’ (e.g. UN agencies or INGOs) should demonstrate accountability for their support to localization and quality partnership.

TheIASC Guidance on Strengthening Participation, Representation and Leadership of Local and National Actors in IASC Humanitarian Coordination Mechanismscalls for Equitable and meaningful partnerships between L/NAs and international Actors . The involvement and participation of L/NAs in all aspects of the humanitarian programme cycle (analysis, strategic planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation) is essential for accountability to affected populations and ensuring that assistance and protection is relevant. Coordinators therefore have a responsibility to promote a culture of principled partnership, both in the ways they interact with the members of their coordination groups and in which members interact with each other.

International agencies leading coordination platforms have been piloting and rolling out different approaches to foster collaboration on quality of partnership at the country-level; including through HCTs, inter-cluster coordination groups and specific clusters undertaking processes to reflect on localization and quality of partnership. Some have developed ‘visions’ on these issues, others have identified more specific objectives and measurable indicators to track change. National/local actors have played roles in advocating for these processes, and contributed to developing them. This session will reflect on the status of these efforts and share good practices to accelerate efforts towards realizing enhanced quality of partnership and localization at the country level.

Objectives:

1. To foster dialogue between UN agencies, donors, INGOs and national/local actors on promoting inter-agency processes that enable accountability for quality of partnership
2. To highlight good practices and lessons learned in inter-agency processes that enable accountability for quality of partnership
3. To identify recommendations from the perspectives of UN agencies, donors, INGOs and national/local actors on ways forward on promoting accountability for quality of partnership at an inter-agency/coordination level

Format: Hybrid session (Panel Discussion)

Time: 90Mins