The concept of localisation of international humanitarian action, development and peacebuilding has gained greater attention following the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit. Localisation can mean different things to different people, including notably engagement at the grassroots level, participatory approaches with local actors, community consultation, and adaptations to local context and sensitivities. 

A great deal of time has been spent on discussing what localisation means and why it is needed, yet little focus has been given to its conditions of implementation on local levels and from local perspectives. Moreover, the roles and contributions of local faith actors often tend to be overlooked or sidelined by international and secular actors, despite them being primary responders in many development, humanitarian and peacebuilding spaces. Where does localisation succeed and where it fails? How fair, equitable, relevant, and “local” localisation efforts are? What role does faith play in this context? To engage with these questions, the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI) is launching its second Fair & Equitable Dialogue with the support of KAICIID—to engage with with a public webinar on:

 Accountable Localisation: Local Faith Actors Speak Out

The webinar will be the second one to be held as part of JLI's Fair & Equitable Dialogues—a series of interactive public learning events that seek to examine how faith actors can, should, and do challenge unequal power dynamics between the international, national and the local in humanitarian, peacebuilding and development work. This dialogue hopes to investigate practical examples of localised action from the ground, bringing together both local and international partners to reflect on their shared experience. By showcasing case studies of localisation from different regions in the Global South, this discussion invites both international organizations and local faith actors on how to better  engage with localisation efforts, and what practical recommendations, stemming from local experiences and stories, can lead to a more effective, fair, and equitable engagement with the localisation of humanitarian and development work. 

Through lived experiences and stories from recent localisation projects, local faith actors and international actors—who have partnered to deliver development, peacebuilding and humanitarian work—will engage in a dialogue on how localisation efforts are playing out on the ground.  The webinar is a 90-minute discussion—organized by the JLI and its Fair & Equitable Webinar Working Group alongside the support of KAICIID.