What is localisation in humanitarian aid?

In the humanitarian sector, localisation refers to shifting power and resources to local actors in affected countries so they can lead and shape humanitarian responses. It focuses on strengthening local capacity, leadership, and funding to respond to crises and support long-term sustainability.

The localisation agenda is often presented as a reform agenda within the humanitarian system. For us in the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), it is neither a reform project nor a transactional transfer of responsibility. It is a long-standing way of working grounded in accompaniment, local presence, and shared responsibility, walking and working with communities rather than for them, and shaping responses together through collaboration and co-creation.

The JRS localisation approach

At the heart of the JRS approach to humanitarian localisation is accompaniment: being with people, rather than doing for them. This recognises refugees and forcibly displaced people as rights-holders with knowledge, capacities, and leadership of their own.

From its early years, JRS has emphasised restoring dignity and hope. Bill Yeomans SJ, JRS Asia Pacific, reflected that assistance must be offered in a way that restores self-worth and rekindles hope. Today, this continues through presence, listening, and participation. As former International Director Mark Raper SJ has also noted: including refugees in planning and decision-making and communicating transparently are essential to this way of working.

Localisation, in this sense, is relational rather than transactional, grounded in listening, trust, and shared humanity.

Cultivating agency and local leadership

A core element of localisation at JRS is agency. Displaced and host communities are not passive recipients of assistance; they are actors in shaping responses, rebuilding lives, and strengthening social cohesion.

This includes supporting refugee-led, women-led, and community-based responses, and creating space for meaningful participation throughout the project cycle. It also involves recognising the complementary roles of local, national, and international actors, and sharing leadership rather than concentrating it.

Faith-based and community actors often have deep roots in places affected by displacement and are among the first responders in times of crisis. In most circumstances local religious communities are the first which people turn to for protection, assistance and counselling. Their proximity, trust, and contextual understanding are important assets in complex and insecure environments.

At the same time, JRS recognises the essential role of governments in protection and service delivery, particularly in health and education. Humanitarian localisation requires close collaboration with national and local authorities to strengthen systems and fulfill human rights obligations. It also requires sustained international engagement. International actors remain vital for multi-country learning, advocacy, and two-way knowledge exchange. Localisation does not mean withdrawal; it means responsible partnership.

The challenges of localisation in the current humanitarian context

If humanitarian localisation is rushed or under-resourced, it can shift responsibility for refugee response to local actors without giving them enough support. This issue is made even more pressing in today’s constrained funding environment.

Poorly planned transitions can undermine access to education, health, protection, and other essential services.

In contexts where international actors have historically run parallel systems, transitions require careful planning and sustained investment. For JRS, localisation involves deliberate and gradual transitions that strengthen systems rather than overwhelm them. International solidarity remains essential, including predictable funding, shared learning, and advocacy that connects local realities with decision-making spaces.

Examples of localisation across JRS’s work

Across programmes and sectors, localisation shapes how JRS works rather than adding a separate layer of activity.

JRS operations are embedded in local contexts. They are largely led by local staff, including people with lived experience of displacement, and run in close partnership with local organisations, Church actors, and Jesuit networks. Supported by a global framework, JRS centres its work on accompaniment and on the capacities, agency, and wisdom of forcibly displaced communities to meaningfully shape decisions that affect their lives.

Through accompaniment, JRS remains committed to localisation that is relational, just, and transformative.