Humanitarian Practice Network

24/08/2026

How can research approaches balance rigour with the flexibility needed to respond to local contexts?

This is the question that Gemma Carder, a Senior Manager for Global Research at Brooke, Action For Working Horses and Donkeys, Marta Bonsi, a One Health researcher, and Mihaiela Swift, a veterinary surgeon, answer in our latest article. Based on mid-term review of a participatory research programme across Ethiopia, Kenya, Nicaragua, Pakistan and Senegal, they provide three key insights into how this balance can be achieved:

🔸Adapting research approaches to local realities rather than applying them rigidly.
🔸Co-production with communities as experts in their contexts rather than as passive sources of data, which has the potential to strengthen research relevance, ownership and impact.
🔸Knowledge accessibility by co-developing communication approaches that are accessible and relevant to communities.

Involving communities throughout the research process can make research more relevant, encourage local ownership and impact.

Read the full article.

Explore how reflection and adaptation can make humanitarian research more inclusive, locally relevant and responsive to communities.

19/08/2026

In northern Mozambique, the transition from humanitarian response towards recovery and development is taking place amid severe funding constraints and continuing humanitarian needs. International presence and resources are contracting, raising questions about what this transition means for localisation.

Nyararai Magudu, the Founder and Technical Director for Girl Child Rights, Tcheizi Mutemba, the Founder and Executive Director of Grupo de Saneamento de Bilibiza, and Damian Lilly, an independent consultant, expose the gap between localisation rhetoric and reality. Local actors in Mozambique are already responding across the humanitarian–development–peace nexus, yet continue to face barriers to direct funding, meaningful coordination leadership and institutional investment. They argue that without a genuine transfer of leadership and resources to local actors, this transition risks becoming a managed withdrawal rather than meaningful localisation.

Read the full article.

As Mozambique transitions from humanitarian response, local actors face persistent barriers to funding and leadership.

13/08/2026

📌 Tenga tarehe hii! Jiunge nasi tarehe 7 Septemba tukizindua toleo la 87 la jarida la Humanitarian Exchange ambalo linaangazia uongozi wa ndani katika mazingira ya misaada ya kibinadamu yanayobadilika.

Uongozi wa ndani wa unahusu nini hasa kivitendo - na unafanyikia wapi kwa kweli? Maswali haya ndiyo kiini cha toleo lijalo la jarida la Humanitarian Exchange, ambapo tutakuwa na mazungumzo yatakayoendeshwa kwa pamoja na wataalamu na watendaji wa kibinadamu kuhusu:
🔹Kwa nini uongozi wa ndani ni muhimu sasa, na kwa nini wataalamu wamemua kuuweka k**a kiini cha toleo hili la jarida
🔹Uzoefu wa uongozi wa ndani katika mazingira mbalimbali ya misaada ya kibinadamu
🔹Vizingiti ambavyo vinaendelea kuzuia ushiriki halisi na ushawishi wa watendaji wa ndani

🔗 Ungana nasi mtandaoni – jisajili sasa: https://HE87launch.rsvpify.com

🌐 Ukalimani utakuwepo katika Kiingereza, Kifaransa, Kiarabu, Kiswahili na Kiburma.

*Waandalizi wenza: Mifumo ya Haki za Wakimbizi wa Asia Pasifiki (Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), Kituo cha asasi za Kiraia na Demokrasia (Center for Civil Society and Democracy CCSD), Miungano ya Kibinadamu wa Wafeministi (The Feminist Humanitarian Network FHN), Muungano wa Wabia wa Ujenzi wa Uwezo (Alliance for Empowering Partnership A4EP), Mifumo ya Kazi za Kibinadamu

13/08/2026

📌 احفظوا الموعد!

انضموا إلينا في 7 سبتمبر لإطلاق العدد 87 من مجلة التبادل الإنساني (Humanitarian Exchange)، والذي يسلّط الضوء على القيادة المحلية في ظل بنية إنسانية متغيّرة.

كيف تبدو القيادة المحلية الفاعلة على أرض الواقع؟ وأين تتحقق فعلياً؟

تقع هذه الأسئلة في صميم العدد الجديد من مجلة التبادل الإنساني، ولذلك سنشارك في استضافة حوار يجمع شبكات وممارسين/ات في المجال الإنساني* لمناقشة:

🔹 لماذا تكتسب القيادة المحلية أهمية خاصة في الوقت الراهن، ولماذا اختارت الشبكات وضعها في صميم هذا العدد من المجلة؟

🔹 تجارب ونماذج للقيادة المحلية في الممارسة العملية عبر سياقات إنسانية مختلفة.

🔹 العوائق التي لا تزال تحدّ من المشاركة الفاعلة للجهات الفاعلة المحلية ومن قدرتها على التأثير.

🔗 انضموا إلينا عبر الإنترنت – سجّلوا الآن:
https://HE87launch.rsvpify.com

🌐 ستتوفر الترجمة الفورية باللغات الإنجليزية والفرنسية والعربية والسواحيلية والبورمية.

* الجهات المشاركة في الاستضافة:
شبكة آسيا والمحيط الهادئ لحقوق اللاجئين (APRRN)، مركز المجتمع المدني والديمقراطية (CCSD)، الشبكة الإنسانية النسوية (FHN)، التحالف من أجل تمكين الشراكات (A4EP)، وشبكة الممارسات الإنسانية (HPN).



Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), Center for Civil Society and Democracy, The Feminist Humanitarian Network, Alliance for Empowering Partnership

13/08/2026

📌 Save the date! Join us on 7 September as we launch the 87th issue of the Humanitarian Exchange magazine, which spotlights local leadership in a changing humanitarian architecture.

What does meaningful local leadership look like in practice – and where is it actually happening? These questions are at the heart of the upcoming Humanitarian Exchange, and as such we’ll be co-hosting a conversation with humanitarian networks and practitioners* on:

🔹Why local leadership matters now, and why networks chose to put it at the centre of this edition of the magazine
🔹Experiences of local leadership in practice across different humanitarian contexts
🔹The barriers that continue to limit meaningful participation and influence of local actors

🔗 Join us online – register now: https://HE87launch.rsvpify.com

🌐 Interpretation will be available in English, French, Arabic, Swahili & Burmese.

*Co-hosts: Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), Center for Civil Society and Democracy (CCSD), The Feminist Humanitarian Network (FHN), Alliance for Empowering Partnershipi (A4EP), Humanitarian Practice Network

11/08/2026

“Displacement is no longer merely a humanitarian consequence of conflict; it has become one of its most powerful instruments.”

Rabah Al-ashqar, a Palestinian researcher and humanitarian consultant, argues that this is evident in Gaza and other regional conflict zones, such as southern Lebanon, reflecting a broader shift in how modern warfare operates. Repeated displacement has fundamentally reshaped everyday life, with consequences extending far beyond the physical movement of people. It erodes psychological stability, social cohesion and the routines that give everyday life a sense of continuity.

Rabah argues that violence can no longer be measured solely by casualty figures, but also by the collapse of the fundamental conditions required for ordinary life.

Read the full article.

Modern warfare is reshaping displacement from a side-effect into an instrument that systematically erodes human dignity and daily life.

03/08/2026

Kenya enacted a new National Disaster Risk Management law in May 2026 during a sombre period marked by a tragic dormitory fire that killed 16 girls and recurrent deadly flooding.

In our latest article, Dr. Francis Opiyo, a risk management and humanitarian expert, argues that the new law marks a significant shift from reactive emergency response towards a more coordinated approach to disaster risk governance. However, he contends that this legislation alone will not improve humanitarian outcomes. Its success will depend on how effectively it strengthens preparedness, clarifies coordination between national and county governments, ensures sustainable financing and meaningfully includes local communities and humanitarian actors in decision-making.

This reform is worth watching closely not only for Kenya but also for what it could mean for disaster governance across the region.

Read the full article.

Analysis of Kenya's new NDRM law and its implications for preparedness, localisation, coordination and humanitarian response.

31/07/2026

Applications are now open for the Refugee Studies Centre's Online School in Forced Migration at the University of Oxford. The online programme offers an interdisciplinary exploration of forced migration, examining the legal, political and anthropological dimensions of displacement through expert-led lectures, live seminars, discussion and opportunities for global networking.

A limited number of fully funded places are available for refugees and others with lived experience of displacement.

Find out more.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functiona...

28/07/2026

Las organizaciones humanitarias colombianas siempre han respondido a las crisis humanitarias y aún así han sido excluidas de los espacios en que se definen las prioridades, se asignan recursos y se diseñan los mecanismos de coordinación. La verdadera localización implica más que cambios en la forma de asignar recursos o el fortalecimiento de capacidades. Ella requiere la transferencia de la autoridad y del poder de toma de decisión hacia los actores locales.

En nuestro último artículo, Pedro Niño Sequeira, Director Ejecutivo de Apoyar, comparte el camino seguido por la Plataforma de Acción Humanitaria Nacional (PAHNAL) para construir una voz colectiva, capaz de entablar el diálogo y negociación con otros actores humanitarios, y así llegar a tener influencia en los procesos de toma de decisión en el sistema humanitario de Colombia.

Lee aquí sobre lo que lo llevó a este cambio.

Descubre cómo PAHNAL Colombia logró que los actores humanitarios locales pasaran de ser sólo implementadores de proyectos a convertirse también en influyentes tomadores de decisión.

28/07/2026

Colombian humanitarian organisations have always responded to humanitarian crises and yet have been excluded from spaces where priorities are set, resources allocated and coordination mechanisms designed. True localisation involves more than shifting resources or capacity-strengthening. It also requires transferring decision-making power and authority to local actors.

In our latest article, Pedro Niño Sequera, Executive Director of Apoyar, chronicles the journey of the National Humanitarian Action Platform of Colombia (PAHNAL) to building a collective voice capable of engaging in dialogue, negotiating with other humanitarian actors and influencing decision-making within Colombia’s humanitarian system.

Read about what led to this shift here.

Discover how PAHNAL Colombia transitioned local humanitarian actors from simple project implementers to influential decision-makers.