Humanitarian Practice Network

05/10/2026

Local actors are unable to take the lead in humanitarian responses – primarily because the humanitarian system, developed in the early 19th century, was not originally designed for them.

Writing for the latest edition of our Humanitarian Exchange magazine, Rajeev Jha, a development professional with nearly two decades of experience in South Asia, highlights how for years, the humanitarian system prioritised upward accountability to donors and governments rather than downward accountability to affected communities.

Rajeev’s article explains how an ideological shift has occurred in more recent years, with localisation unfolding as a core concept within the humanitarian sector. Localisation has been repeatedly examined, debated and reimagined, and the language we collectively use within the system has greatly evolved − yet, the distance between aspiration and reality remains. This article explores why that distance persists – read on ➡ buff.ly/c6dp9Ay



Alliance for Empowering Partnership, United Nations OCHA

01/10/2026

Cash Transfer Programmes (CTPs) are widely implemented in humanitarian contexts because of their multiple benefits. However, little attention has been given to CTPs focusing on animal production and yet these programmes have unique challenges that may hamper project outcomes.

In our latest article, Marta Bonsi, a One Health researcher and programme manager, shares operational considerations and practical lessons to help practitioners design more resilient and sustainable CTP interventions focused on animal production. These include:

🤝Adopting a One Health Approach that integrates animal health, human nutrition, hygiene promotion and psychosocial support.
🔃Ensuring access to veterinary care beyond the cash grant.
👥Engaging landlords early to reduce risks of rent increases and eviction.

Read the full article.

Practical lessons for sustainable cash-based animal production interventions covering training, veterinary care and programme design.

29/09/2026

📆 Save the date. The conversation around Humanitarian Exchange 87 continues.

On 13 October, The Feminist Humanitarian Network is co-hosting an online webinar with HPN, bringing together Anila Noor, Madina Yunis, Ohaila Shomar and Majeda Saqqa, authors of two articles on women’s leadership in Kenya and Palestine. We’ll discuss who produces humanitarian knowledge, whose analysis is heard and how it shapes practice.

Event details and registration link in the post below.

18/09/2026

For hundreds of thousands of Afghans forcibly returned from Pakistan and Iran, returning home does not mark the end of displacement.

Mehrullah Rahmani, an Afghan author and teacher, examines how return can become a continuation of displacement for Afghan returnees, who often arrive with few resources and struggle to access basic necessities and legal documentation. Many settle in remote areas where humanitarian assistance is limited and longer-term support remains uncertain.

Humanitarian organisations have stepped in where formal systems have faltered. Grassroots initiatives like the Afghan Horizons Network and international organisations are providing vital assistance. However, funding shortages and the scale of need continue to limit the reach and duration of this support.

Read the full article.

This article examines the realities facing forced Afghan returnees, the response and lessons for practitioners.

15/09/2026

In our latest article, Dr. Si Thu Htin Aung, an Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in Southeast Asia, introduces the concept of ‘super-localisation’ in Myanmar.

Myanmar has experienced multiple crises including the 2021 military coup, Cyclone Mocha in 2023 and the March 2025 earthquake. In each crisis, local organisations, community networks, ethnic service providers, faith-based groups, volunteers and informal responders mobilised first, providing early relief where formal access was restricted. International agencies later relied on these networks to extend assistance to affected communities.

Yet these actors carry the greatest security risks and compliance burdens while remaining excluded from funding and decision-making. Dr. Aung describes this as super-localisation where responsibility, risk and delivery are pushed to local groups while funding, protection and authority remain at the top.

He argues that genuine localisation must go beyond relying on local actors to deliver aid and give them the resources, protection and power to shape humanitarian decisions.

Read the full article.

Local actors are central to Myanmar’s humanitarian response but localisation can reproduce inequality when power and resources do not follow.

09/09/2026

“Local actors lead but they are not acknowledged in the global architecture.” Sudhanshu Singh.

Earlier this week, we brought together contributors* and partners* to launch the latest issue of Humanitarian Exchange 87, Local leadership in a changing humanitarian architecture.

The discussion explored what local leadership looks like in practice across different contexts, the structural barriers that continue to constrain it and what needs to change for the humanitarian system to better recognise, resource and support local leadership.

🎥 If you missed the event or would like to revisit the conversation, recordings are now available in five languages:

🎧 English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lYbnb0me7I
🎧 Arabic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hzOdhfFao4
🎧 Burmese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlLs_UWh2H0
🎧 French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUuw68r0YfU
🎧 Swahili: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toQO4AdfXfs

A huge thank you to our contributors, partners, interpreters and everyone who joined us for such a rich discussion.

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

03/09/2026

“Humanitarian response needs an absence audit.”

Lassi Murto, a Programme and Thematic Advisor at Abilis Foundation, describes an absence audit as a process of asking not only who was counted, but who was not and why. This is especially important for people with disabilities, whose absence from humanitarian data can be an operational warning that a response is failing to reach those most in need.

In our latest article, Lassi sets out practical steps for conducting an absence audit:

🔎 Check who is missing after registration, distribution and the introduction of feedback mechanisms and services
🚧 Identify the barriers preventing people with disabilities from accessing them
💰 Budget for corrective action to address the barriers.

Read the full article.

Learn how conducting an absence audit helps humanitarian actors reach people with disabilities in crisis response.

01/09/2026

📣 One week to go!

If you haven't downloaded your copy yet, the latest issue of Humanitarian Exchange is live and available in English, Arabic and Swahili.

And on Monday 7 September, join us online to continue the conversation and hear directly from the people behind the issue.

📖 Download the magazine below
💻 Register for the online launch below

See you on 7 September!

OUT NOW: We’re delighted to announce that the latest issue of our Humanitarian Exchange magazine has just been published in English, Arabic and Swahili!

The 87th edition of Humanitarian Exchange spotlights local leadership in a changing humanitarian architecture across Bangladesh, Syria, Asia-Pacific and beyond. Local leaders are reshaping the sector, and this issue puts their insights front and centre. In this magazine we unpack:

🔸 What pooled funds reveal about localisation in practice
🔸 Centring displaced women in climate and humanitarian decision-making
🔸 How local actors are navigating structural barriers to localisation

And much more. Don’t miss it – head to our website now to read Humanitarian Exchange 87 in…

➡️ English: https://odihpn.org/en/magazine/local-leadership-in-a-changing-humanitarian-architecture/
➡️ Arabic: https://odihpn.org/ar/مجلة/القيادة-المحلية-في-ظلّ-بنيةٍ-إنسانيةٍ/
➡️ Swahili: https://odihpn.org/sw/magazine/uongozi-wa-ndani-katika-mfumo-wa-kibinadamu-unaobadilika/

We will also be officially launching Humanitarian Exchange 87 in an online event on 7 September – more info and registration: https://odihpn.org/en/event/magazine-launch-event-humanitarian-exchange-87/

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

27/08/2026

صدر الآن!
يسرّنا أن نعلن عن صدور أحدث عدد من مجلة «التبادل الإنساني» باللغات الإنجليزية والعربية والسواحيلية!
يسلّط العدد السابع والثمانون من مجلة «التبادل الإنساني» الضوء على القيادة المحلية في ظل بنية إنسانية متغيّرة، في بنغلاديش وسوريا ومنطقة آسيا والمحيط الهادئ وغيرها. يعيد القادة والقائدات المحليون رسم ملامح القطاع، ويضع هذا العدد رؤاهم وتجاربهم في صلب النقاش. نتناول في هذا العدد:

🔸ما تكشفه الصناديق التمويلية المشتركة عن تطبيق التوطين في القطاع الإنساني على أرض الواقع
🔸وضع النساء النازحات في صميم عملية صنع القرار المتعلق بالمناخ والعمل الإنساني
🔸كيفية تعامل الجهات الفاعلة المحلية مع العوائق الهيكلية أمام التوطين في القطاع الإنساني، وتعزيز قدرات المنظمات المحلية

وغير ذلك الكثير. لا تفوّتوا قراءته - توجّهوا الآن إلى موقعنا الإلكتروني للاطلاع على العدد السابع والثمانين من مجلة «التبادل الإنساني» باللغات التالية:
⬅️الإنجليزية: الرابط:https://odihpn.org/en/magazine/local-leadership-in-a-changing-humanitarian-architecture/
⬅️العربية: الرابط: https://odihpn.org/ar/مجلة/القيادة-المحلية-في-ظلّ-بنيةٍ-إنسانيةٍ/
⬅️السواحيلية: الرابط: https://odihpn.org/sw/magazine/uongozi-wa-ndani-katika-mfumo-wa-kibinadamu-unaobadilika/

كما سنطلق رسميا العدد ٨٧ من مجلة "التبادل الانساني" خلال فعالية عبر الانترنت نهار ٧ سبتمبر - لمزيد من المعلومات والتسجيل: https://odihpn.org/en/event/magazine-launch-event-humanitarian-exchange-87/

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

27/08/2026

LIMESHATOLEWA: Tumefurahia kutangaza kuwa toleo la jarida la Humanitarian Exchange limechapishwa katika lugha ya Kiingereza, Kiarabu, na Kiswahili!

Toleo la 87 la jarida la Humanitarian Exchange linaangazia uongozi wa ndani katika mazingira ya kibinadamu yanayobadilika nchini Bangladeshi, Syria, eneo la Asia-Pasifiki na maeneo mengine. Viongozi wa ndani wanabadilisha sekta hii, na toleo hili linaangazia na kuweka mitazamo yao k**a kiini chake. Katika jarida hili tunaelezea:

🔸 Mambo yanayofichuliwa na hazina za fedha za pamoja kuhusu ujanibishaji kiutendaji
🔸 Kuwashirikisha kikamilifu wanawake waliokimbia makwao katika kufanya maamuzi yanayohusu masuala ya tabianchi na misaada ya kibinadamu
🔸 Jinsi watendaji wa ndani wanavyokabiliana na vikwazo vya kimuundo vinavyoathiri ujanibishaji na jinsi uwezo wa mashirika ya ndani unavyojengwa

Na zaidi. Usikose - tembelea tovuti yetu sasa na usome Humanitarian Exchange 87 katika...

➡️ Kiingereza: https://odihpn.org/en/magazine/local-leadership-in-a-changing-humanitarian-architecture/
➡️ Kiarabu: https://odihpn.org/ar/مجلة/القيادة-المحلية-في-ظلّ-بنيةٍ-إنسانيةٍ/
➡️ Kiswahili: https://odihpn.org/sw/magazine/uongozi-wa-ndani-katika-mfumo-wa-kibinadamu-unaobadilika/

Pia tutazindua rasmi Humanitarian Exchange 87 katika hafla ya mtandaoni tarehe 7 Septemba – maelezo zaidi na usajili: https://odihpn.org/en/event/magazine-launch-event-humanitarian-exchange-87/

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