Takeaways from the Localisation of Inclusive Humanitarian Partnerships

Authors: Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) Indonesia and the Philippines, Advocacy for Disability Inclusion (AUDISI), Humanitarian Forum Indonesia (HFI), and Resilience Development Initiative (RDI), Forum Inklusi Disabilitas Kabupaten Magelang (FIDAKAMA), Habitat for Humanity, Dompet Dhuafa, and Central Sulawesi OPDs Working Group.

Building inclusive partnerships between local humanitarian actors, Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), and Older Persons’ Associations (OPAs) is crucial to strengthening the localisation of humanitarian response. Since 2021, Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) Indonesia and the Philippines, Advocacy for Disability Inclusion (AUDISI), Humanitarian Forum Indonesia (HFI), and Resilience Development Initiative (RDI) have been jointly implementing the ‘Partners for Inclusion: Localising Inclusive Humanitarian Response (PIONEER)’ Project supported by Elrha’s Humanitarian Innovation Fund. Through this project, we collaborate to co-develop and co-implement humanitarian preparedness for response programmes with the PIONEER members in Magelang district (which include FIDAKAMA, an OPDs Working Group, and Habitat for Humanity, a humanitarian organisation, and Yayasan Ibu Zaenab OPA), and in Sigi district (which include the Central Sulawesi OPDs Working Group, Dompet Dhuafa, a humanitarian organisation, and Pelita Hati OPA). Below are some key takeaways from our collaboration, based on the different experiences of the partners.

BETTER CAPACITY ON LOCALISATION AND DISABILITY INCLUSION

“PIONEER seeks to develop high-quality and equal partnerships, support capacity enhancement, and ensure meaningful participation between local humanitarian organisations, OPDs, and OPAs. We have learned to collaborate effectively with all partners and improve our communication and coordination skills. We also gain better understanding about the 7 dimensions of localisation, which were useful to jointly identify and determine the programmatic indicators for achieving our objectives.” – ASB.

“To enhance the capacity of all stakeholders involved in PIONEER, we conducted some training activities. AUDISI was responsible for developing training on the concepts and types of disability, and how to interact with persons with disabilities and older persons. This training was intended for local government agencies and humanitarian organisations. Through this training, the participants understood that disability does not lie on the person—which is the core idea of the medical or charity approach of disability—but on the environment that hinders a person with disability to enjoy their human rights in all aspects of life. They also learned practical skills in disability etiquette in a post-disaster context, such as how to ensure accessible shelter, as well as how to interact and communicate with persons with different types of disabilities.” – AUDISI

CHALLENGES AND LESSONS FROM INCLUSIVE COLLABORATION

“PIONEER provides an equal opportunity for all organisations to actively participate and contribute throughout the project cycle, from the planning, up until monitoring and evaluation. All capacity building activities are done by, with, and for all of us. Every organisation has its own roles and contributions for each activity. This project has been a medium for us to share knowledge, skills, and resources, which strengthen our individual and collective capacities. By collaborating with partners, we have learned that building trust and commitment is key to achieve meaningful participation.” – HFI

“Implementing a collaboration between local humanitarian organisations, OPDs, and OPAs with different backgrounds could pose some challenges. During the planning stage of the programme, we found some difficulties in establishing common understanding of the PIONEER mechanism among the PIONEER members in Magelang and Sigi. We solved this issue by establishing regular, intensive discussions between PIONEER management (ASB, AUDISI, HFI, and RDI) and members. We have learned that close coordination is essential to assist local humanitarian organisations, OPDs, and OPAs in preparing and implementing project activities.” – RDI.

“PIONEER’s collaborative partnership allows us to learn from other organisations, create a collective strategy and motivate each other to manage this programme effectively. At first, it was challenging for us to understand this mechanism in short period of time. However, we managed to plan and implement capacity building related programmes that are accessible for persons with disabilities in Magelang. We have learned how to design a partnership that strengthens the leadership of local actors, establish relationships with various organisations, and manage the project budget and reporting accordingly.” – Habitat for Humanity.

“Despite the different roles that we have in this collaboration, we have learned that it is crucial to support the OPDs and OPAs in strengthening their capacities during the project management. We need to consult with our partners with disabilities to find out what practices and capacities they want to learn from this partnership. By assisting and contributing to the implementation of OPDs’ project activities in Sigi, we can jointly ensure that our activities are in line with the work plan and objectives. Learning together and sharing more opportunities with partners with disabilities can also help us achieve a more equal partnership in PIONEER.” – Dompet Dhuafa.

RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENT

“The PIONEER mechanism enables us to work closely with the local government in Magelang. The national and regional government agencies have been implementing inclusive indicators in their disaster response activities. Nevertheless, inclusive humanitarian practices have not been fully understood and implemented by the disaster risk management actors at the local or village level. This is shown by the fact that persons with disabilities and older persons have not been involved in the village structure of disaster risk management. Hence, we try to improve this situation by improving the awareness and capacity of the local government officials on how to interact with and actively involve persons with disabilities and older persons.” – FIDAKAMA.

“In Sigi, we also build partnerships and close coordination with local government organisations, such as the Regional Disaster Management Agency and Village Community Empowerment Agency. They contribute to support the implementation of PIONEER mechanism, which can be synchronised with various local government programmes.” – Central Sulawesi OPDs Working Group.