The Research deals with:
The capacity of local communities to localise humanitarian response is determined by the experience of developing and implementing humanitarian projects on the ground, as well as by the prior knowledge of the context and the ongoing receipt by local experts of up-to-date data on needs and problems directly from the affected population and community members[2]. It is at the level of local organisations that work in the same field and understand the immediate needs of the affected population that effective and efficient coordination between humanitarian aid providers at different levels can be ensured.
The coordination effectiveness of a community in the field of humanitarian response and the level of progress in localisation is the basis for determining its capacity to localise humanitarian response in times of crisis and its involvement in a particular Humanitarian Cluster, which makes it relevant to conduct an expert study to assess the capacity of communities in the South-Eastern region of Ukraine to localise humanitarian response in times of crisis, particularly in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.
The research methodology is based on the Methodology for Assessing the Capacity of Communities to Localise Humanitarian Response in Crisis, developed by the NGO "The Tenth of April".
The research's purpose is to provide expert analysis and assessment of the capacity of communities in the South-Eastern region of Ukraine to localise humanitarian response during the crisis.
Following the Methodology for Assessing the Capacity of Communities to Localise Humanitarian Response, which is based on the integrated use of several evidence-based approaches and consists of three consecutive stages, an expert study was conducted to assess the results of the assessment:
- Institutional capacity of communities in the South-Eastern region of Ukraine to implement projects and programmes for the humanitarian response plan. The assessment of the institutional capacity of communities to implement the projects and programmes of the humanitarian response plan was carried out using an integral indicator, which is the sum of the scores for three independent indicators. Based on the results of the assessment, communities were grouped according to their capacity to implement projects and programmes of the humanitarian response plan;
- The capacity of communities in the South-Eastern region of Ukraine to localise humanitarian response. Based on the analysis of the evidence of localisation practices in different areas, the localisation of local organisations at the community level was assessed in seven areas that are particularly important for improving local leadership in the humanitarian response: Partnerships, Leadership, Coordination and Complementarity, Financing, Capacity, Influence on policy-making, and Engagement. The assessment identified the levels of evidence of actions taken by communities in the South-Eastern region of Ukraine to apply localisation practices in 7 areas and determined the degree of their capacity to localise humanitarian response during the crisis;
- The capacity of communities to coordinate humanitarian response in specific sectors / clusters at the local level. The coordination capacity of communities was assessed using indicators that reflect the capacity of local organisations to implement response measures within humanitarian clusters. The capacity of local organisations to implement local coordination mechanisms for the effective and coordinated implementation of response measures within humanitarian clusters was assessed. The level of capacity for coordinated humanitarian response in specific sectors / humanitarian clusters at the local level was established for each community.
The expert assessment of the capacity of communities to localise humanitarian response was carried out sequentially at each stage based on the criteria characterising the main indicators that affect the readiness of the respective capable territorial community to localise humanitarian response.
According to the results of the 1st stage of the assessment, out of 269 territorial communities:
- 32 territorial communities received a level of high institutional capacity to implement projects and programmes of the humanitarian response plan;
- 61 territorial communities received the level of optimal institutional capacity to implement projects and programmes of the humanitarian response plan;
- 133 territorial communities received a level of satisfactory institutional capacity to implement projects and programmes of the humanitarian response plan;
- 43 territorial communities received a low level of institutional capacity to implement projects and programmes of the humanitarian response plan;
- No communities have been identified with a critical level of institutional capacity to implement the humanitarian response plan's projects and programmes.
According to the results of the 2nd stage of the assessment, it was determined that out of 42 territorial communities where the survey was conducted:
- 17 territorial communities received a high level of capacity and demonstrated a high level of ability to localise humanitarian response based on the results of the localisation progress study;
- 11 territorial communities received an optimal level of capacity and demonstrated progress in improving local leadership in the field of humanitarian response;
- 11 territorial communities received a sufficient level of evidence of actions to apply localisation practices;
- 3 territorial communities (Kherson region) have a low level of evidence of actions to apply localisation practices.
According to the results of the 3rd stage of the assessment, it was determined that out of 37 communities where interviews were conducted:
- 7 territorial communities received a high level of capacity for coordinated humanitarian response with the potential for intersectoral coordination;
- 9 territorial communities have an optimal level of capacity for coordinated humanitarian response;
- 17 territorial communities have a sufficient level of capacity for coordinated humanitarian response in a particular sector / humanitarian cluster;
- 4 territorial communities (2 in the Kherson region and 2 in the Zaporizhzhia region) were assessed as having a lowcapacity level for coordinated humanitarian response.
[1] Harrison L., Kondratenko D., Korenkova K. Options for supporting and strengthening local humanitarian action in Ukraine: a scoping exercise report. Commissioned by the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC). November 2022. URL: https://www.dec.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/document/2023-01/DEC%20Ukraine%20Appeal%20localisation%20scoping%20paper%20UKR.pdf
[2] Assessment of the baseline for localisation of humanitarian response in Ukraine. NGO Resource Centre (NGORC), InfoSapiens, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), Humanitarian Advisory Group(HAG). 2023. URL: https://www.icvanetwork.org/uploads/2023/09/Humanitarian-Localization-Baseline-for-Ukraine-Ukraine.pdf
The research was prepared within the framework of the project of NGO "The Tenth of April" and Oxfam GB.