Local authorities should be involved in evaluating humanitarian programmes

The Council conclusions on forced displacement and development are positive but the role of local and regional governments must be strengthened, stress PLATFORMA at the eve of the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS). 

PLATFORMA welcomes the Council’s support to a new EU approach to forced displacement which better integrates a developmental perspective. Indeed, humanitarian response should avoid creating situations of aid-dependency and promote instead the self-reliance of refugees and displaced persons.
PLATFORMA endorses the Council’s commitment to support local authorities in the implementation of plans and policies to favour socio-economic inclusion of displaced persons. However, it believes that local authorities should not only be involved in the implementation phase but also when designing and evaluating humanitarian programmes. This is crucial to prevent humanitarian actors from weakening already existing local government structures as well as to ensure an effective coordination between all actors involved.
The Conclusions come in a particularly timely moment given next week’s first World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul. PLATFORMA is a signatory of the Charter on Urban Crises which will be launched in Istanbul and calls for greater collaboration between city, humanitarian and development actors when responding to crises.
Over 5,000 participants are expected: heads of state and government, mayors and local elected officials, crisis-affected communities, CEOs from the private sector, heads of multilateral organizations, national and international NGOs, and representatives from the youth, civil society, and academic sectors.
Globally, more than 60 million people – refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) – are forcibly displaced because of conflict, violence and human rights violations.