Due to major budget cuts by many donors, international development cooperation and humanitarian aid are undergoing significant structural changes. These developments coincide with debates in recent years on narratives, power relations and the future of aid. As traditional distinctions between donors and recipients are increasingly being reshaped by states’ own or shared interests, debates on decolonising aid, shifting power and changing forms of international cooperation are gaining new momentum. While terminology and concepts are evolving, inequalities in decision-making, access to resources and knowledge production often persist.
Locally Led Development (LLD) and localisation have gained importance as responses to these power imbalances, aiming to strengthen local ownership, decision making and access to resources. At the same time, they build on decades of discussions around ownership, partnership and participation, raising questions about what has truly changed and what structural barriers remain.
For civil society organisations, these debates offer an opportunity to highlight existing practices of locally driven approaches and long term partnerships. However, different contexts, particularly the contrasting dynamics of development cooperation and humanitarian action, shape how far power shifts can actually go.
Language is central to this process: terms such as partnership, capacity building and localisation reflect and influence power relations. Organisations like VENRO and their members therefore need to critically reflect on the narratives they use and the changes they seek to promote.
Working with partner organisations based on shared problem analysis and locally developed solutions has long been part of the self understanding of many civil society organisations, often more strongly than in state or multilateral structures. The current debate provides an opportunity to make these experiences more visible and to critically reflect on what is new about LLD and localisation, where and why structural changes remain limited, and what role civil society can and should play in advancing these approaches.
The guiding questions are:
I. What does “locally led” mean in practice in development cooperation and humanitarian action? Where are the similarities, and where do fundamental differences emerge?
II. Who actually defines what “locally led” means: local actors or international donors, standards and processes?
III. What do new financing approaches look like, and what role can and should civil society play in their implementation, including direct funding models?
IV. To what extent do these financing approaches genuinely shift power, or do they mainly represent a rhetorical adaptation of existing structures?
Program highlights
First Keynote Address on the Topic of “The Future of Local Leadership”
Field Insights on the Topic of Perspectives from Civil Society Actors and International Partners on New Funding Models, Power Dynamics and the Role of Local Organizations
Conversation Spaces
Locally Led in Practice: What Does Localization Really Mean?
Financing Locally Led Development: Core Funding, Direct Funding, and Their Limitations
Civil Society Partnerships: Aspiration and Reality of Locally Led Development
Language, Narratives, and Civic Education: Making Power Visible
Participants can decide on-site which workshop to attend. Approximately 20–25 spots are available per workshop.
Closing Keynote Address on the Topic of “Taking Responsibility for Localization – Rethinking Global Cooperation”
Date
08. December 2026
10am-5pm
Language
English
Costs
Participation in the event is free of charge. Travel and accommodation costs must be organised and covered by participants themselves. Registration is binding.
Registration
You can find the registration link in the invitation.
If you have any further questions, please contact Betül Bahar Tekkılıç (b.tekkilic(at)venro.org).
The programme will be available soon.