Recognising the value of localisation and building on the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) commitments, the Global Protection Cluster (GPC) and its four Areas of Responsibilities (AoRs) are seeking to meet the commitments made with regards to localisation and ensure that protection response strategies and coordination mechanisms are guided by the principle – “as local as possible, as international as necessary.”
The GPC Localisation of Protection initiative is therefore an approach that supports, when appropriate, local partners to take their rightful place at the centre of the humanitarian system and to influence and shape the humanitarian strategies and interventions that affect them, ensuring they have a voice in coordination mechanisms and can bring vital information about protection needs on the ground. This means ensuring and increasing local actors’ engagement in both field coordination mechanisms and global strategic decision making.
To contribute to this objective, the GPC piloted the localisation initiative in 7 countries (Nigeria, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Libya, Myanmar and Pakistan) over the course of 2017-2018, analysing local actors’ engagement in protection coordination groups, identifying good practices and gaps as well as developing guidance and tools to advance the localisation agenda.