📋 Tender Overview
Aid localization in Niger is weak. Indeed INGOs and United Nations Agencies remain the recipients of the majority of funding. Those received by LNNGOs relate only to amounts that do not cover all the general costs while LNNGOs have a reduced capacity to resort to co-financing from their own funds or with other donors.It is true that LNNGOs are faced with an organizational deficit both externally at the level of national coordination platforms for example and internally at the level of management processes and financial controls. Added to this are issues of independence neutrality and transparency of certain LNNGOs as well as compliance with regulations. All of this does not obviously make it possible to reassure the donors as to the requirements linked to the financing. We note however that in 2020 at the height of covid 19 LNNGO funding quadrupled which tends to demonstrate that direct funding is possible. Furthermore localization can progress with flexible funding tools favoring nationallocal partners and geared towards strengthening and empowerment.While the humanitarian coordination frameworks are strategic there is weak leadership and weak participation of LNNGOs in the activities of sectoral clusters and working groups at both national and local levels. This lack of leadership and participation stems from multiple causes including an organizational deficit mentioned above and a weak ability to grasp strategic issues in the humanitarian field which often requires expertise that is lacking within the human resources of LNNGOs. However we have come across some encouraging initiatives implemented by international partners that could improve the situation. In particular the localization initiative implemented by Save The Children to strengthen the leadership of LNNGOs in sector clustersworking groups.We must also not ignore that the lack of participation of LNNGOs in humanitarian coordination frameworks or in spaces for building and monitoring public policies or even in the media space deprives them of a presence that is essential to attract more influence and funding. In terms of the visibility of achievements for example the place alongside international partners is often empty which tends to affect the influence and direct access to donors.Localization although underfunded is progressing timidly through shared decision-making and the quality of the partnership. The nationallocal partner is involved in the operational steering of the activities but the international partner retains the strategic steering thematic orientation budget distribution institutional set-up of the project etc.. The partnerships that we meet do not generally reach the level of co-management of projects but some have set up mechanisms for shared dialogue and management which testify to a better consideration of the role of national partners premises. In the same vein the participation of LNNGOs in strategic humanitarian issues through the Humanitarian Response Plan is increasing from 4LNNGOs in 2016 to 25LNNGOs in 2023. In additionLocalization is also progressing in its dimension of strengthening the organizational and technical capacities of LNNGOs and sharing skills. However capacity building still seems to respond more to the needs of the partnership as perceived by the international partner than to the real needs expressed by the LNNGOs. Some areas such as information management and new technologies or even financial and human resources management are thus still little visited.The analysis carried out within the framework of this inventory of localization in Niger sheds light on many challenges but allows us to believe in a positive evolution provided that concrete actions are carried out on the contextual factors the structuringcapacities of the NNGOs L and the positioning of international partners. It should be mentioned that this inventory does not relate to the particular modality of partnership within the Red Cross Movement which consists in the support that the National Societies the IFRC or the ICRC in support of the Red Cross Nigerian Red.While localization is progressing in some respects it is not progressing for women-led LNNGOs. With less than 1 of humanitarian funding very low participation in clusters and sector working groups no structure eligible for the FHRAOC and non-existent influence at the EHP.It should be noted that 81 national and local actors including 74 NNGOL as well as 29 international actors participated in this study. Some key actors in the humanitarian response could not contribute to the study due to their unavailability at the time of data collection while other local and national actors had no knowledge of the concept of localization. The bilateral meetings and the process of verifying the information communicated by the actors took longer than expected and this led to a reduction in the number of group discussions.Localization for national and local state actors will be the subject of a second study within the framework of the Flagship initiative. In addition the issue of community participation is not addressed because an assessment has already been made by the AAP expert NORCAP OCHA.
