Humanitarian Horizons: Power, People and Local Leadership series
As the humanitarian sector grapples with increasingly complex challenges, the need to prioritise, value and integrate local expertise and knowledge has never been more critical. Decades of evidence have demonstrated the necessity to shift from top-down approaches to those that genuinely embrace the diversity of knowledge, skills, and insights found within communities affected by crises and amongst local actors.
Whilst there have been efforts to address issues in the process of producing knowledge and evidence in the sector, leading to incremental changes such as increasing diversity in research teams, a gap remains in practical and tangible steps that can be taken at both policy and operational levels around how to better use knowledge and evidence from communities affected by crisis. Opportunities exist, but we need a clearer articulation of, and support for, the path forward to harness existing momentum.