Building disaster response capacity through localisation

In Neno and Zomba districts, community-based organisations are leading in building climate-resilient communities.

Supported by Save the Children, Beyond Our Hearts Foundation (Bohf) and Youth for Development and Productivity (Yodep) have enhanced their capacity to respond to natural disasters and provide humanitarian relief to affected communities.

Bohf executive director Russell Msiska recalls the difficulties he faced in mobilising humanitarian support for people affected by natural disasters.

When cyclones Ana and Freddy struck the Southern Region, he would travel for over an hour on a bumpy terrain to deliver relief items to affected communities.

“It used to be a tough ordeal to get humanitarian assistance to people affected by natural disasters; it would at times take around seven days without assessment or any support and lives would be lost and properties destroyed,” Msiska said.

However, after benefiting from the Anticipatory Action initiative, funded by Save the Children, the organisation now attracts diverse funding sources to better support vulnerable households and build community resilience

Save the Children anticipatory action manager Charles Chirwa told Devex that the Tiyende Pamodzi localisation initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of government structures and civil society in the two districts to prevent emergencies and respond effectively during emergencies.

It involves training in emergency preparedness, prevention and response capacity for Zomba and Neno district councils and local non-governmental organisations (NGO).

Save the Children has extended the project to 2025 and is now supporting two more CBOs—Neno Active Youth in Development and Tikondane Positive Living Support Organisation.

It will also support the Malawi University of Science and Technology and the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services to provide technical support in disaster risk management and real time data on weather and climate patterns.

Yodep executive director McBlessings Buda said the project has equipped his staff with skills to prevent extensive damage during emergencies.

As a result, they have expanded their outreach programmes and can come up with tailored interventions, transforming them into trusted pillars in disaster response and recovery.

A shock-prone nation

Malawi has become a shock-prone nation, due to unpredictable climate patterns.

In January 2022, Tropical Storm Ana ravaged the Southern Region. Just over a year later, Cyclone Freddy struck, causing torrential rains and multiple floods in the region.

According to the World Bank, the country’s limited resources and capacity to anticipate, respond and recover between disasters have led to a significant increase in humanitarian needs.

The country’s reliance on humanitarian food and cash assistance has grown from eight percent during the 2014-15 lean season to 40 percent in 2016-17, affecting 6.7 million people.

Following Cyclone Freddy, about 130 000 people required humanitarian assistance.

However, the transformation of CBOs has shown the impact of localisation in disaster response as these organisations rapidly responded to emergencies like Freddy.

According to Msiska, CBOs are often the most effective in responding to disasters because they understand the community’s needs and continue to work in the community after national and international NGOs have left.

Empowered CBOs have the capacity to swiftly respond to emergencies due to their established networks and grassroots connections, enabling them to rapidly disseminate critical information and coordinate community-based disaster responses effectively.

Localisation drive

The NGO Regulatory Authority (Ngora) promotes partnerships between local and international organisations to enhance the sustainability of projects after the international partners leave.

Self Help Africa country director Kate Hartley-Louis, whose organisation co-chairs the localisation committee in Malawi, said the country plans to introduce new regulations that demand that international NGOs  distribute 30 percent of their funding to local NGOs to create partnerships that can spearhead sustainable development.

She told Devex in an interview that the regulations, yet to be gazetted, will level the playing field between international organisations, local registered NGOs, and CBOs in the delivery of development projects at the grassroots level.

The focus is on capacity development for national registered NGOs and CBOs to enhance their programming and assessment capabilities, she said.

While the new approach increases resources for local NGOs, she cautioned that building their capacity to manage more resources is essential.

Main challenges

Despite the progress in the country’s localisation drive, several challenges persist. 

Hartley-Louis said many local NGOs are doing good work on the ground, but they are not registered or compliant with Ngora regulations. This renders them ineligible to receive partnership funding from their international counterpart.

She added that international NGOs’ due diligence and partnership procedures, like many donors’ strict compliance requirement, make it difficult for resource-stretched local organisations to access funding.

“Many local NGOs cannot meet these compliance requirements, and these are not going to ease anytime soon,” said Hartley Louis.

She added that many international organisations partner with local actors on a project-specific basis, leaving the latter without core support to maintain the systems that may have been strengthened during a particular project beyond the funding timelines.

Msiska said, despite the positive indicators, the funds disbursement model makes it challenging for the local organisations to effectively use the grants at times.

He said funds are disbursed on a quarterly basis, making it difficult for them to effectively operate when funding delays.

“Despite the challenges we are now able to timely respond to crises because we are now not dependent on one donor,” Msiska said.