ACBAR

Localization Technical Working Group (LTWG)

To assess the current status of localization, the Localization Technical Working Group (LTWG), hosted by ACBAR, conducted regional workshops in the Central, North, South, and West regions of Afghanistan in late October and early November. The aim of these workshops was to gather insights on current practices, examples, and desired future objectives across seven key domains of localization. The workshops brought together a diverse group of participants, including representatives from national NGOs, community-based organizations, International NGOs, and community elders. Participants highlighted the current practices which impact efforts toward localization, including short-term partnerships, limited and inflexible funding, insufficient visibility of local organizations, inadequate support for long-term institutional capacity development, limited participation of community and minimal involvement of local actors in the early stages of project design, and more.

Participants expressed a desire for more equitable, trust-based partnerships, flexible funding, stronger complementarity between INGOs and NNGOs, improved coordination and representation in coordination bodies, balanced leadership role, enhanced capacity development, promote participation in humanitarian and development programs/policies, and bottom-up approaches that support sustainability.

Through structured group discussions and presentations, participants explored the current status, practices, and objectives related to localization efforts in Afghanistan. The insights generated during the workshops will directly inform the localization baseline assessment and report and contribute to the development of a three-year LTWG strategy in Afghanistan.