Global humanitarian actors call for empowerment of front-line workers in aid system

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Frontline workers are the key to immediately serving the community and people affected by crises but the aid system often does not recognise the value and contribution of front-line workers engaged in the aid system, said speakers at a seminar.

Considering the invaluable contribution of the front-line workers, Alliance for Empowering Partnership (A4EP) organised a session titled 'Empowering frontline actors for equitable partnership for localisation: Democratisation of development and decolonising aid' on Monday (11 December) at the Regional Humanitarian Partnership Week-2023 taking place from 11 to 12 December in Bangkok, said a press release.

The speakers call to identify the critical issues and showcase good examples of empowering front-line workers in order to build a sustainable and accountable aid system at country levels. And also call for attention to the crucial role that UN agencies, INGOs, and national NGOs must play in advancing localisation efforts.

The challenges and opportunities surrounding the localisation agenda in relation to the plight of the frontline workers were explored at the event. Discrimination, the resource challenge working as volunteers, burned out local workers, brain-drain of local organisations – losing local workers to international due to unsecured salary and lack of social security, contractual partnership, challenges to ensuring sustainability of local initiatives, locals bound to limitations set by donors (lack of flexible funding) affecting contracts and well-being of staff and sustainability of operation – are just among the issues confronting frontline workers, they opined.

The session was moderated by Smruti Patel, secretary of A4EP alliance in Geneva, while Md Iqbal Uddin from COAST Foundation in Bangladesh presented the survey result. 

The speakers of the event were Renu Sijapati, general secretary of Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) in Nepal, Anwar Muhammad, global partnerships advisor of People in Need in Pakistan, Aska Joanna Warchal-Beneschi, coordinator of the Polish NGO Forum - Razem, and Ahmed Al Yubaidi from Health and Social Care Organization in Iraq. 

The session was summarised by Regina Nanette Salvador-Antequisa, chair of A4EP and executive director at EcoWEB in the Philippines.

The survey conducted by A4PE and presented by Md Iqbal Uddin from COAST Foundation revealed challenges relating not only to practices but the perception and attitude among humanitarian actors within the sector that somehow perpetuates the remnants of colonialism that remain as obstacles to realising the localization, empowering local actors and locally-led agenda. 

The survey also found confrontation by the power dynamic within local organisations, between local and international partners and the power element in the aid architecture shaping the current state of frontline workers.

In the Question and Answers session, the participants from across the globe emphasised the need for empowering and ensuring accountability to front-line workers. 

Tangible solutions to challenges and issues are offered and already initiated, emphasising the importance of locally-led humanitarian and advocacy actions, people-centred approaches and of local resourcing. We see the importance of shifting power, complementarity and inclusivity in humanitarian response, they opined.