Engaging with the Humanitarian Localisation Agenda from ‘Below’ in Uganda

The document examines the role of 'civic humanitarians'—local actors embedded in society through faith, community, or ethnic ties—within Uganda's refugee response. It argues that while Uganda's progressive policies facilitate refugee-led organisations (RLOs), the localisation agenda is hindered by stringent national registration requirements and narrow, techno-managerial definitions of accountability. The authors highlight that refugees rely heavily on sociocultural support practices (such as 'saidu' and 'ubuntu' philosophy) that remain invisible in formal humanitarian debates. To improve localisation, the brief recommends creating separate registration tracks for RLOs, developing flexible funding mechanisms, and broadening the understanding of accountability to include community-driven and relational models.

• Community-led assistance and sociocultural practices of helping and sharing among refugees and host communities are critical to the aid landscape but frequently go unacknowledged by international actors.
• South Sudanese refugees in Uganda utilise specific sociocultural support practices based on communitarian ethics and Ubuntu philosophy, including 'saidu' (help), 'oya' (communal labour), 'lokita' (rotational labour), and 'rabita' (crowdfunding and savings).
• The humanitarian localisation agenda in Uganda is obstructed by rigid top-down frameworks and stringent national registration requirements under the Uganda National NGO Act, which apply the same standards to small community groups as to large international NGOs.
• Because partnerships are restricted to formally registered organisations, many refugee-led organisations (RLOs) act merely as extensions of international actors without real influence over resource allocation or decision-making.
• There is a conflict between the 'techno-managerial' accountability required by international donors and the 'relational' accountability used by local civic actors, which is based on trust, kinship, and community leaders.
• The authors recommend that donors and policymakers implement flexible funding, such as 'seed funding', and create a separate registration track for community and refugee-led organisations to avoid excluding specialised groups.

APA

Viga, E., Serwajja, E., Refstie, H., & Horst, C. (2024). Engaging with the Humanitarian Localisation Agenda from ‘Below’ in Uganda. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/7edafb37-d92a-4f74-a23d-c4d0317487b5/PRIO Policy Brief 10-2024.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Viga, Emmanuel, Eria Serwajja, Hilde Refstie, and Cindy Horst. Engaging with the Humanitarian Localisation Agenda from ‘Below’ in Uganda. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2024. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/7edafb37-d92a-4f74-a23d-c4d0317487b5/PRIO Policy Brief 10-2024.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Viga |first1=Emmanuel |last2=Serwajja |first2=Eria |last3=Refstie |first3=Hilde |last4=Horst |first4=Cindy |title=Engaging with the Humanitarian Localisation Agenda from ‘Below’ in Uganda |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=2024 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/7edafb37-d92a-4f74-a23d-c4d0317487b5/PRIO Policy Brief 10-2024.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{viga2024engaging, author = {Viga, Emmanuel and Serwajja, Eria and Refstie, Hilde and Horst, Cindy}, title = {{Engaging with the Humanitarian Localisation Agenda from ‘Below’ in Uganda}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2024}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/7edafb37-d92a-4f74-a23d-c4d0317487b5/PRIO Policy Brief 10-2024.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }