Strengthening Locally Led Relief Models in Sudan
Summary
In 2024, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation committed to providing $525,000 to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) by the end of 2024 to partner with local responders to address conflict-related humanitarian needs in Sudan, as part of the Strengthening Local Humanitarian Leadership Philanthropic Collaborative (LHL) initiative. This initiative is committed to identify and fund flexible financing approaches to support local humanitarian responders in Sudan with the objective to scale-up the overall level of resources provided to groups implementing critical last-mile services in their communities. The ongoing crisis in Sudan is one of the largest, overlooked humanitarian crises in the world, and Sudanese locally led approaches have become the quickest and most effective methods to reach those in need. This initiative aligns with the Foundation’s Emergency Response Team’s strategy to collaborate with established humanitarian organizations and provide fast and flexible funding to address acute humanitarian needs in contexts of rapid onset disasters.
Approach
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will provide $525,000 to Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in 2024 to support locally-led relief models in Sudan. NRC will provide approximately 60 group cash transfers (GCT) , with each GCT up to $5,000, to established and approved Local Responders (a Local Responder may be an ERR, a Mutual Aid Initiative, a Community Organization, etc.) . NRC will follow its own established process for identifying and approving Local Responders, disbursing funds, and conducting post distribution monitoring. NRC, in partnership with Shabaka, will also conduct an Impact Evaluation of this model for broader sharing within the humanitarian community.
Potential Challenges/Risks include: 1) Government crackdown on Local Responders; 2) Fraud and Corruption; 3) Armed Conflict/Insecurity; 4) Increased Attention on Local Responders. NRC has developed mitigation measures to limit the negative impact of these risks.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Emergency Response Team will provide funding, strategic thought partnership, and guidance to NRC during the implementation of this grant.
Action Plan
Background
After more than one-year of conflict, the situation in Sudan remains tenuous with active fighting continuing to affect civilian populations across the country. Current assessments indicate that 1/3 of the population (~45-50 million pre-conflict) is at risk of famine, 9M people have been internally displaced, and 5M children <5 is acutely malnourished. Access remains limited for international NGOs and UN agencies, with most organizations maintaining operational capacity in the most conflict-affected areas via local partners. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing funding to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) to support a locally-led relief model that will provide targeted group cash transfers to Local Responders. These Local Responders represent local communities and can ensure last mile delivery of critical food, health, and WASH assistance to their communities. This model demonstrates a creative and potentially impactful and efficient model that will ultimately directly assist those most impacted by the current conflict. In addition to scaling a creative locally-led model, this commitment will also make an investment in evaluating the impact of this model and develop a shareable report highlighting impact, best practices, and recommendations for scaling or application in other contexts. This investment aligns with the Foundation Emergency Response Team's strategic approach to provide fast and flexible funding to established humanitarian organizations in order to address acute humanitarian needs to populations affected by rapid onset disasters.[commitment-title title='Progress Update'] [commitment-title title='Partnership Opportunities']