‘Localisation’ concern prompts NGO to withdraw from major UN funding

Save the Children International says it will “progressively withdraw” from the Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs) offered to NGOs by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

It is also reviewing its fundraising practices to ensure it does not compete with local NGOs.

The NGO explained in a blog on its website that this decision was a response to OCHA not allocating enough money to local organisations, as opposed to international ones. CBPFs allocated approximately $940m (€803m) in 2024 alone.

Save the Children’s blog said that local actors “understand the context, the culture and the needs in ways that international actors never fully can” and “are present before crises emerge and remain long after international attention has moved elsewhere”.

According to its statement, Save the Children will begin withdrawing from these funds in January 2026, and conclude this process by the end of 2027. The blog, by Save the Children International’s senior humanitarian director Abdurahman Sharif, continues:

“Our role, as we see it, is to complement and support that leadership, not to substitute it… This is not a retreat from humanitarian action. It is a step toward genuine localisation.”

In a policy briefing released alongside its statement, Save the Children notes that only 8% of all global humanitarian funding in 2024 was allocated to national NGOs, a long way off the 25% target set in 2016’s Grand Bargain agreement, whose signatories included OCHA. While CBPFs have performed better – 54% of money went to national NGOs in 2025 – the policy briefing argues that these funds still “disproportionately” benefit non-local organisations.

Sharif’s blog also urges other NGOs to follow:

“Our withdrawal from CBPFs will be meaningless if other international NGOs simply fill the gap we leave behind. We urge our fellow international organisations to examine their own positions. Are we prepared to accept a redefinition of our role in the service of a more locally-led humanitarian system?”

Sharif’s blog also notes Save the Children’s other commitments to localisation, alongside CBPF withdrawal, including in the field of fundraising. He writes:

“We will continue advocating for the reforms that help local and national actors access funding directly. We are reviewing our fundraising practices to ensure we are not competing with local actors, as well as looking at our own partnership practices to make them more equitable. We will improve how we track and report funding to local actors, disaggregated by partner type, including women-led and children-led organisations. We will highlight the leadership of local actors and ensure our reporting, communications, and advocacy are shaped and delivered jointly with them, making their contributions and voices much more visible.”

Picture by Global Residence Index via Unsplash.