Strengthening Local Leadership in Niger’s Humanitarian Response

In conflict-affected Tillaberi, Niger, humanitarian needs are evolving in a complex environment where the Government, with the support of partners, continues to lead efforts to ensure assistance reaches vulnerable communities. Assistance must be adaptable, rooted in community structures, and delivered through local authorities, national NGOs, and community-based groups.

Through the Standby Partnerships mechanism, ZIF deployed Maren Rahlf to UNICEF Niger to strengthen national and local partnerships that can reach vulnerable communities. From her first weeks, she put localisation principles into practice—visiting field offices, meeting partners, and strengthening locally led planning and decision-making within Government-led coordination frameworks. She worked closely with national and local Government authorities, alongside local NGOs, youth and women’s associations, and community leaders to build a collaborative approach to humanitarian assistance.

Six months on, these organisations are jointly implementing a capacity-sharing plan based on their priorities, focused on resource mobilisation, better information sharing, joint monitoring, and stronger local coordination. This includes established national NGOs mentoring youth associations, pooling transport and storage, and planning responses together based on a joint community engagement approach and clearer understanding of regional capacities.

At Country Office level, Maren helped embed localisation across sectors and promote procedures that enable communities and local NGOs to co-design humanitarian action. This marks a shift from earlier models: “Moving towards more locally led action, also means the UN shifting to a less central role within the system. We have to strengthen local actors’ and communities’ leadership right from the start.”

10 local NGOs sign partnerships with UNICEF @UNICEF Niger

A challenge remains: only a small number of local partners currently meet UN capacity standards, and heavy reliance on them can overwhelm their systems. “We ask local partners to come up to a global standard but there is also work at UN level to simplify procedures and recognise existing systems - while maintaining accountability.”

Nationally, UNICEF is supporting the Government of Niger and OCHA to develop a localisation strategy, including tracking funding to local actors and ensuring they lead coordination structures.

Discussing risk sharing among partners @UNICEF Niger

Maren is realistic that localisation is a long-term effort. Her deployment has trained focal points in each sector and elevated localisation as one of UNICEF Niger’s six strategic priorities, helping ensure momentum continues. She will next support harmonising this approach with those in UNICEF’s Mali and Burkina Faso offices.

Ultimately, she sees relationships as the foundation for sustained change: “We are really sitting at the table and developing something together. This builds trust in partnerships that go beyond mere project implementation. When there is trust we can work in complementarity rather than in competition. It also helps ensure that communities shape every stage of the programme cycle.”