Event
October 22, 2026
09:00 - 10:00
“Any help that is done for me without me is done against me.” Ten years after the Grand Bargain commitments on localization, this principle remains more aspiration than reality. This session does not revisit those commitments, it asks who has been doing the work regardless, and what needs to be done to make genuine local ownership the norm rather than the exception.
The first two panelists set the terms from the inside, locally-rooted organizations that have led health responses without or with very small international backing. The third, an international NGO that has genuinely restructured its relationship with local partners, responds: what did they have to give up, and what does their role look like once power has genuinely shifted? The fourth, a donor, is asked: what needs to change in funding architecture to localize at scale?
The session’s central question: what needs to be done to localize health responses, and how do we scale it up?
This is a live panel discussion; expect direct, unscripted exchange between practitioners and a donor speaking from their own experience, followed by audience Q&A.
Each speaker answers a distinct question tied to their own position in this power dynamic: from local ownership on the ground, to what an INGO gives up, to what a donor would change.
What you’ll take away
Registration is free but mandatory. You simply need to be registered for Aidex 2026.