Localising Refugee Assistance: Examining Refugee-Led Organisations and the Localisation Agenda During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Drawing on 70 interviews with humanitarians, members of governments, and civil society organisations, including refugee-led organisations, from major refugee-hosting countries in 2020 and 2021, this article explores the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on humanitarian localisation and international refugee commitments, notably the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). It highlights the work and widening recognition of refugee-led organisations during the pandemic, examining how they could be more prominent within the broader localisation agenda and ways in which the GCR and accompanying Global Refugee Forum may have contributed to some of their greater recognition today. Informant perspectives are shared on challenges to localisation wrought by the pandemic, including limited time, lack of communication with beneficiaries, and constrained budgets, and recommendations are presented on how to further refugee leadership and localisation in the ongoing context of Covid-19.