Save the Children will stop seeking country-level emergency funding managed by UNOCHA from 2026 to open space for local and national actors.
Save the Children has long held a fundamental conviction: local and national actors are essential in supporting children’s rights and humanitarian needs in all contexts. This is not merely a matter of efficiency or cost-effectiveness, though the evidence supports both. It is a matter of principle. Local organisations are rooted in their communities. They understand the context, the culture and the needs in ways that international actors never fully can. They are present before crises emerge and remain long after international attention has moved elsewhere.
Our role, as we see it, is to complement and support that leadership, not to substitute it. This is why we have taken a strategic and principled decision to progressively withdraw from UN-OCHA Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs) starting in January 2026 and finishing by the end of 2027. This is not a retreat from humanitarian action. It is a step toward genuine localisation.
CBPFs make funding directly available to humanitarian partners operating in countries affected by crisis so they can deliver timely and effective life-saving assistance. They are valuable mechanisms, channelling approximately $940 million in 2024 toward flexible, coordinated humanitarian responses. We have been actively engaged with CBPFs for over 6 years. As former NGO co-chair of the CBPF-NGO Dialogue Platform, we have consistently advocated for stronger roles for national NGOs and equal representation on Advisory Boards.
To achieve the greatest impact, we hope other INGOs will join us. 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?
We recognise this decision carries risk and are committed to ensuring a safe and ethical transition. Our first commitment is to children and communities we serve, and ensuring they do not lose access to services. Reforms to pooled fund mechanisms are also essential; these include simplifying eligibility and compliance requirements, ensuring governance structures are locally led, and enabling more predictable and flexible funding flows. We also need to see investment in alternative pooled funding mechanisms beyond UN-managed funds, such as NGO-led funds, and regional/national pooled mechanisms to diversify and strengthen the overall architecture.
Lana*, 10, & Naji*, 11, a brother and sister, live with their father Omar*, their mother and their two younger sisters. Their family’s lives were turned upside down when the conflict escalated two months ago, near their village in Idlib, Syria. The entire family was forced to flee their home in the middle of the night to escape intense bombardments, walking more than 10 kilometres without transportation. Save the Children, though its partner Syria Relief, helped Omar* and his family by giving the family Food Baskets. Save the Children
Save the Children's own Children's Emergency Fund demonstrates that shifting power is not only achievable but already underway. Last year, 106 local and national partners received resources of $11.8 million in total from our Children's Emergency Fund, enabling them to lead responses, drive anticipatory action, and strengthen community-based systems. This shows that when funding is flexible and predictable, local leadership flourishes.
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Our commitment extends beyond withdrawal from this pooled fund. 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.
This year, the Emergency Relief Coordinator envisions scaling up pooled funding significantly, with the aspiration that 70 per cent goes to local and national actors. We believe this ambition should be higher: 100 per cent of CBPF allocations should flow directly to local organisations. For children and communities, this shift would strengthen rapid, context-driven responses led by those who know their realities and can act first when crises hit. This aligns with the Humanitarian Reset's vision that the humanitarian system must be accountable to crisis-affected populations.
The children and communities we serve deserve a humanitarian system that puts their needs first, not the institutional interests of those claiming to help them. Local actors, deeply rooted in their communities, understand this better than anyone. This is one small but strategic step towards a more just and effective humanitarian system.
