In South Sudan, where conflict, displacement, and extreme weather converge, the United Nations piloted an early action intervention in 2022 in anticipation of extreme flooding.

In a paper published in Third World Quarterly, Dr. Evan Easton-Calabria explores the UN’s localization and early action efforts by examining the flow of communication within the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The qualitative study provides in-depth perspectives from UN informants, revealing communication and decision-making issues as key concerns for localization.

These experiences mirror existing and persistent biases within the humanitarian sector and support an imperative to increase the equitable sharing of information, decision-making power, and funding amongst humanitarian actors.

In conclusion, Easton-Calabria presents several next steps for research and practice on anticipatory action and theoretical understandings of localization, notably the need for ‘internal localization’ within international organizations.

Read the open-access paper in Third World Quarterly