Understanding Aid and Decolonisation: A Local Perspective

Authors: Sudhanshu S. Singh, Ali Al Mokdad, Jaipreet Kaur, Mihir Bhatt, Khayal Trivedi

Amidst the ongoing crisis of legitimacy and funding for the international humanitarian system, there is a serious challenge to the sustainability and equity of the current aid system. At a recent panel discussion, hosted by Humanitarian Observatory Initiative of South Asia Humanitarian, All-India Disaster Mitigation Institute, and Humanitarian Aid International, humanitarian actors gathered to discuss the legitimacy and crisis in the context of UNOCHA’s humanitarian reset. Central to this debate was the necessity of decolonising aid by placing local agency, knowledge, and leadership at the forefront of all actions towards humanitarian emergencies.

Reimagining Aid from a Decolonial Frame

The current humanitarian framework, which includes the various donors, implementing agencies, institutions and governments, cannot be looked at without its historical and colonial context. Sudhanshu S. Singh's paper, Humanitarian Reset – A Decolonial Perspective, very aptly describes the prevailing Western-centric models of humanitarianism, which has merits as well as an urgent need for transformations.

He argues that the ongoing funding gap is not a new situation, rather a systemic issue that has come up before and had led to the Grand Bargain in Istanbul (2016). The root cause of this issue lies in the capitalistic humanitarianism approach of the world order, that established an international humanitarian system which is crisis-driven instead of solution-driven. Specialised agencies and entities knowingly or unknowingly often perpetuate their relevance by seeking crises to justify their existence, leading to a commodification of aid that is expensive, reactive, and ultimately disconnected from sustainable solutions.

Unfortunately, the humanitarian responses are still shaped by colonial power relations. The decision-making for humanitarian needs is centralised in the Global North while the affected communities, often located in the Global South, are simply passive recipients of aid rather than being active agents of change. As a result, local actors operate under high-risk conditions with minimal funding, despite being closest to and most capable of managing crises.

The system, not only the sector, needs a humanitarian reset that is a radical shift towards "epistemic disobedience"—an unlearning of internalised colonial frameworks and rethinking of local knowledge systems. By unhooking from material aid as the default response and top-down grants instead in peer-to-peer support infrastructures that enhance community resilience, the humanitarian system (or shall we call it industry?) can begin to dismantle its hierarchies. And while we continue on this path, we must confront and reject the hypocrisies of the various donors that are funding wars and humanitarian relief simultaneously. 

Back to basics: Humanitarianism and Governance

Expanding the conversation, the panellists emphasised the importance of considering the humanitarian crisis from a holistic viewpoint. On one hand, we must move beyond our human-centric approach to an ecocentric approach to disasters, which includes other lifeforms and natural resources. And on the other hand, we should also work towards depoliticising aid that is move away from geopolitics towards the politics of perpetual vulnerability to disaster and conflict risks.

The panellists were skeptical about the current state of fragmentation in the sector – global north vs global south, west and the east, developing world and the developed, donor and donee, authority and beneficiary. Disaster knows no such boundaries. For the humanitarian sector to work sustainably, a collaborative effort is required from the three actors: governments, communities, and donors, with implementing partners. They must move in tandem and not in isolation from each other. Further, the market —the private sector —needs to be included both as an actor and as part of the context.

The real bottleneck in effective humanitarian response is not funding but instead the organisational readiness of actors, argues one of the speakers. “The donors and implementing partners must develop robust governance models that have disaster response and risk reduction embedded in the organisation's DNA. This includes proper documentation, preparedness protocols, and accountable decision-making processes”.

Significant progress has been made in South Asia from the point of view of localisation in past years. But as a sector we now also need to make genuine effort in skill development, training, simulation, and infrastructure readiness—particularly for children and other vulnerable populations. An empowered and adequately resourced localised system is essential to building resilience - before, during, and after disasters.

The Humanitarian System at a Crossroads

Several humanitarian organisations that form the intricate system are currently facing deeper systemic illness, argues Ali Al Mokdad. There is institutional uncertainty, structural burnout, public critique of the sector, access to institutions is cracking, donors are pulling out, and coordination systems are slower than what the world needs. But while the situation is alarming, this is also the time to regather and focus on outcomes and not just process. We need to redefine coordination as shared intelligence as well as humanitarian commons, must think beyond the sector, and build partnerships instead of functioning in isolation. 

Building better, as Jaipreet Kaur explains, would entail bringing local actors into decision-making positions so that they can design their own future. We need more open source and transparent systems that allow for the same and make funds and resources available for affected communities as they need it – to build resilience.

And while these systemic changes will take time, as the sector is grappling to survive. The affected communities, as always, will continue to strengthen their resilience as for them, that is the only way ahead. Mihir Bhatt, of AIDMI, points out that we must learn from these communities that function despite the high risk and uncertainty. Decolonising the system of aid and humanitarianism must start from each individual in the sector. And as more and more power and funds become accessible to the local agents of change, who have access to their indigenous systems and knowledge, we will slowly turn away from the patronising calculus of the conventional aid mechanisms to a democratised humanitarian system.