Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK continues to uphold its Grand Bargain commitments on localisation.

We are committed to delivering an efficient and effective humanitarian system and the implementation of World Humanitarian Summit Grand Bargain commitments, including recognising national and local organisations and communities as first responders to crises. We have been one the largest donors to the UN Country-Based Pooled Funds, who channel a substantial proportion of their funding to local and national actors - 25% in 2019 - and support the Start Network, which facilitates action among local and national NGOs, as well as the Red Cross Movement. We continue innovative approaches to promote greater localisation, notably an £18 million fund launched in 2020 for UK NGOs responding to COVID-19 designed to encourage improved partnerships with local and national actors. The UK is at the forefront of discussions to develop a successor arrangement to the Grand Bargain beginning later this year, working with the UN, Red Cross and civil society.