ASAL Humanitarian Network (AHN)
From fragmented response to locally led, county-anchored humanitarian systems
Humanitarian System Transformation through Local Humanitarian Leadership (HST-LHL) – Kenya
Embedding local leadership, shared accountability, and anticipatory action across Kenya’s ASAL counties
Networked Humanitarian Response
AHN is advancing a locally led, networked humanitarian response model designed to enable local and national actors to coordinate, mobilize, and respond collectively during crises. Rather than operating as isolated organizations, AHN members work through a shared coordination platform that facilitates early warning analysis, joint planning, complementary sector responses, and collective deployment during emergencies.
The approach builds on practical experiences from multiple crises across Kenya’s ASAL counties. In 2024, AHN coordinated cholera response in Tana River County, where member organizations worked alongside county government actors to respond to early outbreak alerts. The response combined community-led public health action, rapid coordination between actors, and anticipatory planning based on early warning information. The model has since been documented in a detailed case study and shared with counties such as Marsabit and Garissa as part of preparedness planning for future public health and drought risks. The model was further tested during the April–June 2025 floods and conflict crisis in Marsabit County, where AHN coordinated a networked response involving four-member organizations; SND, PACIDA, and IREMO, with AHN facilitating overall coordination.
Most recently, the network model has been activated in response to the January 2026 drought emergency in Mandera County, where early warning data from the National Drought Management Authority signaled a transition to the Alarm phase of drought. Through its Mandera County Hub, AHN mobilized a coordinated early response involving member organizations NAPAD, RACIDA, and Mandera Women for Peace. The response focused on integrated interventions across water access, food security, nutrition, protection, and community engagement, while aligning closely with county disaster risk management systems.
Learning, Peer Exchange, and Localisation Networks
A key pillar of HST-LHL is ensuring that locally led humanitarian leadership in Kenya contributes to global learning and system reform discussions. AHN actively participates in regional and international dialogue spaces where lessons from Kenya’s ASAL contexts can inform broader humanitarian policy and practice.
A major milestone in this effort was the Global Local Networks Peer Learning Convening held in September 2025, which AHN co-hosted alongside Trócaire and the Charter for Change (C4C) Kenya Working Group. The convening brought together leaders from localisation networks across more than 17 countries, including Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.
The objective of the convening was to create a space for network leaders to reflect, learn, and collectively shape the evolving role of localisation networks within humanitarian, development, and peace systems. Through a series of thematic sessions, participants explored how locally rooted networks can strengthen coordination, influence policy and financing decisions, and sustain locally led humanitarian action in complex crisis contexts.
AHN continued to contribute to international policy discussions during the reporting period through its participation in the European Humanitarian Forum (EHF) in Brussels, where the AHN through the Convener participated in a panel discussion on the Due Diligence Passporting approach and held bilateral meetings with international partners and donors, including Trócaire and the NEAR Network.
At the regional level, AHN also co-hosted the East Africa Humanitarian Reset Dialogue in Nairobi alongside OCHA and senior humanitarian leadership, including Denise Brown. The dialogue brought together humanitarian actors from Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan to reflect on how the humanitarian system can evolve in response to climate shocks, protracted crises, and growing funding uncertainty. Discussions emphasized the importance of strengthening locally led coordination mechanisms, improving financing models, and ensuring that local actors have greater influence in decision-making processes.
At the national level, AHN also contributed to policy engagement processes within Kenya. During the reporting period, AHN convened a Public Benefit Organizations (PBO) sector dialogue on the draft PBO regulations. The forum brought together representatives from over 40 civil society networks across Kenya, who collectively reviewed the proposed regulatory framework and submitted consolidated recommendations to the Public Benefit Organizations Regulatory Authority (PBORA). This engagement ensured that the perspectives and operational realities of local humanitarian actors were reflected in ongoing policy reforms affecting civil society operations.
Due Diligence Passporting
Under HST-LHL, AHN is advancing Due Diligence Passporting as a practical localisation solution aimed at reducing the heavy and often duplicative compliance requirements placed on local organizations.
Local civil society organizations frequently undergo multiple organizational assessments from different international partners before partnerships can be established. These repeated assessments consume time and resources that could otherwise be directed toward preparedness and response.
The Due Diligence Passport Tool, promoted through the Charter for Change (C4C) initiative, offers an alternative approach. Through this system, organizations complete a standardized due diligence process once, with the results recognized across multiple potential partners. This reduces duplication, shortens partnership timelines, and supports faster mobilization during emergencies.
During the reporting period, AHN supported the introduction and promotion of the tool through a capacity-building session attended by 21 participants, including representatives from AHN member organizations, Oxfam, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, and Trócaire. The session helped familiarize participants with the passporting methodology and demonstrated how it can complement or replace heavier compliance frameworks such as SHAPE assessments.
Building on this initial training, AHN began mapping existing partnerships between Charter for Change signatory organizations and AHN members in June 2025. The mapping exercise is intended to inform a broader campaign encouraging INGOs to adopt passporting as a shared standard for partnership due diligence.
Beyond improving operational efficiency, the passporting approach also contributes to broader localisation goals by rebalancing partnership relationships, recognizing the institutional capacity of local actors, and accelerating access to collaboration opportunities during emergencies.
Risk Sharing and Risk-Informed Dialogue
HST-LHL approaches risk sharing as a systemic issue within the humanitarian architecture, rather than a purely operational concern. While local and national organizations often carry the greatest operational and reputational risks during humanitarian responses, they frequently have limited influence over funding decisions, partnership terms, or accountability frameworks.
To better understand these dynamics, AHN, working closely with the Charter for Change Kenya Working Group and international partners such as Oxfam initiated a national process to explore how risk is experienced and managed across the humanitarian delivery chain.
A central element of this effort was the development of a Risk Perception Survey Tool, designed to capture the experiences of local actors in relation to financial, operational, security, and reputational risks. The tool was developed through participatory consultations with local organizations and technical partners, ensuring that it reflects the realities faced by frontline responders.
The survey is was prepare with the aim of informing on the development of a Kenya Risk Sharing Framework, which will guide future dialogue on how humanitarian partnerships, funding instruments, and coordination mechanisms can distribute risk more equitably.
In parallel, a Risk Sharing Technical Working Group was established under the Charter for Change platform, bringing together organizations including WHH, Christian Aid, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, Oxfam, and local partners. The group is responsible for guiding the rollout of the survey, facilitating analysis, and organizing national dialogue sessions.
These efforts culminated in a national Risk Sharing Dialogue held in November 2025, where stakeholders from across the humanitarian system reflected on emerging findings and discussed potential reforms. Recommendations from these discussions have also informed broader humanitarian system reform conversations, including the East Africa Humanitarian Reset Dialogue with OCHA and ICVA.
Through this work, AHN seeks to move the conversation on risk sharing from principle to practice, creating evidence and policy dialogue that can shape more equitable partnership models and financing mechanisms within Kenya’s humanitarian system.
Virtual Pooled Funds and Locally Led Financing
Access to predictable, flexible, and timely financing remains one of the most significant barriers to locally led humanitarian action. Funding often arrives late, is tied to complex proposal processes, or does not align with the speed at which crises unfold.
Under HST-LHL, AHN is advancing the Virtual Pooled Fund (VPF) model as an innovative financing approach that enables earlier and more locally driven responses.
The VPF model links early warning information to predefined response triggers, allowing funds to be mobilized quickly when crisis thresholds are reached. Rather than relying solely on traditional proposal-driven funding cycles, resources can be released based on agreed indicators, preparedness benchmarks, and accountability mechanisms.
The model is also designed to align humanitarian financing with county disaster risk management systems, including county contingency funds such as the 2% Disaster Risk Management allocation within county budgets. By connecting financing to existing government preparedness mechanisms, the approach strengthens coordination between humanitarian actors and county authorities.
The VPF has already supported responses to floods, drought, and public health emergencies across ASAL counties, providing an opportunity to test operational procedures, accountability mechanisms, and trigger thresholds. These experiences are generating important learning on how locally managed pooled funds can support faster, more coordinated humanitarian responses.
Going forward, AHN intends to use the VPF as both a response financing tool and a learning platform, engaging donors, government actors, and humanitarian partners in discussions on how pooled, flexible funding mechanisms can better support anticipatory action and locally led leadership.