PROFILE: Sema Genel Karaosmanoglu

How did you become involved with NEAR and ultimately become board chair?

I was director of a local NGO, when I was invited to the OCHA policy forum in 2012 to talk about challenges facing LNNGOs. That is when I met Degan Ali from Adeso (and founder of NEAR). In the consultations ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit, we had the opportunity to meet with many national and regional organisations working in crises. We decided to formalise this network of Global South organisations and that is how NEAR was launched. I first joined the board and then in 2019 became the chair.

 What have you learned during your time in this position?

It has improved my leadership skills and encouraged me to take the initiative, particularly when developing positioning and messages. I was able to take the lead in getting Turkish organisations to the table and allowing them the space to display leadership. This is how we have managed to get better working conditions for LNNGOs in Turkey and launched the National Reference Group.

What has NEAR achieved?

NEAR has put localisation firmly on the agenda – it is now on everyone’s agenda!

It has also allowed for acknowledgment that we have a lot of work and a long way to go on localisation. NEAR created the space for these discussions and also provided alternative models for how humanitarian aid can be done. We have seen how something as simple as the provision of overheads can be changed.

What advice do you have for the new Leadership Council members?

NEAR is doing great work on localisation at the global level. We need to focus on mobilising and catalysing more at regional and country level, as well as supporting local leadership.

The localisation agenda is still very important and should stay at the top of the list, when engaging with the future of the Grand Bargain or processes in the global aid system.

It will be crucial for the new LC to set aside enough time to do this issue justice.

LC members should also spend time engaging with each other, to keep close and frequent contact in a structured manner in order to build a strong leadership team.

Essential information
Sema has worked in humanitarian aid for over 26 years.  She has carried out project work in India, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and now focuses on work inside Turkiye.

In 2005, Sema became the founder and Director of Hayata Destek / Support to Life (STL), a humanitarian aid organisation headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey.  In addition to emergency relief and recovery work, STL is involved in protection and resilience work for displaced populations. With a Ph.D. degree in Political Science and Public Administration, Sema has lectured in a number of universities in Istanbul. Given her vast experience and expertise in humanitarian action, Sema leads discussions on localisation of aid and the role of local actors.

PROFILE: Hari Darshan Shrestha

I was one of the founding members of NEAR and also a member of the first leadership council. My background is in disaster management and engineering, and I worked aboard for international organisations for some years. In 2011, I came back to Nepal and started a local NGO named Center of Resilient Development called CoRD, which mostly works in creation of resilient communities and resilient infrastructure. I am a Professor the Institute of Engineering at Tribhuvan University.

I became involved with NEAR because I participated in the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 in Istanbul. There I met colleagues from Pakistan and from Turkey, including our current LC chair and other who are now on the LC. We all came together to talk about the localisation agenda, so that’s where it was initiated.

We focused on the need for collaboration between the global South organisations so that we could come out with a common position and speak with one voice, both on the problems and also proposing solutions. We started to look at how we can contribute and how we can exert influence.

NEAR is now recognised for its convening power on localisation issues and funding mechanisms. NEAR is now seen as a key strategic partner by international organisations.

I think the current challenges involve making sure we can transfer knowledge to local organisations and easily reach out to and communicate with members, to increase our advocacy. I think the role of NEAR should be focused on facilitation, networking and advocacy.

 Essential information

Beside teaching and research, he is involved design, planning, management and project implementation. He served the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent (IFRC) as team leader on 1994 flood rehabilitation program. Later he joined IFRC as an emergency response, recovery and reconstruction expert immediately after the 2004 tsunami in Aceh.

He served as director of Save the Children’s recovery and reconstruction programme in the Aceh tsunami program and became director of global construction quality and technical assistance, providing technical support from project design to implementation of emergency response, recovery and reconstruction programmes as well as disaster tisk reduction and management.

He was a core member in the Haiti earthquake emergency response programme, the West Sumatra earthquake response program, Java earthquake tesponse programme, East Timor and Kyrgizstan conflict response program and the Pakistan flood response and reconstruction programme.

After more than six years working abroad, he moved back to Nepal to contribute to disaster risk management and reconstruction through the resilient development approach.  He established the Center of Resilient Development (CoRD) in 2013. He also provides technical advice on DRR to country offices across the world.

Hari has developed and published handbooks, manuals, guidelines and journal papers in the area of disaster management, environment and climate responsive design, development, earthquake resistant design and construction.

PROFILE: Manu Gupta

My involvement with NEAR started like many others, ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. Our region was very actively involved. Because this was a first such event, I was actively doing my advocacy work with regional and national organisations on issues needed to be said from the global South.

The idea of NEAR came about at that time, as a bridge between Asia and Africa and the rest of the global South, led by Degan Ali and Adeso. I think it was one of the first such forums that brought together LNNGOs from the Global South.

NEAR brought together one strong voice that actually shook the system. Up until then the Global North had been following a very tokenistic kind of consultative process. We started to get a seat at the table, and I think that's a huge win. I believe we have added a lot of substance and made it clear what the Global South really needs, going beyond rhetoric.

The learning from my role on the NEAR LC has also translated into my work with my organisation. Firstly, we found resonance in ideas we had been speaking about in. our own local ecosystems, so that resonance is reassuring.

On the tactical side I learned a lot about partnerships with international organisations. My learning at NEAR helped me to negotiate better for a more equitable partnership with international organisations. I felt that I was in a better position to speak, I had more substance to bring to the table.

My advice to the new LC is that they must be mindful while actively giving their time and effort, to also remain connected to their own constituencies. We have come a long way, but we are still climbing the hill. We can't give up halfway. There is no time to rest.

What has not worked well, in my opinion, is that we have not seen enough South to South learning and exchange. I think that's where I feel there's an opportunity to improve.

The needle has moved, but it hasn't moved far enough. The expectation from the new LC is that they will continue and even intensify these efforts.

Essential information

Manu Gupta is Co-Founder of SEEDS, a not-for profit organisation that enables community resilience through practical solutions in the areas of disaster readiness, response, and rehabilitation.  On the frontlines, SEEDS is enabling communities to be proactive and responsive to natural disasters and, at the macro level, it is influencing and enabling national and international governments to devise effective strategies towards mitigation, relief, recovery and reconstruction.

Manu is building resilient communities across Asia Pacific. He has been at the forefront of championing and advocating for citizen-led initiatives. He brings ground realities to global perspectives and is actively involved in global conversations on humanitarian issues.

He is, simultaneously enabling multiple stakeholders such as national and state governments, United Nations bodies and civil society organisations in the region to proactively and effectively mitigate and reduce the impact of disasters.

He has 29 years of experience in the sector, spanning national and regional advocacy, mobilisation of community-led efforts in recovery and risk reduction, climate change adaptation and emerging issues such as humanitarian partnerships and accountability. Manu has worked with a wide spectrum of communities across Asia and has been elected as an Ashoka Fellow in recognition of his tireless efforts.

He sits on the boards of several global and national organisations and visiting faculty to several global institutions. Manu holds degrees in Physical Planning and Urban Planning from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, and a doctorate in community-based disaster management from Kyoto University, Japan.