localization labs

Ethiopian Localization Lab

Overview

Strengthening Local Leadership for a Locally Led Humanitarian and Development System in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Localization Lab (ELL), convened by Action for Integrated Sustainable Development Association (AISDA), is a nationally rooted, collaborative platform established to advance the localization agenda in Ethiopia by strengthening local leadership, fostering equitable partnerships, and promoting locally driven solutions in humanitarian and development action.

The Lab was officially launched on September 16, 2024, in Addis Ababa, bringing together CEOs and leaders of local NGOs, representatives from USAID, Trócaire, Welthungerhilfe (WHH), IRC, Save the Children, the CDA program team, and the Ethiopian Authority of Civil Society Organizations (ACSO).

ELL brings together a diverse membership of 26 LNGOs that includes Refugee-Led Organizations (RLOs), Internally Displaced Persons-Led Organizations (IDPLOs), Women-Led Organizations (WLOs), Youth-Led Organizations (YLOs), and small, medium, and large national NGOs. The Lab serves as a safe and strategic space for collective advocacy, learning, experimentation, and collaboration to shift power, resources, and decision-making closer to local actors.

Since its inception, ELL has structured its work around four interconnected pillars: Movement Building, Building Bridges, Solutions, and Learning.

Localization is not just about participation, but it is about trust, leadership, and enabling local actors to define and lead their own development and humanitarian responses.

Lab Convenor

Ethiopian Localization Lab (ELL)

Read our latest news

  • November 25, 2025

Before the Planting: Preparing the Soil for Localisation’s Next Harvest

Read More

  • October 31, 2025

Salam, Localisation and Zurt: The Ethiopian Localization Lab Showcase

Read More

  • June 12, 2025

Inside NEAR’s Localisation Labs: Where Power Shifts and Change Begins

Read More

  • May 28, 2025

NEAR’s Voices Newsletter – May 2025

Read More

  • August 9, 2023

Building resilience through participation

Read More

  • August 8, 2023

Communities lead us

Read More

  • February 1, 2023

Building the resilience of communities in Kenya

Read More

01

Movement Building

Movement Building

Trust, ownership, and solidarity among local actors — the groundwork for effective collaboration.
ELL’s movement building work focuses on strengthening a shared identity, vision, and collective voice for localization in Ethiopia.

Key Approaches

Establishing an inclusive and representative membership base, welcoming organizations across size, geography, and constituency (RLOs, IDPLOs, WLOs, YLOs)

Investing in capacity strengthening through Localization Advocacy and Leadership Trainings for Lab members

Facilitating regular in-person and virtual engagements, including quarterly Lab meetings

Creating a common understanding of localization principles and the Ethiopian context

By prioritizing movement building as its foundational pillar, ELL has created trust, ownership, and solidarity among local actors—laying the groundwork for effective collaboration and advocacy.

02

Building Bridges

Bridges

Connecting local actors with national, regional, and global stakeholders.
ELL builds bridges by connecting local actors with national, regional, and global stakeholders to influence policy, practice, and partnerships.

Key Initiatives

Development of the ELL Strategic Plan and an Advocacy and Communication Strategy for localization and local resource mobilization

Strategic engagement with INGOs, donors, networks, and UN agencies, including IRC, NEAR, UNHCR, Oxfam, CRS, CCRDA, CST (CAFOD–SCIAF–Trócaire)

Active participation in national policy dialogues, including consultations led by ACSO to amend NGO Proclamation 1113

Representation of Ethiopian local actors in regional and global platforms, ensuring Global South perspectives inform international discussions

ELL has also contributed to collaborative initiatives such as open-source technical and operational tools led by IRC with advisory support from NEAR, ensuring global resources are adapted for local realities.

Key Learnings

Strategic partnerships amplify advocacy and influence

Global engagement strengthens local voices and leadership

Collaboration ensures tools and policies remain relevant and context-appropriate

03

Solutions

Solutions

A space for experimentation, research, and co-creation of locally driven solutions.
Under its Solutions pillar, ELL functions as a space for experimentation, research, and co-creation of locally driven solutions.

Major Initiatives

  • Conducting Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) to assess attitudes, perceptions, and practices around local resource mobilization and community philanthropy in Ethiopia
  • Active engagement in the Humanitarian Reset Process, reviewing national documents and articulating local actors' priorities
  • Participation in research with NECSOO (Network of CSOs in Oromia) on challenges faced by local CSOs, with findings presented to government, UN agencies, and INGOs
  • Contribution to the Local SPACE Workshop, where ELL presented practical localization solutions
  • Engagement with the Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF) Symposium in Nairobi, fostering cross-country learning with Ghana and Mozambique

Key Learnings

  • Contextual solutions emerge from community-level input
  • Research and dialogue strengthen evidence-based advocacy
  • Cross-country learning enriches approaches to community philanthropy and local financing

04

Learning

Learning

Ensuring experiences translate into improved practice, stronger advocacy, and scalable models.
Learning is a cross-cutting pillar of ELL’s work, enabling reflection, adaptation, and knowledge sharing within Ethiopia and beyond.

Key Insights

  • Facilitating peer learning among Lab members through structured knowledge-sharing events
  • Supporting Somali Nexus by providing guidance on establishing a Localization Lab
  • Conducting joint learning events with the South Sudan Localization Lab (SSLL) on proposal development for local resource mobilization and community philanthropy
  • Systematically documenting ELL's journey, research findings, and lessons learned and sharing them with regional peers, including Somalia and South Sudan
ELL positions learning as both a process and an outcome—ensuring experiences translate into improved practice, stronger advocacy, and scalable models.