Help Localisation Facility
Together for strong partnerships
Local, needs-based and on the basis of equitable partnerships: Help is setting new standards in humanitarian assistance with the Help Localisation Facility (HLF).
Our aim is to strengthen local humanitarian actors in crisis and conflict areas, promote local ownership of projects and enable them to assume a leading role in humanitarian assistance. Together, we ensure a more efficient, needs-based and sustainable assistance on the ground.
The challenge: Growing needs, shrinking funding
In 2024, over 300 million people worldwide were in need of humanitarian assistance. Causes such as escalating conflicts, the climate crisis and increasing poverty are exacerbating the situation. At the same time, fewer and fewer financial resources are available for humanitarian projects. In order for humanitarian assistance to benefit as many people as possible, it must be designed more efficiently and sustainably.
Our solution: strengthen local actors – enable sustainable assistance.
Why local organisations are essential
In crisis and disaster areas, local organisations are first responders. They know the needs of those affected, are part of local networks and can react quickly. In addition, they remain engaged and accountable to their communities long after attention-driven international actors have moved on to the next crisis. Despite this, their involvement is widely reduced toan implementing role, while international organisations and donors decide on project design, funding and evaluation.
In addition, local actors are confronted with high administrative barriers and time-consuming donor regulations, which often delay rapid assistance. Many local organisations have to make advance payments and bear the financial risks.
We are changing this with the Help Localisation Facility.
What is the Help Localisation Facility? (HLF)
A new approach to humanitarian assistance
With the HLF global programme, Help is enabling a more just, efficient and partnership-based cooperation with at least 20 local humanitarian actors. The three central goals of the programme are:
- Equitable partnerships: We build long-term, trusting relationships with civil society organisations, thereby reducing existing power imbalances.
- Increased participation for local stakeholders: We actively involve local civil society in the design and implementation of humanitarian measures. The needs and interests of local communities are therefore always at the centre of our programming. The capacity to respond to humanitarian crises as well as the decision making power of local actors is strengthened. In addition, responsibility, risks and accountability are fairly shared between Help and local partners.
- Flexible and needs-based funding: We reduce administrative hurdles to quality funding and promote structural investment in local actors and their organizational capacities. Together with our partners, we continue to ensure the implementation of funding guidelines and international quality standards.
Our Vision
Together with local and international civil society actors, the Help Localisation Facility lays the foundations for a stronger, more efficient and just humanitarian system in order to respond to growing humanitarian needs despite shrinking funding. This can only be achieved through equitable partnerships that take into account the expertise and experience of our local partners in all aspects of humanitarian work.
Pilot region Ukraine
The Help Localisation Facility will be piloted in Ukraine from November 2024 to December 2026, in order to gather learnings for an expansion to additional regions.
Local actors are vital, especially in conflict regions such as Ukraine: they know the people and their needs, respond quickly and efficiently and not only help in the short term, but also lay the foundations for long-term reconstruction.
Our partners
Project description: 100% of Live Rivne supports vulnerable populations through mobile consultations, legal aid, restoration of documents, and distribution of food, hygiene products, medicine and improving equitable access to essential services and protection.
Project location: Rivne, Volyn, and Kirovohrad
Project duration: 12 months
Target group: 10,720 people
We are working with the Avalyst organisation in the Donetsk region. Avalyst provides drinking water, hygiene products and multi-purpose cash assistance to vulnerable populations, while also carrying out building repairs.
Project description: Blagomay operates five community centres for children, youth and families. The aim is to improve access to safe learning environments, mental health services and essential resources, and to promote resilience, inclusion and long-term community development.
Project location: Sumy, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Kyiv
Project duration: 12 months
Target group: 3,117 people
Project description: Common Cause for People provides medical, rehabilitation, and hygiene support to vulnerable and displaced populations. Key activities include medical vouchers for essential medicines, provision of rehabilitation equipment, and distribution of gender-sensitive hygiene kits.
Project location: Kharkiv
Project duration: 8 months
Target group: 5,600 people
Project description: ECOCLUB strengthens the resilience of eight facilities: four municipal water utilities and four long-term care/medical boarding institutions by installing solar energy systems and building local capacity. The goal is to ensure uninterrupted access to safe water, energy, and essential medical and care services during power outages or crises.
Project location: All regions (under government control)
Project duration: 12 months
Target group: 908 people
Project description: Fight for Right strengthens the resilience and protection of populations in frontline areas of Ukraine, with a focus on people with recently acquired disabilities. Key interventions include case management, rehabilitation and medical support, legal and psychological assistance, and tailored consultancy for people with disabilities.
Project location: Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Poltava
Project duration: 8 months
Target group: 1,083 people
Project description: Free Zone strengthens social integration and protection of individuals in and leaving penal institutions in Ukraine by combining humanitarian aid with legal, social, and psychosocial assistance. Key activities include issuing passports to restore access to services, providing pre- and post-release support for reintegration, and distributing hygiene and essential items to women, children, and patients in psychiatric institutions.
Project location: All regions (under government control)
Project duration: 8 months
Target group: 4,681 people
Project description: Frida Charitable Foundation strengthens healthcare access and support in Kharkiv and Chernihiv oblasts by providing primary and secondary medical services to vulnerable populations and mental health support to local healthcare workers.
Project location: Kharkiv and Chernihiv
Project duration: 12 months
Target group: 2,900 people
Project description: The League of the Strong improves well-being, inclusion, and protection for people with disabilities, including IDPs and their families by enhancing accessibility of social infrastructure, providing cash and hygiene support, delivering psychosocial and vocational training services, offering respite care, and establishing inclusive workshops and training opportunities.
Project location: Kyiv, Lviv, Poltava, and Sumy
Project duration: 12 months
Target group: 11,478 people
Project description: New Dawn improves the protection and resilience of IDPs and conflict-affected populations through safe accommodation, winterisation assistance, and better access to essential health services. It includes the rehabilitation of collective centres to meet safe and dignified living standards, provision of NFIs, children’s winter clothing, and cash for heating, as well as voucher support for essential medicines.
Project location: Odesa and Kherson
Project duration: 12 months
Target group: 4,885 people
Project description: Positive Women supports conflict-affected women in Ukraine, including GBV survivors, IDPs, and women with disabilities, by providing psychosocial, protection, health, and livelihood assistance through safe spaces, online services, mobile outreach, and multipurpose vouchers.
Project location: Chernihiv, Dnipro, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Zaporizhzhzia region (in-person/offline services), all regions (online services)
Project duration: 12 months
Target group: 9,300 people
Project description: Relief Coordination Centre provides rapid emergency response and risk mitigation, addressing the impact of attacks on civilian infrastructure. The project will support the Rapid Response Group in providing emergency shelter repairs, distributing emergency kits, offering psychological support, and coordinating multisectoral assistance. Additionally, blast-resistant films will be installed in health facilities to protect bedridden patients from injury during shelling.
Project location: Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhzia
Project duration: 12 months
Target group: 2,988 people
In the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, we work together with Safe Sky. Safe Sky provides emergency assistance and organises mine safety training for utility company employees.
Project description: Smart Osvita strengthens energy resilience and psychosocial well-being in schools in war-affected areas of right-bank Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. It targets five schools, ensuring they can operate during power outages, and will foster a supportive environment for students and staff.
Project location: Dnipropetrovsk
Project duration: 8 months
Target group: 6,130 people
Project description: Spring of Hope. UKRAINE supports people affected by the war by improving access to protection, psychosocial, social, and legal services. The project operates through stationary hubs and mobile teams that provide consultations, distribute dignity kits, and run support sessions for adults and children.
Project location: Vinnytsia and Sumy
Project duration: 8 months
Target group: 2,590 people
Project description: Zhovto-Blakytni Kryla supports children, youth, and families, focusing on vulnerable groups including children with disabilities, IDPs, and at-risk households. It aims to strengthen wellbeing, resilience, skills, and community participation. It provides access to inclusive support centers offering MHPSS, life skills, and counseling for children with disabilities, along with training for parents.
Project location: Kyiv and Chernihiv
Project duration: 8 months
Target group: 4,620 people
Funded by the Federal Foreign Office
The Help Localisation Facility global programme is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe in cooperation with international and local civil society actors. The programme is in line with the Federal Foreign Office's strategy for humanitarian assistance and implements the core objectives of the Help’s organisational strategy and the resulting policies on empowerment and localisation.
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Infographic: Theory of ChangeLearn more about the impact of our global programme. Open
