The failure to fund refugee-led organisations

Refugee-led organisations (RLOs) are a crucial cog in the refugee-response machine, providing essential services to their communities, as well as being more likely to lead responses that are accountable, legitimate, transparent, effective and impactful. This paper highlights the findings from the first of a five-year research project analyzing the quantity and quality of funding to RLOs over time. The project – co-funded by the Open Society Foundations – is led by the Overseas Development Institute’s Humanitarian Policy Group and aims to provide rigorous and independent snapshots of funding over time and an evidence-based advocacy tool to improve the quantity and quality of funding that is directed to RLOs.