In recent years, civil society actors from the Global South have increasingly called for more say and influence in international cooperation, with the aim of locally led change processes. The pandemic has also changed the way we work together. And the Black Lives Matter movement has boosted discussions about racism and colonialism. Local civil society should be given more scope for decision-making and action so that change processes are led and supported locally and are therefore more sustainable. This concerns aspects such as direct responsibility for implementation modalities, more equitable partnership relationships and the definition of development policy priorities and the use of resources. While the need for reform is undisputed, putting it into practice is sometimes difficult and requires a lot of dialog and joint learning.

The Sufosec Alliance attaches high priority to strengthening local ownership. Building on already strong localization practices, it has further deepened the dialogue with its partners in the Global South since 2021. In a joint learning process, the learning group has developed a background study on the topic of local ownership with RavelWorks Africa, which identifies the levers for change. Building on this, it conducted an assessment to determine the quality of the partnerships between the Alliance organizations and the partner organizations in the Global South. The two reports can be found below.

In its joint program 2025-2028, the Alliance will focus on creating more collaborative, equitable and transparent partnerships and promoting locally led practice as a key approach throughout the program. The aim is to strengthen the role of actors in the Global South, especially civil society organizations, as catalysts for locally led change processes.