Country-based pooled funds… the key to unlocking localised funding, or just another blunt instrument? : Shared by Angela Raven-Roberts

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Country-Based Pooled Funds: The Key to Unlocking Localised Funding, or Just Another Blunt Instrument?
Caitlin Sturridge, Megan Daigle, Mike Pearson, Nicholas Veerapen
ODI Global
5 March 2026
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Summary

As donors globally seek to channel more funds to local and national actors (LNAs) while cutting overall humanitarian budgets, country-based pooled funds (CBPFs) have been placed at the centre of the UN humanitarian reset by Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, and the US has announced $2 billion to be channelled through them. 

Drawing on Humanitarian Policy Group research on locally led action, refugee-led organisations (RLOs) and women-led organisations (WLOs), the authors argue that CBPFs, while an important financing tool, fall well short of the localisation goals being claimed for them.

The US $2 billion commitment is geographically restricted to 17 priority countries — excluding Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Somalia and Venezuela — and carries conditions related to the expanded Mexico City Policy (Global Gag Rule) that threaten funding for sexual and reproductive health work and DEI-related programming. 

The authors call on donors to diversify funding across CBPFs and specialist pooled funds led by local actors, push for simplified CBPF application processes and more inclusive governance, and advocate collectively for CBPF exemption from the Global Gag Rule.

Quotes

"For many refugee-led organisations, country-based pooled funds remain theoretically inclusive but practically inaccessible. Registration requirements, compliance thresholds, and UN-centric partnership models mean that the organisations closest to affected communities are often excluded by design. Without intentional alternatives, CBPFs risk reinforcing the very power imbalances localisation was meant to dismantle." — Najeeba Wazefadost, Founder/Executive Director, Asia Pacific Network of Refugees

"Pooled funding alone does not equal localisation. What matters is who designs the mechanism, who governs it, and who can realistically access it. Refugee-led pooled funds demonstrate that when funding is designed with affected communities, it reaches further, faster, and with greater legitimacy than one-size-fits-all models." — Najeeba Wazefadost, APNOR/GIRWL