Guidance Note on National Reference Groups [ARA, EN, ES, FR, Indonesian]

Published Date

NRGsPublished on 21 February 2022, updated with translations on 29 March 2022

At the High Level Segment of the Grand Bargain Annual Meeting in June 2021, the Principals endorsed the establishment of the National Reference Groups (NRGs). It is clear that stronger engagement at the regional and national levels, with the meaningful participation of local leaders and the affected communities, is required to ensure effective humanitarian response and to translate the global commitments into meaningful change at the national level. The NRGs, led by local and national actors, will support unblocking barriers to quality funding and will ensure greater support is provided for the leadership, delivery and capacity of local responders and the participation of affected communities in addressing humanitarian needs.

The attached guidance note and the step-by-step guide have been developed by the Facilitation Group and are the result of informal constituent-based consultations led by NEAR with its members and partners, as well as engagement with the Grand Bargain Workstream on Localization. NRGs will be led by local and national actors and will seek to convene all relevant humanitarian actors, including  LNNGOs, INGOs, UN agencies, donors, national government bodies, and other relevant groups. It is noteworthy that NRGs will not be homogenous groups and can be adapted to fit the contextual situation on the ground. It is suggested that NRGs be inclusive with representation from diverse groups, including women’s rights organizations, women-led organizations, youth groups, disabled persons organizations, and others. We highly encourage the NRGs to ensure close collaboration with other coordination mechanisms and initiatives.

We hope that you will share this guidance note with your country-level teams and encourage their active participation in NRGs as they are established. It is in this way that we can make progress in our efforts to bring the Grand Bargain from Geneva to Goma. Please also note that we are looking to translate the attached into several languages.

The Facilitation Group stands ready to provide further guidance in the hope that we can effectively align our global and national efforts and make a difference in the lives of those we serve.

The guidance on National Reference Groups has been translated into Arabic, French, Indonesian, and Spanish with the support of EU/DG ECHO and NGO NEAR Network.