Humanitarian Climate Change

Grassroot level

Today we celebrate our success story. This is due to the tireless effort put in by a group of partners who believe they can be successful together. We congratulate the OIC, UN OCHA and LAS, as well as our local and international partners for supporting our commonly shared values and objectives: promoting localism and drawing its global impact with us on the humanitarian map.

Our success stories for Somalia and Yemen are three years in the making. It took us three years to raise the local voice so that it can bear fruits and others can pick them up and share their values. 

We started this process for Somalia in October 2010 in Nairobi to see our harvest festival in May 2012 in Istanbul.  I am talking about the pre-conference consultation meeting for civil society organisations which took place on 31st May in Istanbul and which managed to raise Somali voice on an international level.  What has been planted by all of in Nairobi, Mogadishu, London and Istanbul has resulted in a beautiful symphony composed by the Somali orchestra.

The same happened as a result of our dedicated work for Yemen. The results speak volumes, not about our achievements, but about the commitment and dedication of the local communities. It is a great achievement for them not only to be heard, but to have a leading role amongst the international and multilateral institutions.

Humanitarian climate change is difficult to obtain, especially if some don’t believe in the concept of localism. If localism isn’t a solution outright, it is most certainly one of the most important components of the solution that can help save humanity from suffering. It can save us from the corruption of decision makers. It can stop resources being wasted and dreams from being dashed.

Humanitarian climate change is happening as we speak and we are inviting you not only to be a positive part in it but to take a leading role in driving it.

We believe in building real partnerships based on equality, transparency and impartiality. Let us give local people the power to lead so we can let history talk about new achievements.