Research Consultancy - Local and National Actors' perspectives on Accountability of the International Aid Sector to the Localisation Agenda

Organization: Save the Children Denmark Closing date: 15 Oct 2026 1. Background Over the past decade, the international humanitarian and development aid sectors have established an extensive set of commitments to localisation and local leadership. Through initiatives including the Grand Bargain, the Grand Bargain Caucus on Funding for Localisation, Charter for Change and Pledge for Change, international actors have committed to shifting greater power, resources and decision-making to local and national actors (LNAs), strengthening equitable partnerships, and supporting locally led humanitarian action. These commitments are firmly based in Danish development and humanitarian policy. Denmark is a Grand Bargain signatory and has actively promoted localisation and local leadership in international policy dialogue. Denmark's 2025 Strategy for Development Cooperation, states that Danish-supported efforts are most often managed and run by local actors, that their leadership and responsibility should be strengthened, and that funding should be channelled more directly to where it creates the greatest benefit. The strategy identifies this as the essence of localisation. Danida calls for translation of this policy direction in Danish civil society through Strategic Partnership Agreements. Danish civil society organisations are therefore expected not only to work with local partners, but to support power shifts through change in ownership, resources, leadership and influence. As the sector reflects on ten years of the Grand Bargain and considers the future of humanitarian reform, attention is increasingly shifting from committing to localisation to ensuring that these commitments result in meaningful changes in the behaviour, decisions and institutional practices of international actors. Accountability is central to this transition and a key focus of the next iteration of the Grand Bargain. Existing accountability mechanisms for localisation have largely centred on international actors monitoring and reporting on their own commitments through organisational reporting, collective monitoring frameworks, independent reviews and, increasingly, partner feedback mechanisms. These approaches have generated important evidence about progress and persistent gaps. However, research and successive Grand Bargain reviews point to a continuing accountability deficit. Most localisation commitments are voluntary and non-binding, and monitoring relies heavily on self-reporting by signatories. Monitoring and reporting have mainly been focused on global level approaches, making I difficult to get an overview of progress at country level. Differences in definitions, indicators and reporting methods make performance difficult to compare or independently verify. Moreover, monitoring can identify gaps but is rarely connected to agreed consequences, incentives or requirements for corrective action when commitments are not met. It is, furthermore, unclear how local and national actors have influence over what is measured, how progress is judged and what action follows. Partner feedback and consultation create opportunities to be heard, but they do not necessarily give LNAs the leverage to know how their inputs were used. Consultations and feedback mechanisms may make LNA perspectives visible, however without establishing clear answerability to LNAs or ensuring that evidence leads to changes in leadership decisions, institutional behaviour or resource allocation. There remains limited consolidated understanding of how LNAs find that international actors should hold themselves accountable and be held accountable. Save the Children Denmark is therefore commissioning a small-scale study to examine localisation accountability from the perspective and experience of local and national actors. The study will explore existing LNA-led and LNA-informed accountability practices, examine what LNAs consider meaningful accountability for localisation commitments, how LNAs find that international aid actors should hold themselves to account and be held accountable, and identify what role LNAs could play in how international actors are accountable. The study is not an assessment or evaluation of individual international organisations or existing or emerging LNA platforms, such as National Reference Groups (NRGs). Its primary purpose is to produce a small-scale learning paper for humanitarian actors committed to the localisation agenda. However, it should generate practical recommendations for what the findings imply for how international humanitarian actors engage with and listen to LNAs when holding themselves accountable to the localisation agenda. 2. Purpose of the study The study seeks to understand what local and national aid actors consider meaningful accountability for international actors’ commitments to the localisation and local leadership agenda. Given the learning study is small-scale, it will not assess the full range of localisation commitments or map every accountability initiative globally and in-country. Rather, it will focus on the relationship between LNA localisation framing and input and international actors’ decisions, behaviour and follow-up. Specifically, the study will examine: What mechanisms do LNAs think are working well or have the potential to work well on accountability to the localisation agenda, and which are considered insufficient? Where do LNAs find they are able to influence with regard to accountability approaches, and where do they not? How do LNAs feel international actors can be more effectively held to account? The study should conclude by identifying practical implications for international humanitarian actors. 3. Scope of work The study will explore the overarching question: What does meaningful accountability to the localisation agenda look like from the perspective of local and national actors? The study will focus primarily on the experience and perspectives of local and national actors rather than on international organisations' internal accountability systems. It should examine both formal and informal ways in which LNAs currently seek to influence how international actors are accountable to localisation commitments and narrow in on an illustrative selection of mechanisms globally and in-country through which LNAs may influence international actors' accountability. These may include: - partner feedback and partnership review mechanisms, - LNA networks, alliances and collective advocacy, - localisation platforms and national reference groups, - representation in policy dialogues, coordination and governance structures, - locally led monitoring, scorecards or accountability mechanisms, - Pledge for Change/PALM and other partner-informed accountability approaches, - Grand Bargain monitoring and review processes, and National Reference Groups (NRGs), - dialogue with donors and international organisations, - informal relationship-based accountability. The illustrative mechanisms should be selected for their potential to show what LNAs consider to be working well and could potentially work well or insufficient, and where LNAs are and are not able to influence accountability approaches. The study is not expected to map or evaluate all mechanisms in the sector globally and in-country. It should explore both existing practice and LNA views on how international actors can be held more effectively to account. Particular attention should be paid to the distinction between participation in accountability processes and actual influence over decisions, responses and follow-up. The study should not duplicate existing surveys of LNA perceptions of localisation. It should consolidate such data points and focus specifically on the accountability relationship between LNAs and international actors and the mechanisms through which LNA perspectives can influence international practice. A full mapping of accountability mechanisms for localisation commitments across the sector globally and in-country is out of scope, as well as assessments of individual organisations full accountability mechanisms. Two light touch country-cases, one with and one without an established National Reference Group, will provide contextualised sources of evidence for the study. One of these will be undertaken in-country separately by Save the Children Denmark and is not part of the consultant’s data-collection responsibilities. The consultant should draw on both light touch country cases, one undertaken in-country by Save the Children and one undertaken remotely by the consultant, as illustrative country-level input. 4. Key questions to address The study should organise its analysis around the following three core questions: • What mechanisms do LNAs think are working well or have the potential to work well on accountability to the localisation agenda, and which are considered insufficient? • What makes formal and informal existing mechanisms credible, useful or ineffective from an LNA perspective? • Where do LNAs find they are able to influence accountability approaches, and where do they not? • How do LNAs feel international actors can be more effectively held to account? • What role should different entities of the humanitarian eco-system have to hold international actors accountable to the localisation agenda? • What practical changes, incentives, consequences or follow-up arrangements would strengthen accountability to LNAs? 5. Methodology The study should combine a desk review of existing evidence with targeted qualitative inquiry and LNA validation. It should build on existing evidence and examine a small number of illustrative accountability mechanisms rather than attempt a comprehensive mapping or evaluation of the sector. The methodology should include, at minimum: - an inception phase to refine the analytical framework, terminology, sampling and criteria for selecting the illustrative mechanisms, - incorporation of evidence from a light touch country case conducted separately by Save the Children Denmark. The light touch country case is expected to comprise interviews for example with representatives of LNAs, national coordination platforms/NRGs and Localisation Labs. The consultant will not conduct these interviews, but should analyse and triangulate the material with the other study data and identify where it supports, qualifies or contrasts with the wider findings, - a light touch country case, (ensuring that the country cases cover a country with a well-established National Reference Group and one without a National Reference Group), - qualitative interviews, with the substantial majority undertaken with LNAs and representatives of LNA networks, platforms or locally led initiatives, including but not exclusively LNAs partnering with Save the Children Denmark. The methodology should explain how LNA perspectives will influence the analytical framework, interpretation of findings and recommendations, rather than treating LNAs only as interview respondents. During inception, Save the Children Denmark and the consultant should agree the format and timing for transferring the light touch country case material, and how it will be analysed, referenced and reported in line with the consent and confidentiality arrangements used for those interviews. 6. Deliverables - Inception report, including refined research questions, analytical framework, desk review approach, sampling strategy, methodology and detailed timeline. The inception report should specify how the country cases will be integrated into the analysis - Short emerging findings debrief with Save the Children Denmark’s refernce group, - Draft report, including findings, illustrative examples of accountability approaches and emerging implications. - Final report, including: • executive summary, • synthesis of existing evidence, • LNA perspectives on the aspects of the localisation and local leadership agenda for which international actors should be held accountable, • assessment of the accountability mechanisms that LNAs consider to be working well or insufficient, • analysis of where LNAs are and are not able to influence accountability approaches, including barriers and enabling conditions, • recommendations for how international actors can be more effectively held to account, • Brief presentation of findings for Save the Children Denmark and, where appropriate, external sector audiences. The final report should be suitable for external publication and should seek to contribute to wider sector learning on localisation and accountability. 7. Timeline - The work will be undertaken from October to December 2026. - Final report submission: December 2026. 8. Qualifications Required The consultant/consultancy team should demonstrate the following qualifications: Essential • Strong knowledge of global South based perspectives on local leadership, • Proven experience working with or undertaking research with local and national actors and Global South-based organisations, • Strong knowledge of localisation commitments and frameworks, including the Grand Bargain, Pledge for Change and related sector initiatives, • Demonstrated experience researching accountability, power relations and local leadership, • Strong understanding of the political and power dimensions of localisation and international-local relationships, • Demonstrated qualitative research skills, including evidence synthesis, interviewing and analysis, • Experience translating research findings into practical recommendations for international organisations and the wider aid sector, • Excellent English writing, presentation and stakeholder-engagement skills. The commissioning team particularly welcomes proposals from Global South-based consultants, researchers or organisations and collaborative teams that demonstrate meaningful LNA leadership of the research. Total Budget: 200.000 DKK (approx. 30.000 USD) How to apply 9. Application process Interested consultants or consultancy teams are invited to submit: - A maximum two-page technical proposal outlining their understanding of the assignment, proposed methodology, workplan and team composition. - Proposals of a total budget of 200.000 DKK (approx. 30.000 USD). - CV(s) highlighting relevant experience. - Examples of similar previous work or references. Applications should be submitted electronically to Save the Children Denmark by 15th October to Katja Rosenstock kr@redbarnet.dk and Zoe Katrine Svendsen Borra zobo@redbarnet.dk. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Save the Children Denmark reserves the right to accept or reject any application.