In May 2016, 18 donor countries and 16 aid organisations (including United Nations (UN) agencies, international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) and the Red Cross Movement) signed a ‘Grand Bargain’ outlining 51 mutual commitments across ten thematic workstreams.

Workstream two – more commonly known as ‘localisation’ – commits donors and aid organisations to provide 25% of global humanitarian funding to local and national responders by 2020, along with more unrestricted money and increased multi-year funding.

The objective of this research, commissioned by NEAR, is to provide in-depth data (quantitative and qualitative) on the barriers to increasing the level of direct funding to national NGOs (NNGOs) in South Sudan. The research provides an understanding of the amount of funding that goes to local actors, directly and indirectly, through INGOs, UN agencies and donors.

The key research areas analysed were: direct funding to local actors; partnership quality; capacity strengthening; funding quality; and the potential for future change. Evidence on overhead coverage and good practices was also captured by the case study. The research highlights recommendations that should be considered immediately or in the medium term to increase funding to NNGOs.