HAMAP-Humanitaire also supports local civil society organisations in carrying out development projects. Typically, the association contacts HAMAP-Humanitaire with a project that is more or less defined. HAMAP-Humanitaire then supports these organisations in delivering it.
That means looking for funding, but also consolidating local skills. Building local capacity is one of the keys to the independence and durability of development work. Local people know the issues and the context far better than international staff. The aim of building local skills is to allow communities to be actors in the development of their own country. The ambition is to create independent actors able to continue and extend the work. Supporting these local operational partners is about professionalising them in their field, strengthening their methods and helping them find the funding to launch similar projects themselves.
Because projects are above all partnerships with the communities they serve: the work responds to clearly identified needs, expressed by communities and refined through technical assessments. Throughout a project, the involvement of the people it serves is paramount, a guarantee of buy-in and durability.
Partnership with a local association has several aims:
– working in partnership with local actors. Every project run by HAMAP-Humanitaire is developed in close collaboration with local actors, from associations, technical bodies and institutions, at every stage of the project life cycle. Through this process, local actors learn or consolidate skills in writing projects, seeking funding, preparing tender documents, drawing up provisional budgets and setting up project monitoring tools.
– awareness sessions built into every project run by HAMAP-Humanitaire. These sessions are aimed at local communities and users, and adapted to each audience. Training sessions for management committees or for the local authorities responsible for the project's durability are also a fundamental part of the association's projects.
– training local actors.
When recruiting field staff, HAMAP-Humanitaire gives priority to hiring national staff so that the knowledge gained continues to benefit and
to be passed on to local communities even after the project ends. This choice is based on a triple advantage: a culturally appropriate response, economic efficiency and a factor of political stability.