Transcript
Save the Children Australia's chief executive Paul Ronalds was the conference's keynote speaker and focused on the need for change.
"Unless we're prepared to really cannibalise our existing business model before it's too late, we will go out of business."
He addressed a loss of trust in large international NGOs but the inverse for smaller local ones which he says should take the lead in humanitarian response.
The head of the Pacific's NGO body Emele Duituturaga says the 'localisation agenda' has been a focus since the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit last year.
"And since then, this localisation agenda has gained a lot of momentum. Now what this means is that there needs to be more focus, more resources that go to local leadership. When disaster strikes, the first impact is always at the local level and so the focus is now, 'how do we get local actors to take leadership?'"
PIANGO's executive director says this can present a challenge to international NGOs which traditionally provide a surge of humanitarian response and leadership in disasters.
"It may be a bit sensitive for me to say this but it comes from a neo-colonial paradigm where we are saying, 'In this day and age, surely we in the Pacific can run and lead our communities'. We're not saying, 'you don't have a role'. What we're saying is, 'We're leading, come in and support us'."
Her counterpart at Oxfam New Zealand Rachael Le Mesurier says this fits with the regional strategy they've adopted.
"There's a whole bunch of very good reasons that local civil society and local NGO's are best placed, not just for humanitarian responses - though of course the emergency means they are there straight away, but also for long-term development and advocacy in campaigns."
She says they have been moving to build and support stand-alone Oxfams in the region.
"So really moving away from that old model of, 'We'll raise the money, we'll hand it over to you, and we'll tell you what to do with it'. It's really far more about saying, 'What is it you need?'. Let's see how we can match that with our public's interest and our government's interest to help you progress what you identify as most important."
Rachael Le Mesurier says helping to develop this local agenda is the best way for civil society organisations to help Pacific countries to advance their United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
