Politics of Poverty
Local humanitarian leadership in Kenya: a conversation about the food-crisis response
Ever since the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, there’s been a concerted push to shift from the traditional methods of delivering aid, with responders from wealthy countries parachuting into scenes of disaster and delivering goods and services, to a model in which international actors support from the sidelines while NGOs and governments from disaster-affected countries take the lead. A model that involves shifting power and resources to the countries most affected by humanitarian emergencies. In the following interview with communications officer Elizabeth Stevens, Matthew Cousins, humanitarian director of Oxfam in Kenya, offers his perspective on prioritizing the leadership of Kenyan organizations.
