We hereby invite you to a seminar on the role of localization, refugee-led assistance and innovative funding mechanisms. These discussions are highly relevant for ongoing national processes, including the Norwegian government’s work on what they have called Project Turning Point, an effort to rethink how Norway engages with humanitarian and development aid to make the greatest possible difference in the world.
Uganda hosts Africa’s largest refugee population of nearly two million people. We will be screening the short documentary Filling the Gap or Taking the Lead? that highlights the initiatives that refugees and refugee-led organizations develop to support their own communities. This includes farming groups, savings schemes and other forms of collective action, as well as more formalized work that often receives far less attention than the international aid system.
The documentary was produced by the Refugee Law Project (RLP) together with NTNU and Makerere University under the PRIO-led project AidAccount. The film raises wider questions about the humanitarian localization agenda and what changes when refugee‑led actors are recognized as central, not supplementary to aid. After the screening, there will be a panel conversation. We will also open up for questions and reflections from the audience.
In the panel:
- Kuol Arou Kuol is one of the refugee leaders featured in the film. Kuol is also a South Sudanese refugee, activist and former leader of RELON (Refugee Led Organisation Network).
- Anne Muthoni Wairimu brings significant expertise in participatory grantmaking, having co-designed the Karibu grantmaking pilot and other innovative funding mechanisms.
The panel will be facilitated by Cindy Horst, Research Professor at PRIO with broad expertise in locally-led crisis response. Within this theme she leads RCN–funded projects on accountability and the HDP nexus (EXPAND).
This event is a collaboration between The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), the Norwegian Council for Africa and the Karibu Foundation.
