Localizing Humanitarian Aid in Ukraine: A Critical Analysis of Structural Barriers in the International Humanitarian System

Abstract

This thesis examines why the localization of humanitarian aid, a core element of humanitarian reform to shift more resources, leadership, and decision-making power to local actors, has been limited in practice. Focusing on the humanitarian response in Ukraine following the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, this study examines what structural features of the international humanitarian system constrain localization. The empirical data come from twelve semi-structured interviews with Ukrainian and international organizations conducted in March-April 2024, analyzed using the reflexive thematic analysis method. Drawing on the “local turn” in peacebuilding and insights from complexity theory, the findings identify standardization, co-optation, and epistemic dominance as structural barriers embedded within the international humanitarian system. These barriers limit the transfer of resources, authority, and recognition to Ukrainian organizations, undermining their legitimacy. In practice, they operate through capacity thresholds, burdensome reporting demands, fragmented bureaucracy, conditional partnership models, thematic earmarking, professionalization discourse, and donor visibility demands. Together, these structural features render the humanitarian system ill-suited to engage with the contextually grounded local capacities and knowledge of Ukrainian organizations. Despite this, local actors continually exercise their agency by negotiating conditions, adapting their practices, and accepting unequal partnership terms to secure aid, motivated by humanitarian ethics and a commitment to affected communities. This study emphasizes the need to critically review the logic underpinning the international humanitarian system, so that it fosters complementarity between the local and international, rather than perpetuating patterns of dominance and control.