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CHAtroom#27: Contested Aid with Goda Milašiūtė
Intermediary financing mechanisms and their potential to enable local leadership
As a result of drastic cuts to humanitarian action worldwide and the ‘Humanitarian Reset’ – the latest United Nations’ reform agenda – so-called ‘pooled funds’ are playing an increasingly important role. As part of the CHA Work Plan 2025–2027, CHA research fellow Goda Milašiūtė is exploring the potential of various intermediary financing mechanisms to enable and anchor local leadership roles.
In this episode of CHAtroom, communications lead Anne Tritschler asks her: What different financing mechanisms are there in humanitarian action? Why is such a high priority given to Country-Based Pooled Funds as part of the ‘Reset’? What is meant by ‘quality funding’?
Post-it
“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”
-- Arundhati Roy, "The Cost of Living"
Links:
CHA Workplan (https://www.chaberlin.org/en/topics/contested-aid/))
Locally led action at CHA (https://www.chaberlin.org/en/topics/localisation/))
…and some resources which have significantly informed Goda's work:
Hughes, Ed, Elise Baudot, Eileen Morrow, and Manon Glaser. 2025. Risk Sharing in Pooled Funds: Insights for Donors, Fund Managers and NGOs on Advancing Risk Sharing and Localisation. ICVA. https://www.icvanetwork.org/resource/risk-sharing-in-pooled-funds/
Noe, Nicholas, and Julia Samokhvalova. 2025. The Ukraine Local Pooled Fund - Public Report. Triangle. https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-local-pooled-fund-public-report-september-2025
Poole, Lydia, and Sophia Swithern. 2025. Financing for Locally-Led Action: A Framework for Understanding Options and Accelerating Impact. DanChurchAid (DCA). https://reliefweb.int/report/world/financing-locally-led-action-framework-understanding-options-and-accelerating-impact
Posada, Alejandro, Alice Obrecht, Courtenay Cabot Venton, Sarah Selby, and Edith Macharia. 2025. Intermediary Models to Advance Locally Led Humanitarian Action. ALNAP/ODI. https://alnap.org/help-library/resources/intermediary-models-to-advance-locally-led-humanitarian-action/
Schmitt, Chloe. 2023. Pooled Funding Models: Governance Systems. A Comparative Study. ICVA. https://www.icvanetwork.org/uploads/2023/12/ICVA-Pooled-Funding-Models-Governance-Systems.pdf
Thomas, Manisha. 2022. Pooled Funds: The New Humanitarian Silver Bullet? NRC. https://www.nrc.no/resources/reports/pooled-funds-the-new-humanitarian-silver-bullet
Viswanathan, Vijayalakshmi, Loreine dela Cruz, Michael Vincent Mercado, et al. 2026. Building More Locally-Led Aid Ecosystems: 2025 Insights from Global South Civil Society. Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR). https://near.ngo/resources/building-more-locally-led-aid-ecosystems/
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By Centre for Humanitarian ActionIntermediary financing mechanisms and their potential to enable local leadership
As a result of drastic cuts to humanitarian action worldwide and the ‘Humanitarian Reset’ – the latest United Nations’ reform agenda – so-called ‘pooled funds’ are playing an increasingly important role. As part of the CHA Work Plan 2025–2027, CHA research fellow Goda Milašiūtė is exploring the potential of various intermediary financing mechanisms to enable and anchor local leadership roles.
In this episode of CHAtroom, communications lead Anne Tritschler asks her: What different financing mechanisms are there in humanitarian action? Why is such a high priority given to Country-Based Pooled Funds as part of the ‘Reset’? What is meant by ‘quality funding’?
Post-it
“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”
-- Arundhati Roy, "The Cost of Living"
Links:
CHA Workplan (https://www.chaberlin.org/en/topics/contested-aid/))
Locally led action at CHA (https://www.chaberlin.org/en/topics/localisation/))
…and some resources which have significantly informed Goda's work:
Hughes, Ed, Elise Baudot, Eileen Morrow, and Manon Glaser. 2025. Risk Sharing in Pooled Funds: Insights for Donors, Fund Managers and NGOs on Advancing Risk Sharing and Localisation. ICVA. https://www.icvanetwork.org/resource/risk-sharing-in-pooled-funds/
Noe, Nicholas, and Julia Samokhvalova. 2025. The Ukraine Local Pooled Fund - Public Report. Triangle. https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-local-pooled-fund-public-report-september-2025
Poole, Lydia, and Sophia Swithern. 2025. Financing for Locally-Led Action: A Framework for Understanding Options and Accelerating Impact. DanChurchAid (DCA). https://reliefweb.int/report/world/financing-locally-led-action-framework-understanding-options-and-accelerating-impact
Posada, Alejandro, Alice Obrecht, Courtenay Cabot Venton, Sarah Selby, and Edith Macharia. 2025. Intermediary Models to Advance Locally Led Humanitarian Action. ALNAP/ODI. https://alnap.org/help-library/resources/intermediary-models-to-advance-locally-led-humanitarian-action/
Schmitt, Chloe. 2023. Pooled Funding Models: Governance Systems. A Comparative Study. ICVA. https://www.icvanetwork.org/uploads/2023/12/ICVA-Pooled-Funding-Models-Governance-Systems.pdf
Thomas, Manisha. 2022. Pooled Funds: The New Humanitarian Silver Bullet? NRC. https://www.nrc.no/resources/reports/pooled-funds-the-new-humanitarian-silver-bullet
Viswanathan, Vijayalakshmi, Loreine dela Cruz, Michael Vincent Mercado, et al. 2026. Building More Locally-Led Aid Ecosystems: 2025 Insights from Global South Civil Society. Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR). https://near.ngo/resources/building-more-locally-led-aid-ecosystems/