Advocating Aspirations from the Southern Part of the World, Human Initiative Joins NEAR

Jakarta – Human Initiative continues to strengthen its role through global humanitarian forums, joining the Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR) as a platform for various local and national organizations to enhance their capacities. The goal is to further amplify Human Initiative’s role in voicing humanitarian aspirations of countries in the Global South.

Kaimuddin, Manager of Humanitarian Diplomacy and Advocacy at Human Initiative, revealed that prior to joining NEAR, Human Initiative had been part of regional alliances such as the SouthEast Asia Humanitarian Committee (SEAHUM). On a global level, Human Initiative is a member of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA).

Nevertheless, Kaimuddin emphasized that as a humanitarian organization, Human Initiative needs to expand its contributions to other international communities. This is especially important to advocate and support humanitarian aspirations, particularly from Indonesia as a country in the eastern and southern parts of the world, within the framework of NEAR.

A Space for Sharing Knowledge and Experience

The Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR) is a collection of various local and national organizations aimed at enhancing their members’ capacities through humanitarian response, peacebuilding, and development. Beyond advocating for humanitarian efforts, Kaimuddin stated that joining NEAR also strengthens organizations within it, expanding access to cooperation and collaboration.

“Through NEAR, Human Initiative and other organizations can enhance their capacities and share knowledge with one another. This includes sharing knowledge about accountability, organizational sustainability, responding and interacting during field operations, and engaging with donors,” he explained.

For Human Initiative, joining NEAR is a step towards fostering collective collaboration to promote human dignity through acts of goodness.

The Formation of NEAR as a Bridge for Global South Aspirations

Further explaining the formation of NEAR, Kaimuddin mentioned that NEAR emerged as a mandate during the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey. NEAR was formed out of the concern that countries in the Southern region sometimes find it challenging to voice their aspirations.

“Furthermore, countries in the Southern region are often not involved in determining their own needs and tend to be recipients of humanitarian policies and funds. Therefore, NEAR aims to bridge this gap,” Kaimuddin elaborated.

Human Initiative, which also holds a mandate as the secretariat for the Indonesian Alliance for Development and Humanitarian Action (APKI), has expressed aspirations for the next three years through a participatory process. These aspirations include aspects such as self-reliant humanitarian organization funding potential, funding, capacity, accountability, coordination, and strengthening local resources.