Lessons on Locally-Led Programming from Northeast Syria

The policy brief captures learning from the Cascading Change project, a two-year initiative in Northeast Syria that set out to prove localisation can be more than a slogan. Working with Syrian community-based organisations and local groups, the project piloted new ways of strengthening capacity, sharing decision-making, and putting resources directly into the hands of communities. From intensive training and coaching for CBOs, to embedding adaptive planning through the Change-Oriented Approach, to testing community-run micro-grants under the Supporting and Community-Led Response model, the project created space for local actors to lead rather than implement. Drawing on surveys, focus group discussions, interviews, and a comparative review of humanitarian practices, the brief distils evidence of what works when partnerships are built on trust and accountability to affected people. It shows how flexible, community-driven approaches can deliver faster, fairer, and more sustainable results than traditional subcontracting models. In doing so, it offers donors, policymakers, and practitioners a practical roadmap for shifting power and resources toward local leadership in Syria and beyond.