Community-oriented action research explores how people living through crisis and natural disaster go about protecting themselves, their families and their communities.
Research
Research
L2GPs work explores how people living in areas affected by natural disasters and complex emergencies understand ‘protection’. Building on initial research in 2009 into how communities and individuals respond to meet their protection needs in a crisis, L2Gp now focuses on how sclr is implemented and used by communities and humanitarian actors around the world to allow people affected by crisis to take ownership and leadership of a response. L2GP has conducted community-oriented action research around the world in Haiti, Kenya, Myanmar, the occupied Palestinian Territories, the Philippines, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria and Zimbabwe.
L2GPs local research uses a community-oriented approach with international national researchers working closely together to interview individuals and focus groups in the contexts we work in. Research findings are discussed with participants, communities and relevant national actors at the draft stages and different perspectives reflected in the reports.
This research is complemented by global level research into understandings of protection in the humanitarian system, and analyses of how commitments to localisation are born out in humanitarian funding patterns.
Key Findings
- The people at risk themselves take the lead in providing their own protection, survival and recovery.
- A wide range of issues such as livelihoods or education were experienced as intimately linked to protection.
- Customary law, local values and traditions matter more to local communities than formal human rights.
- For some, psychological and spiritual needs and threats were as important as physical survival.
- Local agency should be supported by the protection role of national authorities or international actors.