CALLS Network
Promoting refugee agency in humanitarian action
REFUGEE-LED ORGANISATIONS
“An organisation or group in which persons with direct lived experience of forced displacement play a primary leadership role and whose stated objectives and activities are focused on responding to the needs of refugees and/or related communities.”
UNHCR definition built on consultations with organizations led by displaced and stateless persons, NGOs and academics and field-tested by refugee-led organisations in 14 country operations.
Who we work with
We prioritise middle- and low-income countries hosting large refugee populations in protracted situations where refugees have lived in exile for five years or longer. These situations often involve a state of intractable limbo with restricted movement, lack of access to legal employment, education, or land, leading to reliance on external assistance and no immediate solutions. Many of these refugee-hosting countries also fall into the fragile category, as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank.
In these contexts, refugees have had the time to rebuild their communities, nurture leaders and create refugee-led organisations. CALLS Network focuses in particular on organisations led by refugee women and youth and refugees with disabilities.
Depending on the humanitarian context, CALLS Network also partners with organisations led by displaced people and/or those who have been affected by conflict and have not left their country of origin. Likewise, CALLS Network partners with community-based organisations led by members of the refugee-hosting community, which engage in activities that foster peaceful coexistence and resilience and address the humanitarian-development-peace needs shared by both the refugee and host communities. Our partners are either formal or informal, registered or unregistered, virtual or physical entities, initiatives or networks.
Prioritised refugee-hosting countries include (but are not limited to) Bangladesh, Chad, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Peru, Sudan and Uganda.
How we work together
Guided by the organisations’ self-identified priorities, we engage in long-term equitable partnership with refugee-led organisations in the Global South and provide a combination of unrestricted and multi-year funding through simplified grant procedures, tailored organisational system and capacity strengthening, peer-to-peer learning, and coaching and mentoring, as well as enhanced visibility. We work together to strengthen organisational resilience and ensure the organisations have the resources, capacity and visibility to lead humanitarian action in their communities.
Our local solidarity groups also work together with the refugee-led organisations to exchange knowledge and expertise, share social capital and co-create initiatives.
LOCAL SOLIDARITY GROUPS
Local solidarity groups are small local teams, circles or clubs of members from all walks of life, who feel concerned by the humanitarian crisis and its impact on refugees and are united in their shared belief in our common humanity and in solidarity.
They promote refugee agency in humanitarian action by:
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Creating spaces to exchange and learn on one of the most important global issues of our time and how it affects us all.
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Raising awareness on refugee-led organisations and giving visibility to their initiatives.
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Sharing social capital, expertise and technical skills with partner refugee-led organisations.
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Fundraising to support refugee-led initiatives.
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Networking and developing diverse partnerships to support the activities of the local solidarity group.
Each local solidarity group does things its own way in line with the CALLS Network vision and values and around the four pillars of our mission (link to the About page). Its members determine what to do, which initiatives they wish to undertake and how to implement them.
PARTNER ORGANISATIONS
Today’s humanitarian challenges are multi-dimensional, interconnected, and shaped by complex political, social, and economic forces. Reshaping humanitarian action and shifting power requires collective action. No one can do it alone!
By partnering with actors moved by the same concerns and our shared values, we strengthen solidarity, amplify impact, and help reshape a more inclusive and accountable humanitarian system.
CALLS Network aims to connect a diverse array of partners, including:
By collaborating on joint advocacy, resource-sharing, and programmatic initiatives to address systemic barriers for refugee-led organisations in humanitarian response.
International and National NGOs
Academic Institutions
By conducting research, generating evidence, and co-creating knowledge to inform practice and policy.
Civil Society
By co-designing community-led solutions and amplifying the voices of affected populations in policy dialogues.
Donors
By aligning funding priorities with the principles of trust-based philanthropy, locally led humanitarian responses, unrestricted funding, and long-term impact.Private sector: By leveraging expertise, innovation, and resources to scale solutions for displacement and inclusion.
Committed Individuals
By contributing skills, leveraging networks, sharing social capital and passion, to drive together change from the ground up.