Beyond subcontracting: Rethinking adaptive humanitarian leadership in Yemen

Abstract

This article speaks directly to humanitarian decision-makers seeking to operationalise localisation beyond rhetoric. It offers practice-based insights from front-line education and protection programs in southern Yemen, showing how Yemeni professionals already perform complex leadership functions—negotiating access, balancing global standards with local expectations, and managing multi-million-dollar portfolios under extreme uncertainty. By reframing local actors from ‘implementing partners’ to co-leaders of strategy and risk, the piece invites senior leaders in UN agencies, INGOs, and donors to rethink how authority, accountability, and resources are shared in protracted crises.