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Localising Aid. Getting rid of Red Tape.
We support grassroots initiatives to get rid of paperwork, to create trust and visibility.
We give needs based support, hands-on and through innovative use of tech.
THE STATUS QUO
Less than 2% of the international aid flows to local initiatives.
Small initiatives don't stand a chance against the monopoly held by a few large aid organisations: they simply cannot compete for money, visibility, ‘talent’. Out of frustration we looked to find solutions for grassroots organisations competing for around 2% of all foreign aid– out of a total pot worth 147 billion dollars.
Why?
Bureaucracy
The bureaucratic requirements are often too immense for local initiates, which draws a red tape between them and the money donated to them.
Lack of trust and data
With funding constraints, tools and methods to document the work and collect data are not yet implemented. Thus they lack the base for being transparent and thus trustworthy.
Lack of visibility
With limited funding, all of it is used for the cause they are working on. Thus local initiatives lack the capacity to showcase their work and impact publicly. People have little chance to know of and support them.
Cutting the middlemen
To transforms the current aid hierarchy into an ecosystem of mutual support. RealtimeAid's team of experts advises on leveraging technology solutions to simplify administrative processes, reducing the burden of paperwork and increasing efficiency. Our team specialise in identifying and implementing innovative solutions, such as cash transfer, programming and mobile technology, to better reach and assist vulnerable populations. We provide solutions that meets the actual needs of local initiatives and makes it easy for them to connect with supporters worldwide.
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“We are frustrated having worked over a decade in war zones. Local initiatives are struggling to survive, worn down by bureaucracy. We want to change this.”
Founder, Tarek Alsaleh
RealtimeAid works on a number of Projects all underlined by our desire to create an equitable humanitarian aid system.
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Our support to local Grassroots Initiatives
RealtimeAid supports 10+ local organisations in Al Raqqa Syria to run community projects ranging from learning centres for special needs children, sports classes for traumatised young people and refurbishing former ISIS prisons to turn them into safe play spaces for youth and women. RealtimeAid works on a participatory basis. This involves working with our network of grassroots organisations and Changemakers to identify local community needs. We also set-up and work with specific community representative groups to ensure that any one group such as elites/ruling groups/men are not the sole decision-makers as to where humanitarian or development aid money should be given. Community Representative Groups RealtimeAid works with a Local Advisory Board, a Women’s Survey Group as well as the Changemakers and Local Initiatives. These groups serve a number of different roles including: oversight of projects, monitoring and data collection, able to process grievances from the local community. They are trained in their roles so learn technical skill sets which benefit the strengthening of wider civil society - which has been severely disrupted by war and the purposeful destruction of such groups by ISIS. Participatory Decision Making 2022 Awards Process Al Raqqa, Syria RealtimeAid launched a micro-grant in 2022, aimed at supporting grassroots civil society throughout the City of Al Raqqa. A participatory process was designed to manage the process. This included an application process which took into account local language Arabic, so information was shared via various media in both Arabic as well as English. The Award information was spread through RealtimeAid’s grassroots network, as well as general flyers and social media. The voting process was done through an online tool which allowed Community Representative Groups to add their comments, explain their choice of project initiative. The final projects are selected based on the short-list collated via the Community Representative Group voting outcomes and the criteria as set out in the initial Award criteria.
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