Localization is a legitimacy problem, not a capacity problem.

The sector's explanation for slow localization is that local organizations are not ready. Sixteen interviews across NGOs, UN agencies, donors and local organizations say otherwise: decision authority stays where it is because compliance systems, funding structures and governance hold it there, not because capability is missing.

The full argument runs through Pathways and Power: who decides, whose name is on it, and what holds that in place.

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