What happens when communities are forced to govern themselves?

Across conflict-affected contexts, communities are often doing far more than surviving the breakdown or failure of formal institutions.

They are organising, delivering services, making decisions, representing their communities and creating new forms of governance - sometimes long before peace agreements are signed or states are rebuilt.

In this episode of Think Change, we explore what makes these systems legitimate, how movements navigate power and internal tensions, and what allows them to endure. We also ask what governments, humanitarian organisations, donors and diaspora communities can do differently to support locally led efforts without undermining the independence, legitimacy and accountability that make them work.

Drawing on conversations from a seminar series hosted by the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) and ODI Global, our host Sara Pantuliano is joined by Charles Petrie, Ibrahim Basha and Mark Daou to explore what these movements can teach us about governance, justice and dignity and whether we need to rethink what we mean by a functioning state.

Guests:

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Charles Petrie, former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Visiting Senior Fellow at ODI Global;
• Ibrahim Basha, Deputy Team Lead of the Yemen Flexible Fund Mechanism and Senior Technical Advisor to the Yemen Support Facility; and
• Mark Daou, Lebanese activist, public affairs expert and Member of the Lebanese Parliament since 2022.

Related resources

• 'Wrong diagnosis, Wrong cure' - launch of the 'Perspectives' blog series
• Think Change episode 93: how do wars end?
• Agency in Action: accelerating the shift towards locally-led crisis response