The localization of aid in protracted conflicts: rethinking the Triple Nexus through the grounded temporality of Syrian refugees
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11143/fennia.145439Abstract
This article enters ongoing debates about the definition and purpose of localization by drawing on interviews conducted in 2017 with members of Syrian refuge-led Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) based in the border city of Gaziantep in southern Turkey, who were involved in cross-border assistance and support networks targeting civilians inside Syria. Syrian individuals and NGOs have played a major role across the Triple Nexus of humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding assistance to war-affected Syrians. Additionally, Syrian refugee-led NGOs have been a crucial link in the cross-border aid effort targeting Syrian civilians living in rebel-controlled parts of the country, areas that were deemed too dangerous to work in by most international organizations. Drawing on the narratives of members of Syrian refugee-led NGOs whose past lives in Syria, diasporic experience as refugees in Turkey, and aspirations for Syria’s future informed their cross-border assistance to fellow Syrians, I argue that the work of these refugee aid providers is informed by a ‘grounded’ temporality. This temporality emerges out of refugees’ personal connection to Syria and contrasts with the linear, donor-centric one that informs institutionalized international aid. I end with a reflection on whether localization as empowerment can be achieved by incorporating the grounded temporality that informs the work of Syrian refugee aid providers into efforts to design an effective Triple Nexus response to protracted conflict.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Nell Gabiam

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with Fennia agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. The license of the published metadata is Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0).
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a doctoral dissertation or book compilation), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
.png)



