The final 2025 Humanitarian Leader paper is ‘Back to basics: Re-centring refugees in humanitarian and development action,’ by Dr Paul O’Keeffe.
In this article, O’Keeffe critiques the entrenched architecture of exclusion that defines much of global aid practice, arguing that meaningful reform must begin with re-centring refugees as agents of change.
Despite decades of rhetoric around localisation and inclusion, mainstream humanitarian and development systems continue to marginalise refugees, rather than recognising them as capable leaders and innovators.
Drawing on recent evidence from refugee-led organisations (RLOs) such as the Vijana Twaweza Community (VTC) in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp, Dr O’Keeffe highlights how RLOs are already filling critical gaps left by international actors, despite facing legal, financial, and structural barriers.
