Helpdesk Research Report www.gsdrc.org helpdesk@gsdrc.org National humanitarian response Brigitte Rohwerder 19.11.2015 Question What are the lessons arising from case studies illustrating the development of nationally- owned and -led systems for responding to humanitarian crises in developing countries? How do governments manage flexible budgeting and planning processes to respond to these crises? Contents 1. Overview 2. National systems for responding to humanitarian crises 3. Lessons for international actors 4. References 1. Overview In recent years there has been greater interest in the role of national governments in humanitarian response, although the focus still tends to be on the international response. This rapid review looks at the lessons from case studies where national governments have developed and strengthened their humanitarian response, including through the support of international actors. The vast majority of the available literature focusing on national government response is grey literature evaluations of a number of different case studies. In addition, Scott et al (2014, p. 9) find that there is a gap in empirical, independent research focused on analysing disaster risk management capacity building activities at the national level in developing countries to determine what works and why. National governments have the primary responsibility for leading and coordinating humanitarian response in their countries. Where they have the capacity, state-led responses have been evaluated to be more effective than responses led by others. However, international actors often fail to work effectively with national authorities. The cases studies indicate that national disaster management systems can be strengthened through:  An impetus for change such as a specific disaster highlighting state weakness or civil society advocacy that can inspire governments to assume leadership.