This CSDN Discussion Paper explores how more flexible EU funding can help support locally led peacebuilding in conflict-affected contexts. It looks at the gap between the EU’s stated commitment to local ownership and the practical barriers that still make it difficult for local peacebuilders to access and shape funding in meaningful ways.
Drawing on examples from different EU instruments and country contexts, the paper examines what more adaptive and locally grounded funding can look like in practice. It reflects on issues such as risk tolerance, continuity between short-term and longer-term support, participatory approaches, sub-granting models and the role of decision-making closer to the ground.
Rather than starting from abstract principles alone, the publication looks at concrete EU practice to ask what is already working, where limitations remain and what this means for future support to locally led peacebuilding. For readers interested in localisation, EU external action and peacebuilding finance, the paper offers a useful contribution to an ongoing and important discussion.
