No Turning Back: Local leadership in Vanuatu’s response to Tropical Cyclone Harold

This practice paper is a rapid analysis of the Tropical Cyclone (TC) Harold response, 50 days after the disaster. Primarily based on qualitative data, it explores the extent and implications of the locally-led response at the time of assessment. It asks critical questions about the impact of increased local leadership on the quality of the response and the flow of funding; whether international organizations stepped back whilst national organizations stepped up; and whether the TC Harold response represents a point of no return for local humanitarian leadership in the Pacific.