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What is this?

This is an invitation to crowdsource with and beyond our community and activist networks, so we co-create a diverse and inclusive agenda to support the reform of international development.

This initiative has grown from research commissioned by H&S Davidson Trust, a UK-based foundation which suggested the following entry points to drive reform: more quality funding; INGO role change; increased collaboration and knowledge sharing; and equal voices. Further background information can be found here.

Reforming international development is vast systems change work which needs to be co-created and collectively driven and owned. To help this process, we need to create spaces or ‘constituency conversations’ where different voices and perspectives can reimagine a system which supports flourishing lives for all.

So far there have been several constituency conversations with people from various geographies and parts of the international development ecosystem. While these have been rich and insightful, we are acutely aware they are spaces which have not included, for example, non-English speaking people.

To ensure this initiative is shaped by and responds to the needs of those embedded in or closest to the communities that live with protracted conflict, discrimination, and oppression, it is essential we hear from all parts of the ecosystem working to create a better society.

To achieve this, we need to extend our reach by working through our networks and asking people like you to involve the community groups, leaders, and activists you know. In turn, we hope they will engage their broader networks and contacts, so the pool of perspectives increases and becomes more inclusive and diverse.

It is our explicit intention that this organic crowdsourcing approach reaches those often excluded from these conversations. By doing this, we can help ensure ‘aid’ and ‘development’ is informed by, and able to align in solidarity with the political agency of all people.

What do I need to do?

We are asking you to help expand the co-creation process by working with and through your networks to invite those organizing for justice, equity and peace at a community level to tell us about what they need (and don’t need) from international development. We’re specifically interested in hearing community and activist responses to the following questions:

1. What is the society or community you want?
2. How well does the formal external funding system enable you to work towards such a society/community?
3. What kind of system would enable you to be more effective in contributing to the community or society you want?
4. What reforms would you like to see in place?
5. If applicable, how would you describe your group? For example, non-governmental organisation; community group; or social movement.

We want this process to be as easy as possible so suggest where practical and safe, sessions take place online and are recorded and shared via the email below. Where this is not possible, we suggest synthesized conversation notes which are shared via email. Responses do not need to be in English. To enable people to speak freely and to acknowledge security concerns, all insights/quotations will be anonymised and any recordings will be deleted once transcribed.

We appreciate this isn’t a perfect process but making efforts to hear as many voices as possible is essential if we are to co-create a system which centres dignity, supports the needs and priorities of communities, and promotes international solidarity.

Why is this important?

The current international development system is a model created during the cold war, based on colonial mindsets and unequal power dynamics. While the Covid-19 pandemic and the permacrisis we face today have led to some positive shifts in practices, these are isolated rather than mainstreamed, and progress to ‘shift the power’ and ‘decolonise’ international aid is piecemeal and often tokenistic.

To help achieve the world we want, there is a growing demand to change the way international development (including private philanthropy, bilateral and multilateral aid and INGOs) works. To support long over-due reform, we need to ensure demands for change are rooted in and reflect the needs and wishes of the communities’ international development claims to serve.

This work will support a co-created document which will be shared and discussed at the #Shiftthepower summit taking place in Bogotá in December. We will also use the insights to share learning and spark further discussion via publications in Alliance magazine and other platforms. We also welcome hearing from those interested in writing about ways to reform international development in Alliance.

Who is involved in facilitating this process?

Rebecca Hanshaw – Rebecca is based in the UK, she previously worked for Global Fund for Women and is currently an independent consultant.

• Moses Isooba – Moses is based in Uganda and is the Executive Director of the Uganda National NGO Forum
• Barry Knight – Barry is based in the UK and is a social scientist and statistician. He’s a former advisor to several international foundations and currently advises the Global Fund for Community Foundations.
• Galina Maksimović – Galina is based in Serbia and is the Programme and Community Coordinator for Women’s Reconstruction Fund.
• Chandrika Sahai – Chandrika is based in India and is the Programme Manager at Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace (PSJP) housed at Global Dialogue, UK.

Timings

Please share information on a rolling basis until 31 September via: reformingid@gmail.com

Any questions can also be directed to this email address.

Finally, THANK YOU for your help in supporting an inclusive and diverse co-creation process.