Palestinian civil society leaders: Reinforce us, don’t replace us.
Grassroots civil society activists from Palestine discuss their experiences with international aid in this Special Mention Award Winner of the Social Impact Media Awards.
Grassroots civil society activists from Palestine discuss their experiences with international aid in this Special Mention Award Winner of the Social Impact Media Awards.
“There are better approaches that can be employed to make sure that our development approach is participatory and strategic. But if we continue to force on communities ideologies born out of top-down approaches, we are not going to see the impact and change we desire.” A guest post by Clement N. Dlamini of the Institute of Development Management in Swaziland.
Funders, if you know the answer is “no”, offer it quickly and gracefully. Respect the vulnerability, but also the resilience, of those doing the asking.
A self-described aid agnostic shares his thoughts on CDA Collaborative Learning Project’s new book, “Time to Listen: Hearing People on the Receiving End of International Aid.”
As I was sitting in a year-end retreat, I started jotting down this list of things that the development aid world could use more of in 2013. I offer it as some food for thought for the year ahead.
When I first picked up and started reading The Barefoot Guide to Working with Organisations and Social Change almost four years ago, it was one of those strike-you-through-the-heart moments. Finally someone was talking about my role in aid.
“Both aid and aid reform distract us from real social change, allowing the powers-that-be to get on with their business of saying one thing and doing another.” Reflections one year after Busan from Nora Lester Murad.
The Social Impact Media Awards 2013 is an international documentary and video competition for independent filmmakers and those engaged in aid to champion the stories of grassroots change-makers that too often remain overlooked.
To be a thought leader, you must do great work; communicate clearly, concisely and powerfully; and build a solid network of people ready and willing to hear what you have to say.
You tell the voters/donors what they want to hear. You’re happy (though thoroughly exhausted) when the campaign is over/proposal is submitted, but the hard work is yet to come.
As we wait for Hurricane Sandy, not knowing exactly what’s coming, vulnerability has been on my mind—namely my own. What does this mean in our aid, philanthropy and social entrepreneurship worlds?
A colleague told me recently, “Working for an NGO, it’s like family. I can bad-mouth my mother, but you can’t.” A discussion of Tori Hogan’s new book, Beyond Good Intentions: A Journey Into the Realities of International Aid.
…And that’s why it’s vital to have a trusted network of peers who can say to you frankly, “Hey, shut it. There may be another viewpoint you are not seeing.”