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Decolonizing aid is a hot topic right now, and we were delighted to welcome the authors of a new report - Time to Decolonise Aid - Dylan Mathews, Chief Executive and Shannon Paige, Scoville Peace Fellow, both from founding MCLD Member Peace Direct.
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They emphasized that NGOs need to focus on changing the aid system toward locally led efforts. MCLD encourages conversations and creates spaces for local groups to strategize together by investing in indigenous knowledge creation. During our call with Peace Direct, we learned about steps that INGOs can take to decolonize aid. This involves re-evaluating our partnerships with our local partners and striving to base them on mutually accountability. We need to 1) listen, 2) think about how we value knowledge and agency, and 3) strive for horizontal partnerships.
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Community Leadership and the Triple Nexus
Our June call cited above addressed a key step towards defining the role of MCLD within the increasingly important work to break down silos in the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Triple Nexus. All three legs of that nexus are working to #ShiftThePower from being led by “outsiders” to a “Local First” approach, recognizing that grassroots civil society and local government are best positioned to achieve sustainable progress across this continuum. While much of the Triple Nexus debate has been “donor focused,” MCLD can play an important role in bringing community leadership voice to the forefront, and coming to understand how grassroots action can be leveraged for high-level political change.
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Show us the money! Partnership With Local Government Associations
Perhaps the most important (and apparently most difficult) milestone for Community-led Development is convincing central governments that communities should control a fair share – at least 20% -- of public resources. Two key strategies towards this goal include (a) budget literacy so that grassroots people know what local budgets actually are and should be, and (b) partnership between MCLD national chapters and local government associations, as both share this goal.
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Coming Events:
July 14, 1pm UTC: #ShiftThePower is Us!
COVID-19, #BlackLivesMatter, #CharitySoWhite, Decolonizing Aid...The past 18 months have witnessed a period of unprecedented disruption in international aid and philanthropy. This disruption has re-energized long-standing critiques about how these systems operate, re-affirming the role of local civil society actors as essential frontline providers of humanitarian, economic or social assistance, and as defenders of human rights.
Our sister network, the Global Fund for Community Foundations, invites everyone to a 90 minute conversation on the current state of the global ecosystem for systems change and shifting power.
Date: Wednesday 14 July
Time: 9am (New York), 2pm (London), 4pm (Nairobi), 6:30pm (Delhi)
Duration: 90 minutes
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July 28 and August 12: Youth Community Leadership!
August 12 is International Youth Day, an important opportunity to remind the world that young people provide extraordinary leadership for mobilizing communities for positive change. To prepare, global MCLD participants will meet on July 28 to hear from dynamic young leaders as well as learn the case study of our Benin chapter - an outstanding example of collective action for systems change.
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August 4: Covid-19 and Climate Change
Building resilience to all kinds of shocks is a key goal of MCLD. Community leaders have proven their vital importance to responding to Covid-19, and should be supported in achieving climate justice. In addition, these two life-changing shocks are deeply interrelated. Please join us to discuss these issues on our next Covid-19 Adaptation Zoom call.
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