I just came across this older post were NGO Shabaka’s CEO Bashiir Ahmed shares thoughts on A New Era for Humanitarian Aid: Decentralisation, Local Empowerment, and a Holistic Approach. The post presents compelling arguments that, while focused on humanitarian aid, are highly relevant to the broader international development field as well.

Key takeaways that resonate deeply with sustainable transformation in international cooperation:

🔹 Decentralisation is key: Centralised, bureaucratic, top-down and inflexible structures too often don’t contribute effectively to the widespread expansion of opportunities for people from all social backgrounds. Embracing decentralisation can significantly increase resilience to external shocks and give local communities the power to drive sustainable change.

🔹 Empowering “beneficiaries”: The term ‘beneficiaries’ often implies passive recipients within a technocratic framework of aid implementation, which can unfortunately open the door to elite capture of resources. Genuine, sustainable change is much more likely to occur when the agency of local communities is recognised and strengthened. Engaged community members with those directly affected, with their unique skills and knowledge, are the real catalysts for positive change.

It is time to take decisive action to make the fundamental change needed in our approach to humanitarian aid and international cooperation. 🌱💡