Posts in: International Cooperation

Development cooperation: lofty ambitions 🌍, but too often entangled in pitfalls gone unaddressed for too long. 🌀 #FutureOfCooperation

Read the full blog post on micro.blog, also on LinkedIn. Find all the posts of this series in one place, connect on LinkedIn

tl;dr: Lessons from a international cooperation project in Burkina Faso: a revealing account of flawed approaches and ineffective donor involvement. #FutureOfCooperation

Development aid is meant to empower—but too often, systemic issues turn good intentions into missed opportunities. Mayliss François’s (LinkedIn) recent insights from managing a project in Burkina Faso shed light on this:

🔸 Donor-driven agendas clash with local realities, sidelining collaboration. 🔸 Bureaucratic overload strains local organizations, eating into resources and neglecting national laws. 🔸 Financial struggles arise from delayed payments and restrictive in-kind subsidies. 🔸 Ethical challenges exclude vulnerable groups due to rigid donor metrics. 🔸 Feedback gaps create barriers to project improvements, stifling adaptability.

Mayliss François calls for trust, locally aligned requirements, and strong feedback loops to make development aid more effective and sustainable. 🌱 Read the full article here: The sour taste of development aid and what to do about it

👉 👉 That’s why there is a need for a tool embedded in an innovative mechanism to address these challenges, starting with changemakers and small NGOs, with a strong focus on local empowerment - if you are interested in co-developing this solution, let’s connect! 🙌

tl;dr: Development organizations must align their operations with their public benefit missions, ensuring that institutional interests don’t compromise community empowerment. #FutureOfCooperation

💡 The development sector typically presents itself as prioritising the public good. However, as a multi-billion dollar industry, it harbours significant vested interests. Institutions tend to adopt business models aimed at self-preservation and growth. While this may be justifiable at an organisational level, it can seep into operational practices and undermine principles such as “helping people to help themselves” and the goal of becoming redundant as catalysts for change.

Some considerations:

• Align Incentives with Public Benefit: Design funding models that reward measurable, tangible public impact instead of institutional growth alone. Results-based financing and community-driven approaches can realign priorities effectively.
• Build Locally Embedded Solutions: Collaborate with local stakeholders to design models that address actual community needs while ensuring long-term sustainability.
• Resilient, Adaptive Institutions: Diversify revenue streams and foster an agile organizational culture to balance innovation, adaptability, and sustainability.
• Leverage Technology and Data: Use data-driven decision-making and technology to enhance transparency, engage communities, and create feedback loops that keep public benefit at the core.

By aligning incentives, building locally embedded solutions, fostering resilience, and leveraging technology, institutions can uphold their mission and drive sustainable, meaningful change.

tl;dr: Global hunger is on the rise. Over 150 laureates urge immediate action to enhance food production.

🚨 Hunger threatens to become a major global challenge. 🚨 Despite the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aiming to eradicate hunger by 2030, over 150 Nobel and World Food Prize laureates witnessing a troubling rise in food insecurity.

Laureates have issued an urgent call to action, emphasizing the need for immediate and innovative solutions to boost food production and address this crisis.

🌐 Read the full open letter here: www.worldfoodprize.org/index.cfm

tl;dr: In #DevelopmentCooperation, most structural challenges are #complex. Unfortunately, the sector is not well prepared to understand and work in the complex domain. #FutureOfCooperation

🌍 In development cooperation, especially when it comes to tackling underlying structural challenges, initiatives operate in the realm of complexity. Understanding this is crucial for effective decision-making.

In the complex domain, cause and effect are only apparent in hindsight, requiring adaptive and emergent solutions. The Cynefin Framework helps to make sense of the world in which one wishes to make a difference and explains an initial distinction between Ordered (simple as well as complicated), Complex, Chaotic. 🔍

Characteristics of the complex domain:

• Unpredictability: Outcomes are uncertain and traditional project management approaches may not be effective.
• Emergent solutions: Effective strategies emerge through experimentation and learning rather than the application of best practice.
• Need for adaptability: Flexibility and responsiveness are essential to navigate the changing landscape of challenges (and opportunities) that initiatives face.

Nevertheless, development cooperation continues to be based on an understanding of the world as an ordered domain, sometimes unknowingly in a state of confusion. The sector needs to get real:

• Iterative approaches: Conducting safe-to-fail experiments - even many in parallel - allows for learning and adaptation, leading to more effective interventions.
• True stakeholder engagement: Working with local communities and stakeholders is essential to understand the nuances of complex environments.
• Continuous learning within individual initiatives: Ongoing evaluation and adaptation are needed to respond to emerging patterns and challenges.

🌱 It would be very helpful if sector leaders were to recognise the complex nature of structural challenges in development cooperation. This would allow appropriate action to be taken.

🌍 Before we look at the #FutureOfCooperation, let’s clarify what we talk about.

#DevelopmentCooperation is about supporting the economic, social, environmental and political development of countries, especially those classified as developing nations.

Unlike #HumanitarianAid, which provides immediate relief during crises, development cooperation focuses on long-term improvements in living conditions and sustainable development goals.

Key characteristics include:

• 🎯 Alignment with development priorities: Initiatives are framed in narratives that claim to achieve specific goals, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

• 💡 Non-profit orientation: Activities are designed to benefit communities without seeking profit. However, players in the sector follow certain business models to cover costs and ensure long-term existence in this field.

• 🌱 Addressing structural challenges: Efforts prioritise the needs of developing countries to tackle underlying issues. This is obviously a good thing, but also very difficult to achieve.

Stay tuned for more information on the #FutureOfCooperation, including discussions on the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus, which aims to link the humanitarian and development sectors.

TL;DR: Development cooperation tackles long-term global challenges, 🎯 claiming to be aligned with goals like the SDGs, 💡 prioritizes public benefit, yet with models that secure the existence of the institutions involved, and 🌱 aims to address deep-rooted issues in so-called developing countries, despite its complexity.

tl;dr: New name, same game? Germany’s development policy faces calls for reform. #FutureOfCooperation

Just as I am about to launch a series on the future of international cooperation, reports emerged in the German press about a strategy paper from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The paper, reportedly circulated among numerous NGOs, states: “Development aid was yesterday.” For instance, it suggests renaming the ministry from “Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development” to “Federal Ministry for International Cooperation.” (Table.Media - German, paywall)

Two things come to my mind:

1. Terminology matters: If the ministry has indeed used the term “development aid”, it is referring to a concept that is outdated in its own discourse. A more apt headline might have been “Development Cooperation was yesterday”, although that might have appeared too bold. 
2. A decades-old déjà vu: Almost ten years ago in 2015, a think tank with good relations to the ministry, now known as the German Institute for Development and Sustainability (IDOS), similarly claimed that “development aid was yesterday”, prompted by a British report on “beyond aid”. Despite some vague recommendations in the paper, there has been little substantive change in the way development cooperation is done in Germany. Notably, in the United Kingdom, the relevant ministry was part of the Foreign Office during this period. 

These discussions signal the considerable pressure on this policy area. It’s crucial to critically assess what is needed in terms of substantive change to avoid rebranding efforts that are merely symbolic gestures.

tl;dr: Launching a series of posts on challenges and possible reforms in government-led international cooperation; constructive input is very welcome. #FutureOfCooperation

International cooperation may not be a central topic in the current German election campaign, but related issues like security, climate, and trade policy are in focus. Broader trends also point to potential disruptive changes in this sector in Germany and growing momentum globally.

Based on years of experience in this area, I’m starting a series of short posts to highlight key aspects of this topic.

I’ll look at questions like

• Is there a need for reform and why?
• What has delayed change?
• What areas need reform?
• What collaborative models might improve outcomes?
• How would reforms affect the institutions involved?

I’d like to hear your thoughts! Constructively share your questions or insights on reforming international cooperation in the comments.

🌐 There is a strong case to be made that #DigitalPublicInfrastructure (#DPI) can contribute to the positive development of the economy and society: DPI supports essential digital services and interactions by being open, secure and scalable.

The question is whether private services can also qualify as DPI, but these principles can help if they follow key principles:

1️⃣ Permissionless use 💡 - Open access for all to drive innovation. 2️⃣ Obligation to contract 🤝 - Fair and non-discriminatory services. 3️⃣ Universal service 🏛️ - Essential services accessible to all.

But private providers must be kept in check, e.g. by 🔓 Using #OpenSource software to promote transparency. 🏢⚖️ Effective #competition regulation keeps monopolies in check.

With these elements, we can build fair, open and inclusive digital ecosystems. 🌍✨

#TechForGood #Innovation #FairAccess

TL;DR: Even private services can be DPI if they’re open, fair and regulated. 🚀

🗺️ Ever relied on GPS and not given it a second thought? Same here! Whether it’s finding a new restaurant, planning a cycling route, or driving to a destination, GPS guides us effortlessly.

But have you ever wondered what happens when GPS doesn’t work? This map shows just how vast these areas can be where GPS reliability is compromised - red and yellow areas. 📍⚠️

Check out the map here: GPS Jam Map gpsjam.org

#Navigation #TechInsights #Mapping #Technology

tl;dr: GPS is great - until it isn’t. This map shows the surprising extent of GPS ‘unreliable zones’. 🗺️