People in rich countries don’t often hear stories about organized people improving their communities in the Global South or strong organizations pushing their governments to change policies that hurt poor people. #DevComms #aid #globaldev #NGOs /1

Rather, the aid system is built on an assumption that outside experts have the knowledge, skills, and resources that are lacking in poor countries and communities. /2

Also the aid system is predicated on marketing materials that show needy, desolate, and despondent individuals unable to help themselves, and so, the stories persist, even if they little resemble what is happening in reality, on the ground. /3

People often miss something important about grassroots organizations embedded in the locales they serve. Effective community leaders know best how to operate in environments that rely on mutual responsibility and trust, rather than Western ideas of accountability. /4

Small grants to effective local orgs remain a very small part of the picture of #globaldev #philanthropy. Luckily, there is a growing number of skilled intermediary funders adept at partnering with indigenous-led grassroots groups with solid evidence of community ownership. /5

When organizations are led entirely by people from the same communities they serve, they will remain in those communities, working on these issues, long after international actors have left. /6

Read more at: smartrisks.org
#globaldev #philanthropy #aid #socent #NGOs