The Power Shift: Decolonising Development (Kate Bird)
Explorez tous les épisodes de The Power Shift: Decolonising Development
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| 03 Feb 2023 | Prof Kate Bird introduces The Power Shift: Decolonising Development. | 00:01:53 | |
Prof Kate Bird introduces The Development Hub's new podcast series The Power Shift: Decolonising Development, and outlines key themes including what development is, how development is funded, whose knowledge counts and how the majority world is regarded (the white gaze). The series will bring together practitioners, activists and thinkers to share ideas around how the development sector can decolonise and identify practical ideas for progressive change. | |||
| 13 Feb 2023 | Introducing The Power Shift: Decolonising Development. Charmaine McCaulay in conversation. | 00:27:57 | |
In this first episode of 'The Power Shift: Decolonising Development' co-hosts Charmaine McCaulay, Director of Kokoro Therapy and lead facilitator of the ground-breaking ‘Racism in Real Time’ training programme, and Prof Kate Bird, Senior Research Associate, ODI and Director of The Development Hub, talk about what drew them to work together on the decolonisation agenda. Charmaine outlines the process used in the Racism in Real Time training programme to enable white and BIPOC folks to communicate as equals. She outlines how decolonising the self is key to a process of organisational or institutional decolonising and how it is the foundation of decolonising development. Charmaine also talks about how hierarchies of structural power and privilege are layered to create intersecting inequality - with race, class and gender locking together to create oppression and inequality. Her person-centred approach provides interesting insights into where practical steps to decolonisation can begin - and she suggests that the first thing that everyone interested in progressive change can do, is to breathe. | |||
| 14 Feb 2023 | Introducing The Power Shift: Decolonising Development. Kate Bird in conversation. | 00:16:13 | |
In this episode Charmaine McCaulay, lead facilitator of the ground-breaking training programme 'Racism in Real Time' interviews Prof Kate Bird, Senior Research Associate with ODI and Director of The Development Hub. This episode explores what in Kate's background made her want to work on decolonisation and her hopes for the podcast series. Kate explores the legitimacy of an elite white woman, with position power, engaging in decolonisation and discusses the extractive nature of much of the research conducted in the majority world. Kate explains why she thinks that ideas matter (and taking action is even more important). Finally, Charmaine and Kate comment on how some in the media have described engaging in decolonisation as 'woke' and how this can encourage people to see it as a 'new front' in the culture wars. They discuss how this encourages people to 'take sides' and to fight and disagree rather than focus their attention on finding ways to move forwards constructively. Charmaine McCaulay is a Senior Associate at The Development Hub. She is the founder and Director of Kokoro Therapy, a company specialising in anti-racism training, therapy, mentoring and coaching. Charmaine has over 25 years of experience as a trainer and expert in addressing racism. She has partnered with Kate Bird from The Development Hubto launch this podcast in decolonising development called ‘The Power Shift: Decolonising Development’ and is co-creating a training programme in decolonising development, which will launch in 2023. If you’re interested to find out more about Charmaine's work take a look here: Kokoro Therapy, The Development Hub | |||
| 14 Feb 2023 | Coloniality in the environmental and climate change sector. Dr Amiera Sawas interviewed. | 00:42:16 | |
In Episode #3 of The Power Shift: Decolonising Development, Amiera Sawas, Chief Research and Engagement Officer of Climate Outreach discusses links between racism, orientalism and coloniality in the environmental and climate change sector. Amiera describes how people of colour are commonly excluded from leadership roles and how the priorities of communities at the ‘front line’ of the climate crisis are poorly represented. She makes important connections between personal behaviour, organisational performance and limited climate mitigation in the worst affected communities. Amiera discusses COP27, how people of colour experienced the event - and much more. | |||
| 14 Feb 2023 | Land reform, decolonisation, equity and race in South Africa. Prof Andries du Toit interviewed. | 00:49:25 | |
The demand for land reform in South Africa is linked to the unmended repercussions of South Africa's brutal history of a settler economy and apartheid and is seen by some as linked to nationalism, national identity and righting the wrongs of the past. Episode #4 of The Power Shift: Decolonising Development explores the land debate in South Africa and its links to national identity, nationalism and the long run and brutal impact of apartheid. Andries talks about the different positions being taken on the land debate and identifies a possible alternative approach. He sees this alternative as one which might give South Africa the chance to build a future without denying the past, which is a danger of some of the polarised positions being taken in the land debate currently. In a wide-ranging conversation, Andries covers nation building, the trap of ‘best whiteism’, the need for social solidarity and local action, and how White people engaging in anti-racist and decolonisation spaces need to work on themselves and take personal responsibility. He ends by providing listeners and viewers with simple and doable advice which we can all implement in our daily lives – swapping ‘we’ for ‘I’ when talking about the progressive changes that we would like to see in the world. This ensures that we are ‘showing up’ honestly, rather than assuming membership of an unarticulated collective. Recommended resources:
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| 14 Feb 2023 | Zimbabwe, history and how decolonisation must include localisation and listening. Dr Nompilo Ndlovu interviewed. | 01:01:00 | |
In Episode #5 of The Power Shift: Decolonising Development, Dr Nompilo Ndlovu describes how Zimbabwe's written history so often distorts the reality as understood by Black Zimbabweans and recorded in poems, songs and oral histories. She explores how Eurocentric understandings of Zimbabwe have been consolidated in written histories of the country, which trump lived experience. She describes how the hierarchy of whose voice matters means that Black oral histories are obscured by the White, written history in international spaces. She describes the many issues that need to be taken seriously if development research is to be decolonised, how Black labour was ‘constructed’ by White colonialists, through ‘experiments’, the destruction of Black farms and livelihoods and used to justify oppressive working conditions, and how the experiences of South Africa and Zimbabwe (as former White settler colonies) generate a set of useful lessons for other countries. Nompilo counters the view that the exceptionalism of the 'settler economies' of former British colonies, South Africa and Zimbabwe have nothing to teach other countries, providing examples of what Africa can learn from Ethiopia (and her relationship with Italy), Ghana (and early independence) and South Africa (and Bantu education) versus Zimbabwe (and the 'Cambridge' system). This is a rich and varied conversation that leaves the viewer wanting more - more stories of Gukurahundi, talking chickens and the impact of the Eurocentric 'White gaze'. Nompilo speaks eloquently about the importance of listening, local knowledge and nuance – and identifies a set of practical steps for viewers to implement for progressive change. Nompilo is a Senior Associate at The Development Hub. She is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Cape Town, South Africa and has policy and research affiliations with a variety of institutions such as the South African Commission for Gender Equality, the African Leadership Centre, the International Oral History Association, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the ODI, the African Union and the United Nations. She is also an alumnus of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy; the Canon Collins Trust; the African Leadership Centre where she completed the Peace and Security Fellowship for African Women; as well as a Women’s Funding Network Bridge Builder. | |||
| 15 Feb 2023 | Feminism, decolonisation and learnings from Indigenous knowledge systems. Emilie Tant interviewed. | 00:36:17 | |
In Episode #6 of The Power Shift: Decolonising Development, Emilie Tant, who leads work in strategic communications and policy around gender, discusses the links between feminism, decolonisation and climate change. Drawing on their experience of living, working and organising in Santiago (Chile), Emilie reflects on how feminist movements in the majority world are often 10 to 20 years ahead in thinking, compared to international development organisations. Emilie discusses Indigenous concepts such as cuerpo territorio and el buen vivir and reflects on how these value and knowledge systems have the power to flip traditional understanding of development goals. Emilie reflects on legitimacy and ego as a White European person working in decolonisation and talks about the importance of using power and privilege to advance decolonisation efforts.
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Explore Latin American thinkers:
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| 01 Mar 2023 | The dark side of 'development' and 'progress'. Dr Eyob Balcha Gebremariam interviewed. | 00:41:48 | |
In Episode #7 of The Power Shift: Decolonising Development, Dr Eyob Balcha Gebremariam, scholar activist specialising in decolonial African development, joins Kate Bird and Charmaine McCauley to discuss the politics of knowledge production, Eurocentrism, the metaphysical Empire and pluriversality. Eyob leaves listeners an important message about epistemic diversity and the power of acknowledging multiple histories and the dark underside of civilisation and development. Examples of Eyob’s work:
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| 15 Mar 2023 | Anti-racism, critical reflexivity and international development in practice. Dr. Kamna Patel interviewed. | 00:50:37 | |
Episode #8 of The Power Shift: Decolonising Development explores the processes of racialisation inherent in international development, with a focus on critical reflexivity and praxis. Kamna Patel explores this from their personal and professional perspective of living and working in the UK, evidencing how politics of difference and processes of Othering have constructed the basis for international development practice. Kamna proposes critical reflexivity as a tool to enact anti-racism practices within the industry of international development, and advocates for enacting change through everyday actions which work towards changing the discourse surround anti-racism and decolonisation. Recent work:
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| 29 Mar 2023 | Decolonising Development - What have we learned so far? Prof Kate Bird and Charmaine McCaulay reflect on the Power Shift podcast series. | 00:34:03 | |
In Episode #9 of the Power Shift: Decolonising Development, Prof Kate Bird and Charmaine McCaulay, founders of this podcast series, reflect on what they have learned from the past eight episodes. Kate speaks on White fragility and ‘best White-ism’ within the development industry, and how she’s engaged in self-reflection regarding her role in the industry as a White woman. Charmaine brings up the hesitation from previous guests on the podcast to engage in self-reflection and speak to their personal experiences with racism and colonial relations of power, which clashes with her background in psychotherapy. Kate and Charmaine discuss the potential benefits of encouraging self-reflection and vulnerability within the practice of international development, in order to decolonize current practices of power and privilege.
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| 12 Apr 2023 | Rebalancing power in international development, including through localisation and how best to fund development action. Steve Murigi interviewed. | 00:57:07 | |
In this week’s episode, Steve Murigi explores the power dynamics in international development practice which are inherently racialised and often go unchallenged, particularly in the leadership of field projects in the Global South. Steve speaks about the need to reframe decolonization as a mindset in order to move away from the ‘us vs them’ mentality. The conversation then shifted towards the issue of localization of funding in international development; Steve emphasised that localization needs to be carried out with accessibility and unconditionality in mind. Otherwise, it risks causing more harm than good by perpetuating paternalistic assumptions about the capabilities of organisations in the Global South. We discuss the relationship between localisation and decolonisation, and finally emphasise the importance of language and the way that ‘development aid’ is framed. With great clarity, Steve talks us through his experience working in development, his thoughts on the third sector, and how we can begin to change the conversation towards a positive shift in power dynamics for everyone. Recent work:
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| 26 Apr 2023 | Localising funding through circular accountability, flexibility and mutual trust. Steve Murigi interviewed. | 00:41:49 | |
In this week’s episode, we invite Steve Murigi back on to the podcast to have a more in-depth conversation about localising funding. Steve identifies localisation as the principal mechanism through which to shift power, and provides us with practical tools to ensure that localisation is effective. He states that localising priority setting and development strategy (what is done with development funding) is even more important than who holds the money. Steve also warns that localisation risks becoming ‘a box to tick’ for Global North institutions rather than being defined and driven by Global South organisations. We discuss the challenges that come with such a transformative approach, which Steve categorises as structural, administrative and ideological challenges. The conversation then shifts towards what localisation needs to look like in terms of accountability, flexibility, and agency for those working in the Global South. Steve’s perspective is wide-ranging and he calls upon not only development organisations in the Global North, but also on the mechanisms and organisations involved in funding, including government agencies. Our conversation is highly practical and hands-on, and it allows us to get closer to understanding localised funding as a mechanism to decolonise international development. Recent work:
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| 10 May 2023 | What Womankind Worldwide’s anti-racism pledge can teach us about decolonising INGOs. Disha Sughand interviewed. | 00:26:23 | |
In this episode, Disha Sughand from Womankind Worldwide talks us through her organisation’s anti-racism pledge and what this means for decolonisation. Disha delves into the ways in which anti-racism and localisation should be approached from a reflective and thoughtful place. Disha emphasises interrogating processes across an organisation’s structure in order to think through how they can be simplified or made more flexible. Recommended resources:
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| 24 May 2023 | South-South learning and influencing the global feminist discourse. Piyumi Samaraweera (CREA World) interviewed. | 00:38:46 | |
In this week’s episode, we speak to CREA’s Piyumi Samaraweera about CREA’s position as one of few organisations led in and by the Global South. Piyumi describes how CREA approaches its intersectional feminist values to generate South-South learning through its Institutes across India, South Asia and East Africa. This conversation allows us to move away from the conventional centering of the Global North, and understand discourses about development and decolonisation from a Global South-led organisation. Piyumi also highlights CREA’s approach to working where their work will be valued, as well as learning from the work of others. Finally, Piyumi ends with a call to de-centre hierarchies of knowledge which value knowledge from the Global North, and instead to place vernacular languages at the centre of development and decolonisation learning. Piyumi Samaraweera is Programmes Director, Feminist Leadership and Movements at CREA World (CREA). CREA is a feminist international human rights organisation based in the Global South and led by women from the Global South. CREA’s work draws upon the inherent value of a rights-based approach to sexuality and gender equality. Based in London, Piyumi’s role supports CREA as it promotes, protects, and advances human rights and the sexual rights of all people by building leadership capacities of activists and allies; strengthening organisations and social movements; creating and increasing access to new information, knowledge, and resources; and enabling supportive social and policy environments. As a Sri Lankan-British feminist, and as someone who has lived, studied, and worked across Asia, the US, and the UK, Piyumi enjoys work that has a global outlook and is connected to women’s rights. The proud granddaughter of Sri Lanka’s first woman Mayor, Piyumi has a love for the arts and has starred as a lead in “Aksharaya”, a feature-length film that premiered at the San Sebastian film festival in 2005. If you’re interested to find out more about CREA’s work, take a look here: People and organisations referenced: Piyumi’s recommended resources:
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| 07 Jun 2023 | Why trust, bravery, and democracy matter when challenging racism at the organisational level. Arbie Baguios interviewed. | 00:41:47 | |
In this week’s episode, Arbie Baguios talks us through the Anti-Racist and Decolonial Framework he has developed with Start Network, which finds that racism and colonialism are based on structural superiority. Relevant resources: | |||
| 20 Jun 2023 | Power, money and accountability in international development. | 00:05:53 | |
In this week’s episode, Dev Hub founder Kate Bird talks to us about power, money and accountability in international development. Kate delves into what it means to hold and exercise power and links the control of money to decision-making power. | |||
| 05 Jul 2023 | Disrupting the development sector from the Global South. Priyanthi Fernando interviewed. | 00:30:42 | |
In this week’s episode, Priyanthi Fernando (IWRAW Asia Pacific) tells us about her ‘disruptive’ approach to the development sector by continuously asserting Global South perspectives to the work being carried out. We discuss the embedded double standards when activists and practitioners from the Global South get invited to attend events organised by elites from the Global North - but how practitioners from the Global North very rarely attend events organised and hosted in the Global South. She tells us about IWRAW’s Global South Women’s Forum, which centred the voices of women from the Global South and provided an open space for them to talk about their needs without donor constraints. Priyanthi reflects on what it means to ‘listen’ in order to design interventions which respond to real needs. Priyanthi highlights the importance of IWRAW’s global agenda which is not only anti-racist and decolonial, but also anti-patriarchal and anti-neoliberal. Priyanthi Fernando is the outgoing Executive Director of the International Women’s Rights Action Watch, Asia Pacific (IWRAW AP). IWRAW AP is a feminist organisation based in Kuala Lumpur, initiated and led by women from the Global South, and working towards the protection and fulfilment of the human rights of all women everywhere. Priyanthi has always been passionate about issues of social justice and about fighting structural inequalities relating to gender, access to technologies, and the framing of knowledge. In over three decades of working in countries as diverse as Bangladesh or Yemen, and engaging with the bilateral, multilateral and INGOs as well as with community groups, Priyanthi has continued to aim at disrupting those structures, systems and institutions that continue to perpetuate inequality and discrimination. Relevant resources:
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| 19 Jul 2023 | Bridging the personal and professional in anti-racism and decolonisation. Lena Bheeroo interviewed. | 00:46:43 | |
Lena Bheeroo (Bond) introduces us to Bond’s Anti-racism and Decolonising Framework and the wider work she’s done in tackling racism across organisations in the development sector. Lena highlights the importance of bringing in people working at all organisational levels as part of a collective effort. Lena outlines how Bond’s framework maps out the process of addressing racism from a personal and professional perspective, and aims to demonstrate the interdependence of organisational structure, and therefore the need for a holistic approach. She opens up about the personal and professional costs that come with speaking up about situations of racial discrimination or injustice within organisations, and highlights how processes of decolonisation and anti-racism must involve everyone. Relevant resources: | |||
| 06 Sep 2023 | Challenging structural racism in the peacebuilding and humanitarian sector. Dylan Mathews interviewed. | 00:41:00 | |
In this week’s episode, Dylan Mathews talks us through Peace Direct’s journey as a Global North-based peacebuilding organisation. He reflects on the pivotal moment in which Peace Direct spoke to local partners and began to actively question how structural racism is embedded into the sector. Dylan contends that there is a need for both organisations and individuals in the Global North to acknowledge that they may have benefitted from the development sector and that they have “done harm in the process of trying to help”. We discuss the fact that the majority of humanitarian funding (97%) goes to organisations in the Global North, and how this has consistently eroded the growth and capability of civil society organisations in the Global South. Dylan Mathews is CEO of Peace Direct having joined the organisation in 2015. His commitment to supporting local organisations in the global south spans almost twenty years, during which time he has worked for a range of peacebuilding, international development and humanitarian organisations. While working for the peacebuilding think tank Oxford Research Group, he authored ‘War Prevention Works’ which profiled the role of non-state actors in conflict prevention and resolution – a publication that helped launch Peace Direct in 2004. He is the editor of ‘Working with Conflict 2’ a practical toolkit for local peacebuilders, published in 2020. Dylan is the Vice Chair of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, a global peacebuilding network based in Washington DC. If you’re interested to find out more about Dylan’s work, take a look here: Recent work:
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| 20 Sep 2023 | Shifting power through participatory applied learning and co-decision-making. Maya Hasan interviewed. | 00:33:21 | |
In this week’s episode, Maya Hasan, founder of the Fearless Project, talks us through her Shifting Power Accelerator program. Maya approaches decolonisation from her personal experience as a ‘third culture’ individual straddling multiple identities and growing up and working across the Global South and Global North, which have facilitated her integration of an intersectional approach into her work. If you’re interested to find out more about Maya, take a look here: Recommended resources: Power
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| 04 Oct 2023 | Africa Rising: strong Africa-based Think Tanks with an Africa-centric development agenda. Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi interviewed. | 00:44:54 | |
In this week’s episode, Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi from African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET) de-centres the focus on racism and colonialism, and instead brings attention to the range of power dynamics present in the development and humanitarian ecosystems, including gender, class, and the historical origins of certain organisations. Mavis discusses the institutional sustainability of Global South-based organisations where they are often not considered the first choice by either Global North organisations or Africa-based governments and national partners, despite their considerable capacity. She describes the transformative approach ACET is implementing, through which African institutions work together to grow capacity in tendering and contract delivery, thereby strengthening the network of Think Tanks across the continent. By doing this, they are demonstrating agency and flipping the narrative on the decolonisation and localisation agenda, which has been historically driven by the Global North. Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi is Executive Vice President of African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET). Mavis oversees ACET’s strategy and leadership, and is responsible for ensuring the organisation is respected as a robust pan-African economic policy institute. Mavis has built a distinguished career over 25 years in international development. Born in Ghana, she is a political economist by training and a private sector development specialist. She previously worked at the UK Department for International Development (DFID), where she led the creation and implementation of DFID’s first private sector development strategies in a number of countries. More recently, she worked as the Director of Program Policy at Save the Children. In 2016, she joined a newly established NGO, the Power of Nutrition, as its Director of Investments, overseeing rapid growth across a dozen African and Asian countries. She holds an MPhil from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, and an MPhil in Development Studies (Economics and Political Economy Analysis). Mavis is a member of the Board of Directors for Results for Development and Sightsavers International and an Independent Member of the Strategic Coherence of ODA Funded Research (SCOR) Board. Relevant resources:
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| 19 Oct 2023 | Systems change in the philanthropy sector. Heather Grady & Tanya Beer interviewed. | 00:37:01 | |
In this week’s episode, Heather Grady from Rockefeller Philanthropic Advisors (RPA) and Tanya Beer, an independent consultant, present the Shifting Systems Initiative Evaluation. The evaluation explores what systems change means to the philanthropic and funding sector, and evaluates the contribution of the Shifting Systems Initiative to the sector.
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| 01 Nov 2023 | USAID’s localization agenda: money, power and partnerships. Sarah Rose interviewed. | 00:36:30 | |
In this week’s episode, Sarah Rose introduces us to USAID’s approach to localisation as one of the biggest funding partners amongst bilateral donors. Sarah emphasises the importance of gathering the entire global development community in order to rethink roles and reform practices for localisation to be effective. Sarah talks us through USAID’s journey towards localisation, their time-bound measurable goals, and how to integrate localisation into every aspect of USAID’s work portfolio. USAID is working to tackle barriers to funding, by integrating multiple languages, reducing reporting burdens and risk assessment requirements. We talk about how USAID can think about strengthening their own capacity as an organisation to adapt to localisation efforts and integrate learnings from the Global South or majority world. Sarah emphasises the importance of establishing a “community of practice” amongst USAID to share guidance and support. If you’re interested to find out more about Sarah’s work, take a look here: Relevant resources: | |||
| 16 Nov 2023 | Participatory grant-making & co-leadership at ADD International. Fredrick Ouko and Mary Ann Clements interviewed. | 00:51:05 | |
In this week’s episode, Fredrick Ouko and Mary Ann Clements discuss ADD International’s organisational structure, especially their roles as co-CEOs and how representation matters. They tell us about modelling the team leadership in line with the lived experiences they want to represent and advocate for. Through participatory grantmaking, they challenge the “colonisation of resources”, through which international funding goes mainly towards INGOs, rather than organisations of people with disabilities. Fredrick and Mary Ann reflect on their personal roles as co-CEOs of ADD, and how their particular identities affect their working relationship. They also tell us about being conscious of ADD’s role as a ‘facilitator’ of participatory grant-making, rather than an ‘implementer’ of programs. Fredrick Ouko is the Co-Chief Executive & Transformation Officer at ADD International. He is co-leading their work to become a participatory grant maker. Fredrick has worked to advance disability rights for the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa, and Light for the World Netherlands. He founded Action Network for the Disabled, a national disabled people’s organization in Kenya, and Riziki Source, a social enterprise using tech to improve employment access for disabled people. He is an Atlantic Fellow, was elected an Ashoka Fellow in 2012, and was shortlisted in 2016/2017 for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovations. Mary Ann Clements is the Co-Chief Executive & Transformation Officer at ADD International. She is a Feminist Writer, Facilitator, Activist & Coach committed to building a better world together without replicating patterns of injustice. Mary Ann co-convenes the Healing Solidarity, and her Embodying Change Coaching practice which centres a genuine solidarity that is focused on healing injustice.Previously, Mary Ann has worked as Executive Director at Able Child Africa, Regional Representative Basic Needs (East Africa), Chair of Lambeth Women’s Aid, and Assessor at Comic Relief. If you’re interested to find out more about ADD’s work, take a look here:
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| 29 Nov 2023 | Disrupting colonial legacies through reparations and community healing. Edgar Villanueva interviewed. | 00:40:02 | |
In this week’s episode, Edgar Villanueva tells us about his book Decolonising Wealth, which was written in an effort to disrupt the flow of capital and to liberate resources for marginalised communities.
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| 13 Dec 2023 | Tackling extreme poverty through locally led development at BRAC. Asif Saleh interviewed. | 00:43:24 | |
In this week’s episode, Asif Saleh speaks about BRAC as an INGO based in Bangladesh, which delves into understanding the underlying structural causes of poverty. Their work has focused on addressing the most pressing issues in a way that generates long-term stability. Asif Saleh: Relevant work:
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| 17 Jan 2024 | Decoloniality as a way of being, and why language matters. Allan Moolman interviewed. | 00:42:32 | |
In this week’s episode, we talk to Allan Moolman, a South Africa-based staff member of a leading INGO, who tells us about his organisation's development of a decolonial partnership strategy. We focus on the power relations present in language, resource allocation, and local decision-making. Relevant resources:
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| 31 Jan 2024 | Decolonising consultancy: building a rooted network of ethical values-driven consultants. Kate Newman (INTRAC) interviewed. | 00:44:51 | |
In this week’s episode, we talk to Kate Newman, INTRAC CEO, about the organisation’s shift in order to respond to the changes happening in the international development sector. She talks of realising that rather than exclusively responding to each organisation’s needs, they realised they could be more impactful by taking on an ecosystem approach. INTRAC’s goal is to build a network of ethical values-driven consultants, where local context and lived experience is prioritised. This strengthens civil society and promotes locally-led development, as well as empowering consultants within their work. Kate also speaks about understanding decolonisation as a verb, as well as a commitment to processes of critical reflection, learning and unlearning. Kate has worked in international development for over 25 years, as part of local civil society in Mexico, for large international NGOs (ActionAid and Christian Aid), as an independent consultant and an academic; she joined INTRAC as CEO in April 2022. Throughout all these roles she has championed the importance of participatory and rights-based approaches; focused on understanding and shifting power, listening to, and learning from the knowledge, insights, perspectives and aspirations of people living in poverty, collaborating to ensure these knowledges are influential for development policy and practice. She describes herself as a feminist and anti-racist and works to ensure her leadership approach builds from these commitments. Relevant resources: | |||
| 14 Feb 2024 | Reflecting on personal journeys and lessons learned at The Development Hub. Nompilo Ndlovu and Kate Bird in conversation. | 00:27:44 | |
In this week’s episode, Nompilo Ndlovu and Kate Bird, co-conveners of The Development Hub’s Skill Share Programme, reflect on their journeys so far within The Development Hub. We discuss the lessons learned from the 5-day immersion programme, and highlight the depth of discussions and diversity of shared experiences throughout the sessions. We also reflect on the reasons behind the majority of participants being women from the minority world, and how to address this disparity for future programmes. We talk about the launch of the Skill Share Programme, which begins next Monday February 19th, and will provide participants with 6 weeks of structured content on personal transformation, working together across international teams, partnerships and organisational change, and finally, ecosystem transformation. Stay tuned for the following run of the programme! Kate Bird is Director of The Development Hub, Professor of Practice at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Surrey, Senior Research Associate with ODI and Associate with the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network. She brings over 25 years experience to her work designing and leading multidisciplinary research, training and advisory work.
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| 29 Feb 2024 | Insights from feminist organising for decolonisation initiatives. Alba Murcia and Kate Bird in conversation. | 00:15:58 | |
In this week’s episode, Alba Murcia and Kate Bird (The Development Hub) explore the findings from their research paper on feminist organising and decolonial initiatives. We talk about the work that feminist organising has developed in terms of understanding power and positionality, adopting an intersectional approach, and embracing diverse knowledges and value systems. Recent work: | |||
| 13 Mar 2024 | Reimagining the role of the INGO through community building and shared learning. Nancy Kankam Kusi (WACSI) interviewed. | 00:25:36 | |
In this week’s episode, we speak to Nancy Kankam Kusi from West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) about their focus on advocacy, influencing, and facilitating an enabling environment for civil society organisations across West Africa and beyond.
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| 03 Apr 2024 | Driving organisational change starts with conversations. Ajoy Datta interviewed. | 00:33:20 | |
In this week’s episode, Ajoy Datta talks to us about organisational change, leadership development, and policy, advocacy and influencing. Ajoy tells us about promoting change within an organisation with a focus on difference and diversity. He focuses on an “unconventional” approach which highlights the complexity in working relationships and makes space for emotions. Working alongside people to unlock their knowledge and transform their conversations is part of the action learning approach for organisational change that Ajoy speaks about. When thinking about decoloniality, this approach means interrogating the ways in which coloniality is being reproduced in daily life. Ajoy is a freelance consultant specialising in two areas: The first is organisational change and leadership development: Here he works with leaders, teams, organisations and networks taking an approach which combines psychodynamics, systems and complexity. The second is policy advocacy or influencing. Here he informs, designs and evaluates work to influence policy and practice drawing on studies of the policy process, political economy approaches and outcome mapping. If you’re interested to find out more about Ajoy’s work, take a look here:
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| 18 Apr 2024 | Donor-funded development research: ethics and epistemic violence. Yacine Ait Larbi interviewed. | 00:43:04 | |
In this week’s episode, we speak to Yacine Ait Larbi about the critique he and Sarah Edgcumbe present in a two-part blog on paid-for development research. They outline the competing expectations of consulting companies who often value quick and relevant research outputs over research that is in-depth, reliable, well-grounded and ethical, due - in part - to time and resource pressures. We speak about development research being interest-driven rather than values-driven, and the consequences this has on ‘local’ research teams, the communities in which research is conducted and the way in which research findings are disseminated. Yacine talks about the clash of cultures between donor research agendas and community needs, where donor research often reproduces power dynamics and enacts epistemic violence. Yacine Ait Larbi is a Ph.D. Candidate and a member of the Political Sociology program group at the AISSR of the University of Amsterdam. With over five years of experience in migration research, he has collaborated with international organisations like IOM and engaged in short consultancies. His research spans return and reintegration, forced displacement, and labour migration in various regions including France, North Africa, and the East and Horn of Africa. Yacine is passionate about discussions on decolonization, post-colonial migration, and social transformation. Additionally, Yacine provides part-time operational and logistical support for project management at ODI. Over the past year and a half, he has contributed to projects totaling £3.9 million in funding by organisations such as SIDA Mali, AFD, GIZ, and the African Development Bank. Relevant resources:
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| 01 May 2024 | Circular cooperation, dignity, and listening: reframing international aid. Jonathan Glennie interviewed. | 00:36:04 | |
In this week’s episode, we talk to Jonathan Glennie, co-founder of Global Nation, about the insufficiency of global aid as a response to current global affairs. Jonathan introduces the idea of ‘global public investment’ in order to address aid reliance through a new form of accountability. We also talk about circular cooperation as a system in which all entities involved respond to the possibility of learning from each other. Jonathan speaks about the importance of dignity, listening, and ownership in aid projects, which are often overlooked in favour of material impact and development indicators. He advocates for “development with dignity”. Jonathan Glennie is a writer, researcher, campaigner and consultant on sustainable development, inequality and poverty. He recently co-founded a new thinktank, Global Nation, which recently published a report on global solidarity. His work examines the changing nature of international cooperation, as dominant paradigms and global economic relationships evolve. Jonathan has held senior positions in several international organisations, including Ipsos, Save the Children, ODI and Christian Aid and helped set up The Guardian‘s Global Development website, for which he was a regular columnist. As a consultant, he has worked with governments, international agencies and civil society organisations as they renew their strategies for a new era. Jonathan’s latest book, The Future of Aid: Global Public Investment, was published by Routledge in 2021. He lives with his family in Colombia. Recent work:
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| 15 May 2024 | Ubuntu and African Humanist Leadership approaches. Faye Ekong interviewed. | 00:35:08 | |
In this week’s episode, we talk to Faye Ekong about management approaches to leadership which are rooted in African experience. Faye tells us about the absence of African approaches represented in mainstream management and leadership. Recent work: Relevant resources:
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| 22 May 2024 | Co-design, care and solidarity in social impact research projects. Jess Oddy interviewed. | 00:37:04 | |
In this week’s episode, we talk to Jessica Oddy, founder and director of Design for Social Impact Lab (DFSI) about applying an equity-centred intersectional lens to social impact projects. We talk about the importance of co-design centred around care and solidarity throughout the entire project cycle. Jess talks about having a systems thinking approach which engages with a community’s history and context in order to develop a project. A systems thinking approach facilitates mutual learning, where all actors stand to gain knowledge and insight from a project. We talk about re-centering research around the people who have lived experience of structural inequity, and ensuring they are centred as experts. Jess is the founder and director of Design for Social Impact Lab (DFSI), a social enterprise that supports organisations and practitioners design equity-centred programmes, policies, research and learning through training and coaching. Jess started her career as a teacher, before spending 13 years as an education in emergencies practitioner. She recently completed her PhD, focusing on colonial legacies in youth education. She is a guest lecturer at the University of East London's MA Social Research for Social Action, where she teaches critical participatory research approaches and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Bristol, focusing on anti-racism in education.
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| 05 Jun 2024 | Enacting an individual and collective Pledge for Change. Kate Moger and Sidhee Patel interviewed. | 00:28:34 | |
In this week’s episode, we talk to Kate Moger and Sidhee Patel from Adeso’s Pledge for Change initiative. The three pledges focus on equitable partnerships, authentic storytelling, and influencing wider change. The Pledge consists of a community of 13 INGOs who commit to working towards the shared objectives. They talk about the importance of making public commitments to change both individually as leaders and collectively on behalf of organisations. We discuss the abundance mindset when it comes to situating new initiatives and projects in the international development space, and the importance of contributing resources and knowledge. Kate Moger is Global Director of Pledge for Change. Prior to joining Adeso in July 2023, Kate spent over two decades working in humanitarian contexts, most recently as IRC’s Regional Vice President for the Great Lakes and Central Africa, supporting Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania. Previously she was IRC’s Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa and Country Director in Mali. Between 2003 and 2013, Kate held a variety of leadership roles with Save the Children in South Sudan, DRC, and Cote d’Ivoire, having begun her humanitarian work in protection services with refugee and asylum-seeking children in the UK. She gained development and peacebuilding experience with Sense International and International Alert, before which she taught English in Japan, and established a start-up travel agency in Russia. Sidhee Patel works as a Program Officer for the Pledge for Change 2030 Initiative. She previously worked in administrative support, but she is now actively learning and navigating the humanitarian and development program sector. Sidhee has a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and has recently completed the 1st cohort of the Development Hub's Skill Share Program: Decolonizing Development and Humanitarian Action. She is dedicated to social justice and empowering the Global South community in the development and humanitarian aid ecosystem. Recent work:
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| 21 Jun 2024 | Operationalising equitable compensation through principles of fairness and transparency. Kim Kucinskas and Ishbel McWha-Hermann interviewed. | 00:50:53 | |
In this week’s episode, we speak to Kim Kucinskas and Dr. Ishbel McWha-Hermann about equity in compensation and fair reward in international development organisations. We talk about the Equitable Compensation Playbook, which organisations can use as a benchmark to reflect on their approaches to compensation, as well as Project Fair.
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| 01 Oct 2024 | Putting Africa-centric development into practice. Leslie Mudimu interviewed. | 00:22:40 | |
In this week’s episode, we talk to Leslie Mudimu, a participant from Cohort 2 of our Skill Share Programme on Decolonising Development. We discuss what Afrocentric development could look like, and how decolonisation and localisation is perceived and understood in the African academic context. Leslie speaks about her experience as a Zimbabwean academic studying in South Africa, and the mobilisation that occurred around the Rhodes Must Fall movement. We speak about how the decolonising call for transformation has been taken up in the African continent, and how the localisation agenda can be implemented. Recent work:
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| 16 Oct 2024 | Building trust and flexible partnerships driven by local actors. Shilpa Alva interviewed. | 00:32:58 | |
In this week’s episode, we talk to Shilpa Alva about Surge for Water’s model of partnership with community led organisations to address the global water crisis. Shilpa speaks about the importance of building trust and elevating the voice of community led organisations. Shilpa tells us about centering the social context and cultural norms of the communities they partner with to establish long term relationships. We also talk about maintaining an open dialogue with local partners and creating a flexible space for partnerships to change driven by the local partners’ vision. We speak about partnership models that make space for a responsible exit strategy that generates long-term revenue for local organisations. Shilpa is the founder and Executive Director of Surge for Water, a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the cycle of poverty through access to safe water and sanitation solutions. Since its founding 15 years ago, Surge has impacted hundreds of thousands of lives across 12 countries. Shilpa’s journey didn’t start in the International Development World. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University with a Chemical Engineering degree, she joined the corporate world and earned her MBA from the University of Minnesota. After a successful corporate career, she made the choice to transition to running Surge full time. | |||
| 05 Nov 2024 | Addressing violence against women through community-grounded research. Dr Romina Istratii interviewed. | 00:55:07 | |
In this week’s episode, we talk to Dr Romina Istratii, who tells us about the DLDL project, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to looking at domestic violence and religious communities. We speak about co-created research which then feeds back into knowledge production and good practices in the West. This challenges Eurocentric norms around knowledge production by reversing the knowledge transfer as a way to shift power. Romina centres the importance of identity and positionality in situating decolonisation efforts, and points at humility and reflexivity as key principles of co-created and community-grounded research. Dr Romina Istratii is UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the School of History, Religions and Philosophies at SOAS University of London. She is an interdisciplinary researcher, scholar and practitioner working across international development, gender studies, religion and theology, psychology and anthropology to address societal challenges with gender dimensions. She currently leads and manage a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship of £1.2 million in Ethiopia and the UK that responds to domestic violence in religious communities working through an interdisciplinary, decolonial and innovative partnerships model with government, NGOs and grassroots groups. For the past 13 years, she has worked in development-oriented research to promote epistemological reflexivity, ethical research practices and healthy partnerships and collaboration models. She have led numerous initiatives within and beyond the university, having initialised the Decolonising Research Initiative under the aegis of the SOAS Research Directorate and in 2020, and co-founded Decolonial Subversions in 2020. She is the author of the monograph Adapting Gender and Development to Local Religious Contexts: A Decolonial Approach to Domestic Violence in Ethiopia (Routledge, 2020). Recent work: Istratii, R. and Laamann, L., eds (2024) Orthodox Churches and War Politics in Ethiopia and Ukraine: Historical, Ecclesial and Theological Reflections. Studies in World Christianity. Vol. 30, no.2.Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
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| 13 Nov 2024 | Decolonisation as a systemic approach. Silvester Kasozi interviewed. | 00:43:22 | |
In this week’s episode, we speak to Silvester Kasozi from Light for the World Uganda about the systemic approach they have implemented to decolonise the way they work. Silvester speaks about the importance of involving all departments of the organisation in their approach to decolonisation, especially driving the change locally from their country offices. We discuss the challenges in putting a system in place that responds to the needs of the organisation as a whole. We talk about putting a strategy in place to approach decolonisation in multilayered ways and interrogate the issue from different perspectives. Silvester speaks of a vision for the development and humanitarian space which is founded on respect, equity, and the decentering of knowledge, where knowledge is valued regardless of its origin. Silvester Kasozi is a humanitarian and development practitioner, a sociologist by training, and currently the country director of Light for the World Uganda, an organisation that works to spark lasting change for disability rights and eye health in sub Saharan Africa. He's also the co chair for the organisation's Decolonisation Working Group and disability inclusion enthusiast.
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| 13 Dec 2024 | Oral traditions and collective healing through language and culture. Tija Andriamananjara interviewed. | 00:33:12 | |
In this week’s episode, Tija speaks to us about oral traditions, reparative justice, the violence of colonisation, and how that generates intergenerational harms. We talk about the erasure of culture, the loss of language, and the role of storytelling, song, and intergenerational love and joy as part of the healing process. Tija emphasises the role of culture in addressing mental health and the intergenerational trauma of colonisation. We discuss the importance of storytelling to sustain oral history and keep the languages of colonised countries alive. Tija offers us a hopeful way forward for collective healing from the intergenerational harms of colonisation. Tija Andriamananjara is a trauma informed senior social worker from Madagascar joining us from St Paul, Minnesota (US). Her experience and background include education, child development, mental health and human services. She was a visiting educator in Madagascar at a local NGO helping children and women facing domestic violence. Her graduate studies focused on social justice and reconciliation. Her graduate practicum included working with a 3-aged group of Native American kids, youth and women. Tija published 2 children’s books with songs solely in Malagasy in late 2023 and lastly in October of this year to promote her mother tongue and familial connections through reading at home. If you’re interested to find out more about Tija’s work, take a look here: Recent work:
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| 16 Jan 2025 | Community-centred approach to humanitarian work. Rachel Kiddell-Monroe interviewed. | 00:47:26 | |
In this week’s episode, we talk to Rachel Kiddell-Monroe, founder of the SeeChange initiative, which seeks to take a stand in the humanitarian sector and centre communities in a decolonised approach. Rachel tells us about taking a community-centred approach to humanitarian work which is built around connection, engagement, co-design, and reflection. They have developed practical, open-source frameworks to incorporate the needs of the communities they work with. Rachel emphasises the importance of not only personal reflection, but also taking a stand and speaking up in spaces of privilege, acknowledging that there is a risk. Rachel Kiddell-Monroe is an activist, lawyer, and humanitarian who has worked for many years in leading positions for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).She also founded the student-led group Universities Allied for Essential Medicines and is a Professor of Practice at McGill University in Montreal, Canada where she leads a course on Decoloniality and Humanitarian Action. In 2018, Rachel founded SeeChange, a Canada-based social purpose organization that works to impact humanitarian organizations to shift to a more community-centered approach, contributing to a decolonization of the sector. SeeChange and MSF cooperated on a successful 'CommunityFirst' pilot project in which MSF teams co-created health strategies with affected communities in several countries. SeeChange also uses this community-centered approach in its work with Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic region, where the organization supports TB and mental health initiatives that are co-created with the community. In recognition of her work in this field, Rachel was appointed an Ashoka Fellow in 2023. Recommended resources: SeeChange’s CommunityFirst Tools
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| 06 Feb 2025 | Unpacking how identity manifests in racialised bodies through feminist approaches. Kenza Ben Azouz interviewed. | 00:33:56 | |
In this week’s episode, we interview Kenza Ben Azouz, gender expert trained in feminist research and anthropology from Tunisia, and the newest addition to the Dev Hub team. Kenza tells us about feminist culture of care and the importance of rest in order to be able to reflect and act differently. Kenza draws on Black feminism and Global South feminist scholars to contextualise the complexities of intersectional identities. We also discuss imposter syndrome and how it manifests in racialised bodies. Kenza also talks about her lived experience as a French Tunisian woman, and how race and identity interact in her self-perception and her activism. Kenza Ben Azouz is a gender expert trained in feminist research and anthropology from Tunisia. She has worked with various human rights and development organisations (both grassroots and international) across West and North Africa and South West Asia. Her work has mostly focused on gender-based violence, systemic racism, and structural development challenges. Kenza holds a BA in political science and philosophy from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) and a MA in social anthropology of development from SOAS University (London, UK). Kenza is also a Yoga teacher and contemporary dancer. If you’re interested to find out more about Kenza's work, take a look here: Recent work:
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