NGOs need a third way: collaboration

NGOs need a third way: collaborationWhen times are hard, NGOs should eschew competition and compromise and instead co-operate to achieve better results, argues Jonathan Glennie in the Guardian.Times are pretty hard for international development NGOs. Like most other organisations, western NGOs grew in times of plenty. But now, whether funded primarily by private donations (including big ones from the likes of Bill Gates and small ones from the likes of you and me) or government grants, NGOs...

The Future Calling

Our world is changing quickly and profoundly. Rich and poor – regardless of where they live – are faced with increasingly ‘thick’ problems and social change is more politicized and contested than ever before. And yet, most international development NGOs (INGOs) keep offering ‘thin’ solutions to these problems. Solutions geared to measurable material success. Solutions that are aimed at increasing participation in unsustainable economies and polities.

It's the Future Calling

What do you do when the phone rings? You pick up, or let people leave a message on your voicemail and check it soon after. The phone has been ringing for a long time now in the development sector. What do you do when a caller starts conversing? You talk back - if only to say you're going to hang up. We talk a lot in the sector. What do you do when the caller starts shouting? You hang up, even if the other person has a valid reason to shout. In the development sector, we don’t like shouters. W...

The genesis of aid

In the beginning, the Donors said, “Let us make development in our  image, and in our likeness, so that we may bring about changes in  developing countries”. And other Government Departments replied, “Yes,  but not too much change, and not all at once, who knows What might  Happen.” And the Donors did reflect upon this, and after a time they did  say, “Let there be Aid Programmes” - A parody by Ben Ramalingam

Future Headlines

Since we do not own a Delorean to go to the future with and we do not know Nostradamus, Doctor Who or Madame Web, it is difficult to foresee the future. But what if we try to imagine what the headlines would be in the year 2028, the year Hivos will turn 60.

Thick Problems and Thin Solutions

Find here the Thick Piece by Michael Edwards: Thick problems and thin solutions: How NGOs can bridge the gap.

Short-sightedness

Gazing in the future becomes interesting when it provides you with inroads in another or different way forward. Especially the optimists, which most development workers are, long for new horizons. However, it is very difficult to look ahead when many things are blocking you’re sight. Short-sightedness, seeing close objects clearly whereas objects in the distance appear blurry, seems to become a larger and larger problem in our sector.