Finance & Markets
SUSTAINABLE FINANCE
ECO-NOMICS How can investors juggle generating returns with climate change goals?
centre-stage also helps to avoid top-down, one-size-fits-all solutions by ensuring that any initiatives are sensitive to the local context. 3 Make power visible Shifting power to groups that have been largely excluded from the decision-making process is essential for a more equitable and effective humanitarian sector. For this to happen, we need to be acutely aware of how power operates within existing structures. Power can be useful, helping people to build skills, generate funds, or strengthen alliances. However, problems arise when it is used in ways that are negative, exclusive, bureaucratic, overly commercial, or outright toxic. That power is often invisible and indirectly enforced through entrenched organisational practices such as agenda setting, project design, monitoring, and evaluation. These can perpetuate existing power imbalances if they are not critically examined and reformed to genuinely include local actors. Reflecting on power and talking about it sensitively with stakeholders are the first steps towards making power visible. Only then can power relations be used to boost localisation efforts. 4 Create communities of practice Learning from localisation initiatives is crucial to drive meaningful change. Communities of practice that span different levels – from
donors to international and local NGOs – can foster an environment that prioritises knowledge sharing, collaboration, and experimentation. This collective approach bridges the gap between diverse organisations and fosters mutual understanding. It also facilitates better practice, innovation, and stakeholder alignment. Provide room for experimentation – innovative approaches often emerge from trying new methods. By embedding a culture of experimentation and learning, the sector can ensure that localisation efforts are effective, sustainable, and responsive to the evolving needs of communities. This holistic approach will ultimately make localisation a more integral and impactful aspect of our work. Localisation should be viewed as a more effective way of addressing real issues in the field, not just a more ethical approach. Existing evidence shows how local knowledge has helped international NGOs to develop more effective humanitarian action. For example, oral histories passed down through generations have been used to predict and manage risks in Vanuatu. Similarly, community-led evaluations helped reshape shelter programmes to better meet the needs of displaced households in Nigeria. Such achievements require involvement of local community organisations as well as national
NGOs in the early stages of programme design. These examples don’t just highlight what’s possible – they reveal what’s been missing elsewhere. One thing is clear: if we take the need for decolonisation seriously, we are only at the beginning of the journey. We need more reflection on the ‘destination’ in dialogue with a diverse range of stakeholders. But let’s not forget the importance of prioritising tangible change, not just ideas. We need to share how localisation efforts work in different geographic locations, different forms of aid, and different work processes such as compliance and evaluation. We also need alternative infrastructures for thinking and acting, not through Gantt charts and old logical frameworks, but by brokering change, creating frameworks for talking about power, and building momentum through decolonial successes such as locally led funders. Most importantly, we need to involve Global South institutions and partners at all levels.
by Katharina Dittrich, Matthias Taeger & Julius Kob
Take your career to the next level with the Full-time MBA at WBS.
Sustainable Development Goals
Warwick Business School | wbs.ac.uk
wbs.ac.uk | Warwick Business School
24
25
Made with FlippingBook Learn more on our blog