3 Ways To Disrupt The Top-Down Aid System

Rachel Smith of GlobalGiving says mindsets in aid need to shift.

Rachel Smith
Jul 27, 2017 · 4 min read
A community meeting in Pachkal, Kavre, Nepal. Photo courtesy of #CitizenHelpDesk.

One early morning in late May, I made my way along the traffic choked roads out of Kathmandu valley towards the Pachkal municipality of Kavre district in Nepal. My traveling companions were Kalpana Acharya and two of her local team from Accountability Lab. At our destination, the aim was to convene the local community and provide a space for direct, honest citizen feedback on earthquake recovery.

We arrived to a gathering crowd. Kalpana addressed the 120+ people who were eager to listen and share. They voiced personal issues, including how and when rebuilding funds would be given out and how to deal with migration issues. At the heart of this meeting was a sense of local leadership: of the problems and the solutions. Local people, like Kalpana, are playing a critical role, as local listeners and solution-facilitators.

Kalpana is a journalist by background, but she is also a community member. She is not a traditional ‘aid and development professional.’ She, with her team, seek local solutions to local problems in a sensitive, responsive, and direct way.

They are Nepalese people — not international aid workers — who have real connections and relationships with local people, and aim to build on the assets and strengths of communities for the long term.

Yet, the local, community-led organizations where many of these phenomenal people work barely feature in the aid and development system. Locally-led organizations receive hardly any funding directly (around and goes direct to national and local organizations).

In recent years, development and aid rhetoric frequently includes words like ‘direct’, ‘citizen-led’, and ‘local ownership’. The Overseas Development Institute shared a bold call-to-action to addressing power imbalances and suggesting more horizontal, grassroots ownership.

The World Humanitarian Summit in 2015 launched a set of aid commitments under the name ‘The Grand Bargain.’ Whilst met with mixed reviews, one positive was renewed focus on empowering the role of local NGOs. Degan Ali, Executive Director of Adeso, would flow to local NGOs by 2020.

So how can local people emerge as true leaders in their nation’s development? How does the system need to change? What if local organizations were better empowered to become the leaders of change, rather than the sub-contractors, the service deliverers, or the recipients of aid?

Every context is different, but I do think the following three considerations can help move things along:

1. Rethink how money flows. Money is power. Where money comes from and how it is given out can radically change how it impacts people. It is argued that top-down aid creates dependence: for the people and for the organisations that receive it ( focused on the issue of aid dependency). Locally-generated sources of funding can give people choice, flexibility and control. Developing nonprofit skills in community philanthropy to increase the amount of money given locally is one way to do this. Supporting local income generation another. Empowering local people to build their own international networks of supporters and donors a third. A leader in the community philanthropy space in Nepal is . I met with their team recently and observed their passion for community philanthropy in Nepal. Their belief is that local giving fosters a stronger culture of self-reliance civil society throughout Nepal. Funding that is raised from the country or even community that is being helped can create a greater sense of ownership for people receiving support, critical to sustained long term improvement in people’s lives.

2. Build strong leaders for the future. Countries like Nepal get generalized as corrupt, inefficient, and politically weak. However, a growing movement of people, especially younger people, are demanding more from their government and from their fellow citizens. Aid systems need to support this movement to flourish, not hinder it by creating cycles of dependency and continuing to make foreigners the leaders of change. A pioneer in the space is. ECCA empowers young people from primary age up to ask questions, make decisions and lead change in their community. Spending just three days with a group of young people demonstrated to me the value in investing in young people to lead change in their country.

3. Amplify local voices. Smaller, local organisation often have the most genuine links to community and are small for a reason — to keep those connections authentic. A single, generic narrative can’t work to give true voice and credibility to the thousands of small, local NGOs — but empowering citizens to create stories and share on a collective platform might. seeks to create visibility and transparency for small, local organisations worldwide. In Nepal, Accountability Lab creates innovative approaches to support local social initiatives. An example is their that helps social entrepreneurs take action and raise awareness of key issues that affect their lives.

Photo of a young leader from ECCA Nepal facilitating a discussion on water and hygiene in Namdu, Dolahka

So, what else will this take to improve the global response to poverty reduction? With such complex aid systems, the solutions will not straightforward. People’s mindset needs to shift; system and power structures need to change. But we can and must start somewhere. So let’s be practical by celebrating what is already happening in communities across the world and help it thrive.

GlobalGoodness

Welcome to GlobalGoodness, a publication of GlobalGiving. We’re transforming aid and philanthropy to accelerate community-led change. Get to know us in our “Voices from the Crowd” series.

Rachel Smith

Written by

GlobalGoodness

Welcome to GlobalGoodness, a publication of GlobalGiving. We’re transforming aid and philanthropy to accelerate community-led change. Get to know us in our “Voices from the Crowd” series.

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