Shifting Mindsets and Practices: The changing role of global development organizations
November 20th, 2024 | viewpoint
Workshop participants engage in conversations around strategies for community-driven development approaches. Credit: SAS+/CDA Collaborative Learning Projects
This piece was originally published on Humentum’s website. Read the full piece.
By Dyness Kasungami, Shaina Bauman, Karin Timmermans, Grace Boone, Vajra Allan, and Alexandra Anda
Global development organizations must reimagine their roles and strategies to advance locally led development. With the funding landscape shifting, international funders, partners, and projects are turning inward to reflect on how they work and their role in advancing equity and community-driven development. While there is general agreement that advancing locally led development is the path forward, many international organizations get stuck on the “how.”
Recently, practitioners from Unitaid, SAS+, PATH, and JSI shared their insights in Humentum’s “Shifting mindsets and practices: the changing role of global development organizations” webinar. Below are key takeaways from the discussion.
JSI: Co-creating country-driven health solutions
JSI developed a Critical Shifts Benchmarking tool as part of its Reimagining Technical Assistance initiative. Building on a co-creation process with actors in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, the benchmarking tool identifies changes needed to move towards a more locally driven, coordinated, and equitable system.
It is designed to guide conversations between health actors—communities, CSOs, governments, funders, INGOs, and others—on achieving more equitable health outcomes with a common vision. Often these conversations don’t happen because they are difficult—emotions and power dynamics are at play. The Critical Shifts benchmarking tool provides a starting point.
At JSI, teams are adapting the tool to meet their project and partnership needs. That means evaluating the quality of technical assistance, reflecting on collaboration for project implementation, and documenting a project’s transition from JSI to local leadership. JSI hopes that others will use and adapt the tool to guide the conversations necessary to rethink strategies and approaches. To test the tool and share suggestions, contact reimaginingtawg@jsi.com.
