The international NGO (INGO) sector exists against the backdrop of colonial history. This has been considered in different ways, especially in recent decades. It is currently very prominent for many organisations. Some INGO practices have perpetuated some of the characteristics that are often linked to colonial times, such as inculcating dependency. This is contrary, of course, to what definitions of “development” normally set out.
It is crucial that INGOs keep questioning the models that they use, including to look into how strategies can be decolonial and anti-racist alongside other crucial considerations like gender and the environment. One organisation that we are working with is very proactively doing just this - ActionAid Ireland. This week, we attended a workshop ran by ActionAid Ireland to explore “decolonisation” and what it means for their new strategy which we are supporting them to renew.
Changing women's representation through photography? Stories and images in INGOs are often shared- e.g., to help raise money, profile or influence. However, more often than not, they can reproduce negative cultural stereotypes. This is what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls the “danger of a single story”. Watch a 2-minute clip of her speaking here. In the workshop mentioned, representatives from ActionAid UK shared their Women by Women exhibition which gives women and girls agency and dignity over how their stories are told. One photographer from this project, Habiba Nowrose, said:
“For the longest time, the history of the people of this part of the world has been told by some supposedly ‘superior’ voices… or somebody who is in power or somebody who does not look like us. So, the telling of stories, by the people who have experienced and lived our lives is really important.”
See one of her photographs below:
What are we doing? We are on a journey to become an anti-racist organisation. As part of this we have held internal discussions and reflections which have encouraged us to unlearn any prejudices, recognise our privileges and relearn how we can do more to become an anti-racist and decolonial organisation. We embed and live our Culture for Justice in everything we do. We recognise we can always do more. As Maya Angelou said “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better do better.”
Change Maker of the Week
To find out more about this pioneering anti-racist education project watch this short 2-minute video.
Quote of the week
“What if we focused our human and fiscal resources on changing power and policy to actually make society, not just our feelings, better?” Ibram X. Kendi.
Best wishes,
Rosie, Lorna, Ian and Megan