On the last Wednesday of every month, the RINGO Connect meeting holds a space for our community to share challenges and exchange ideas, insights, experience and expertise from within the group to address this issue.
This exercise of community solutioning at the August RINGO Connect meeting resulted in lively discussions and rich connections being taken forward beyond the breakout rooms. Below are some of the key takeaways from each of the groups:
Power and Voice: How can we centre the voices of people with lived experience and expertise in our journey to localise and decolonise?
Changemakers reflected that many of the spaces and conversations around locally led development and decolonisation are being led by academics, INGOs and donors in the Minority World, while the voices and indigenous knowledge of those who have been doing this work for centuries (particularly women and People of Colour) remains on the sidelines. We identified language as a key barrier in this system where English is dominant. We emphasised the importance of building trust and relationships, and the need for Minority World organisations and donors to embrace a process of unlearning in order to break down the inherent power dynamics.
Future Roles of INGOs: How can INGOs balance multiple accountabilities, navigate risk and show impact in a shifting power context?
Changemakers discussed conflicting priorities around who INGOs are accountable to and why: the entities who provide the money or the communities you intend to support. We talked about supporting and enabling South-South and circular learning, and agreed that learnings from the Majority World should shape the debate. We discussed the need for more unrestricted funds to support transformative work, and questioned whether our current structures support INGOs to shift into different positions in the system. We highlighted how stories play a key role in showing impact over traditional reporting.
South-South / Diaspora Collaboration: How might we encourage diaspora remittances to go towards the development of the region?
Changemakers noted that a lot of diaspora remittances do not translate into collective action for development. We explored opportunities for contributions from the diaspora to be channelled towards development and transformation in the community, and discussed how diaspora organisations, diaspora groups and local organisations could interact to enable remittances to go beyond individual households. Contributions by the diaspora to a country level pool fund and using the resources for the humanitarian response was a proposed solution, drawing on experiences from Nepal, where a community resilient fund has been created.
Conservation and Climate Justice: How might we navigate resistance from donors in our efforts to shift power?
Changemakers discussed a challenge where donors are not aligned with INGOs and local CSOs on their journey to shift power in the conservation sector, resulting in delays in the implementation and operationalisation of co-created solutions. We imagined building a climate finance system determined by Majority World priorities to counter this challenge, and explored what a bottom-up system would look like. We discussed how we might leverage ‘Local Collective Organising’ with actors in the conservation sector to build solidarity and highlight their priorities, good practices and aspirations. We also discussed the intersection between community philanthropy and conservation, and how a multi-sectoral approach — including the private sector — could bring about conversations, deliberation and the co-creation of initiatives.