Shifting Power in 2026: Reflections from the RINGO Community

Following all the disruption of 2025, how do we want to show up in 2026?

This was the guid­ing ques­tion for the first RINGO event of the year. Held on 4 Feb­ru­ary 2026, the ses­sion cre­at­ed space for our glob­al com­mu­ni­ty to come togeth­er and take stock, ground­ed in the under­stand­ing that we are part of a col­lec­tive move­ment to shift pow­er. 

The shut­down of USAID, dras­tic over­seas aid cuts and shrink­ing civic space sent shock­waves through our sys­tems, and much remains uncer­tain. Yet, this moment also offers pos­si­bil­i­ty. As we enter into the new year, we are bet­ter equipped to meet dis­rup­tion with inten­tion, and to use it as a cat­a­lyst to co-cre­ate a more just, equi­table and sus­tain­able glob­al civ­il soci­ety. Dur­ing the ses­sion, we invit­ed the RINGO com­mu­ni­ty to reflect, not only on what has changed around us, but on how we choose to show up, learn and unlearn, adapt and act togeth­er in 2026 and beyond.

The future of cooperation between the Global Majority and the Global Minority

To frame the dis­cus­sion, Enri­ca Lorus­so (Senior Research Offi­cer at Peace Direct) joined us to share the high­lights from Peace Direct’s Glob­al Con­sul­ta­tion on the Future of Coop­er­a­tion Between the Glob­al Major­i­ty and the Glob­al Minor­i­ty. 

In Sep­tem­ber 2025, Peace Direct con­vened local activists, change­mak­ers, organ­is­ers, heal­ers and peace­builders in a two-day dia­logue and open reflec­tion how Glob­al Major­i­ty actors have adapt­ed their work in recent months. The aim was to iden­ti­fy oppor­tu­ni­ties to trans­form the inter­na­tion­al devel­op­ment, human­i­tar­i­an and peace­build­ing sys­tem, and to reimag­ine how col­lab­o­ra­tion between the Glob­al Major­i­ty and the Glob­al Minor­i­ty could shape this new par­a­digm.  Over 400 peo­ple par­tic­i­pat­ed from more than 70 coun­tries — a tes­ta­ment to how urgent­ly this con­ver­sa­tion is need­ed.

Although the final report has yet to be released, the topline find­ings reveal a sec­tor at a turn­ing point. Abrupt fund­ing cuts and shift­ing donor pri­or­i­ties have led to sus­pend­ed activ­i­ties, dis­man­tled ser­vices, delayed pay­ments and psy­cho­log­i­cal strain. Beyond the finan­cial impact, par­tic­i­pants high­light­ed an ero­sion of trust: when donors with­draw sud­den­ly, local organ­i­sa­tions are left exposed to their com­mu­ni­ties, dam­ag­ing hard-won legit­i­ma­cy.

And yet, the find­ings also reveal resilience and rein­ven­tion. Adap­ta­tion is not new to the Glob­al Major­i­ty. Par­tic­i­pants shared exam­ples of how organ­i­sa­tions and indi­vid­u­als are draw­ing on tra­di­tions of mutu­al aid and local­ly-led prob­lem-solv­ing, while oth­ers are test­ing new approach­es, includ­ing diver­si­fied income strate­gies. This moment presents a cru­cial oppor­tu­ni­ty to reshape rela­tion­ships so that Glob­al Minor­i­ty allies sup­port Glob­al Major­i­ty actor’s home-grown resource mobil­i­sa­tion and pro­tec­tion of core ser­vices.​ 

Par­tic­i­pants called for a fun­da­men­tal shift away from donor-dri­ven, short-term and com­pli­ance-heavy mod­els towards a sys­tem ground­ed in sol­i­dar­i­ty, equi­ty, local lead­er­ship and mutu­al account­abil­i­ty, under­pinned by a decolonis­ing approach. 

“In short, a post-aid sys­tem is not a rejec­tion of glob­al sol­i­dar­i­ty, but its trans­for­ma­tion — from char­i­ty to co-cre­ation, from depen­den­cy to part­ner­ship” Peace Direct Glob­al Con­sul­ta­tion Par­tic­i­pant

Reflections from the RINGO Community

We then opened the floor to hear direct­ly from the RINGO com­mu­ni­ty.

How have you been impact­ed by the fund­ing cuts?

Par­tic­i­pants shared expe­ri­ences of:

• Pro­gram­mat­ic dis­rup­tion and reduced reach
  
• Staff reduc­tions and loss of insti­tu­tion­al knowl­edge
  
• Increased com­pe­ti­tion for scarce resources, often favour­ing larg­er INGOs
  
• Height­ened com­mu­ni­ty vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty as sup­port for liveli­hoods and social ser­vices declined

How have you adapt­ed your prac­tice?

Many empha­sised the impor­tance of open, hon­est dia­logue. Trans­par­ent com­mu­ni­ca­tion between local organ­i­sa­tions and com­mu­ni­ties enabled adap­tive respons­es — includ­ing, in some cas­es, shift­ing from paid staff to vol­un­teer sup­port — while pre­serv­ing trust and shared pur­pose. When fun­ders proac­tive­ly reached out to part­ners, it demon­strat­ed sol­i­dar­i­ty beyond finan­cial trans­ac­tions.

We heard how some more robust nation­al organ­i­sa­tions ral­lied to absorb some of the impact on grass­roots groups. Oth­ers dis­cussed diver­si­fy­ing fund­ing sources to build resilience, while cau­tion­ing against some organ­i­sa­tions shift­ing towards social enter­prise mod­els that may com­pro­mise mis­sion, capac­i­ty or account­abil­i­ty.

What roles local and inter­na­tion­al actors can play to cham­pi­on an equi­table aid sys­tem in 2026 and beyond?

Par­tic­i­pants high­light­ed the impor­tance of:

• Strate­gic coali­tions between estab­lished and emerg­ing organ­i­sa­tions, includ­ing joint fund­ing bids and shared plat­forms
  
• Pow­er-shar­ing part­ner­ships, with local actors lead­ing on needs and solu­tions while inter­na­tion­al actors pro­vide flex­i­ble fund­ing and equi­table deci­sion-mak­ing
  
• Com­mu­ni­ty-based organ­i­sa­tions act­ing as trust­ed con­nec­tors between grass­roots com­mu­ni­ties and nation­al or inter­na­tion­al actors 

A space for learning and shifting mindsets

Through­out the dis­cus­sion, there was a shared recog­ni­tion that dis­rup­tion has opened space for learn­ing. This is a moment to pause and rethink how devel­op­ment is done. This is a time to be bold enough to call out harm­ful prac­tices so they are not repli­cat­ed in the sys­tems we are co-cre­at­ing.

A stronger voice from Glob­al Major­i­ty part­ners is essen­tial in defin­ing future terms of engage­ment. How­ev­er, decades of colo­nial, top-down devel­op­ment approach­es have shaped expec­ta­tions and rela­tion­ships, mean­ing a fun­da­men­tal mind­set shift is required to enable gen­uine co-cre­ation. This includes meet­ing organ­i­sa­tions where they are, invest­ing in trust-build­ing and cre­at­ing space for hon­est — some­times uncom­fort­able — con­ver­sa­tions that acknowl­edge his­tor­i­cal harms. Only by active­ly lis­ten­ing and shar­ing deci­sion-mak­ing pow­er can we move beyond con­sul­ta­tion toward tru­ly local­ly dri­ven solu­tions.

Call to action

As we move for­ward, we must first acknowl­edge the col­lec­tive trau­ma of the past year: the uncer­tain­ty, loss and dis­rup­tion that has shak­en our sec­tor. And yet, despite the upheaval, there’s a real hope in this reset. 

Trust may be at an all-time low, and rebuild­ing it will require hon­esty about what has been bro­ken, con­sis­ten­cy between words and actions and a renewed com­mit­ment to shared account­abil­i­ty. 

This is not a moment for rhetoric alone. It is a moment for learn­ing by doing: exper­i­ment­ing with gen­uine co-cre­ation, redefin­ing lead­er­ship and cen­tring those clos­est to com­mu­ni­ties in deci­sion-mak­ing. 

We closed the ses­sion with a chal­lenge for us all to explore how we can work togeth­er as a move­ment rather than a col­lec­tion of organ­i­sa­tions — and in doing so, to shape a civ­il soci­ety root­ed in sol­i­dar­i­ty, one that strength­ens local agency, ampli­fies voice and expands people’s pow­er to shape their own futures.