From charity to commitment and action – on how to find new ways in development assistance

Last week I attended a seminar called “Sustainable leadership” arranged by The Hunger Project in Sweden. The Hunger Project is a global, not-for-profit-organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger. What is the connection between ending of world hunger and sustainable leadership?

In former times and unfortunately still today development assistance is based on charity. It creates a dependent relationship that strangles the domestic will to take action. Donations are transferred to local institutions in developing countries without regard to conditions on site. Instead of mobilizing village clusters at grassroots level the local government sector is expected to take responsibility for funds and start-up projects. But if donators and recipients are not willing to cooperate sustainable aid cannot be given.

In the future new ways have to be found to get all parts involved, especially the native population. It is about changing their mindset and giving them hope to conquer their problems in their way. In this process, owning your own development is the first key to sustainable leadership; to find local leaders, educate them and let them be part of the process in creating their own future are the next steps.

One of the speakers at the seminar was Lorena Vázquez, a former IT-consultant and now the country director of Mexico. Although the 12th largest economy in the world, Mexico still faces high levels of poverty, especially in rural areas and states with large indigenous populations. In her speech Mrs. Vázques pointed out that development assistance had to be based on trust and delegating the work to local leaders. This creates inspiration and commitment that will allow people to reconnect to their dreams and accomplish their plans. In Mexico, dynamic leaders voluntarily work in partnership to assess development priorities, design long-term development plans, initiate local campaigns, conduct direct activities such as income generating projects with local women's enterprises, and advocate for access to critical resources. A top priority in their work is ensuring women's full political, economic and social participation.

Without spending huge amounts of money a lot of projects have been conducted successfully, not only in Mexico but even in other parts of the world like Africa and Asia. The future will show if we are on the right track or not.