Time to Listen: Hearing People on the Receiving End
Dayna Brown of CDA Collaborative Learn Projects presents on her new book, Time to Listen: Hearing People on the Receiving End of International Aid, at InterAction in Washington D.C. on Feb. 11th. To read it, see: http://www.cdainc.com/cdawww/pdf/book/time_to_listen_pdf_Pdf1.pdf #timetolisten
Excited to hear Dayna Brown, author of "Time to Listen" speak at @interactionorg just now! Expect some livetweets! ow.ly/hChpG- Suzanne Kindervatter of @interactionorg "This is a little different emphasis on intl #aid than we usually have in this room" #timetolisten
- CDA Collaborative Learning Projects focused on "doing a little less harm, and a lot more good" ow.ly/hCiDk #timetolisten
- Finding: People don't make distinctions between the types of #aid they receive and "donors" all grouped within one perception. #timetolisten
- Brown: "Listening" often seen by #aidworkers and #NGO staff seen as a luxury. But most saw it as incredibly enriching #timetolisten
- Brown: People see #aid focused on immediate needs. Root causes overlooked. Exacerbated by' focus on "efficient delivery".. #timetolisten
- Brown: What's in your org's computer warehouses of proposals, ideas & concepts? This is what people mean by "pre-packaged" aid #timetolisten
- Brown: NGOs' only currency is "ideas" They must better understand local capacities. Hopefully latest #resilience fad will help #timetolisten
- Brown: Procedures allow predictability, supports accountability, but...evidence show procedures have turned in on themselves #timetolisten
- Brown: How much time is spent on fulfilling rules & regulations? Tick-the-box activities? Procedurecrats lose purpose of aid #timetolisten
- Brown: Participatory planning/assessment becomes one-way consultations about what agency has to offer. Do you want this? #timetolisten
- Brown: People do not see they have influence in #aid decisions. One respondent: "I participate-You participate-They decide" #timetolisten
- Brown: Pressure to deliver=rapid turnover of projects. Respondent: "We have to jump...we end up with ridiculous time frames." #timetolisten
- Brown: Skills to engage people needed. One #aidworker: "You're not geting fired if you're not getting relationships right." #timetolisten
- Brown: Respondent: "The impact is just spending $...There is no interest to develop people; it is all reduced to practicality" #timetolisten
- Brown: Just because we can measure something does not mean it's what must be assessed. Time to be ok with "the mess." #timetolisten #MandE
- Brown: Respondent: "the humanitarian spirit that was driving force has disappeared as most actors have become materialistic" #timetolisten
- Brown: Changing a system of which we're a part will require different daily routines, radical shifts in thinking-how to begin? #timetolisten
- Brown's challenge to #aidworkers: What can you do to shift the paradigm in how you do your job? In what is w/i your control? timetolisten
- Which led to a side conversation with @AidHappens:
@intldogooder Field staff know what needs changing but hi-level managers at conferences like this one don't give them power
