International development: A view from (near) the frontline

Written by Ambika Satkunanathan, Chair of the Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust in Sri Lanka, this piece originally appeared on the European Foundation Centre website as part of its In Dialogue series. 

Reflecting on the role and impact of international development invariably requires grappling with a number of somewhat thorny questions; some old, some new. The question I consider here relates to equality and power disparity. In particular, whether power disparity exists between the funder and grantee, and if so how this inequality can be tackled. Power disparity between the funder and funded, and agency and community does exist, and perhaps may always exist. Is it possible to completely eradicate it, or can something be done to reduce it and build donor-grantee relationships that are partnerships in more than name only?

The intensity of the power disparity between funder and funded, and agency and community, does not necessarily depend on whether the party providing the financial resources is an international or local donor. Even Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust (NTT), an indigenous public foundation that supports community-based organisations (CBOs) and works towards furthering social justice, has experienced this power disparity, in relation to both our partners/grantees and our funders. At times, the disparity can be more intense if the party providing the resources is local rather than international. Local foundations are often viewed as part of the community and are hence expected to be more understanding and flexible. This requires them to be constantly conscious of not only the impact of their actions, but also how their actions are perceived. At the same time, local foundations’ abilities to build strong relationships of trust enables them to understand the context better and garner the support of local communities, particularly in restrictive and complex environments. In countries where local giving in general, and giving to social justice and peace-building initiatives in particular, is non-existent or is at a nascent stage, or where ‘giving’ consists mainly of charitable initiatives, such as distributing bicycles and water pumps, or rebuilding places of religious worship, it is international development that has been the main source of funding for work on human rights and social justice.

In the past few years, Sri Lanka, which was designated a middle-income country in 2010, has witnessed the withdrawal of many ‘traditional’ donors, i.e. official government donors such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). This has meant that organisations working on social justice and human rights in particular are facing immense challenges when it comes to continuing their work. Although corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a concept appears to be gaining ground, corporate foundations are reluctant to support initiatives that are viewed as controversial, which in many contexts includes human rights work or anything that is perceived as a challenge to the status quo. Furthermore, CSR initiatives sometimes compete with local organisations for limited resources. For instance, there was an occasion where we found we were competing with a corporate foundation for funding from an international private foundation.

As in other South Asian countries, we find in Sri Lanka that the diaspora is increasingly showing an interest in investing in civil society initiatives. However, they too err on the side of caution and show a reluctance to fund social justice and human rights work with a focus on long-term change.

While traditional state-funded donors have taken a step back, new international private foundations are stepping in and stepping up their involvement. Although this is still at a nascent stage, particularly since many foundations are yet to expand their remit to support organisations outside their geographical area of origin, the interest of these entities and their willingness to engage with organisations in the global South, is a positive development.

International development is being re-shaped by global economic changes, the shifting priorities of governments and new and emerging philanthropic foundations that show an interest in supporting CBOs and NGOs. However, funding for work on social justice, human rights and peace-building continues to be scarce. Although government donor agencies have been criticised for using foreign aid as a means of furthering their foreign policy agendas – that can potentially result in donor-driven programmes – their importance as a source of funding for many groups working on the aforementioned issues cannot be denied.

Amidst the widespread phasing out of traditional government donors, rising anti-west sentiments in the global South, and the imposition of increasingly restrictive policies by states, which curtail the activities of programmes challenging the status quo, we await the potential impact that new private foundations could have on international development with growing interest.