Devex Newswire: Danish Refugee Council’s stormy shift to the cloud

A lot can go wrong when a company moves its entire payments, staffing, and documents onto the cloud. Everything did go wrong for the Danish Refugee Council. We take an in-depth look into what happened and the lessons learned.

Also in today’s edition: King Charles III isn’t known for maintaining a constitutional silence on his favored issues. We look at what that means for the Commonwealth and issues like climate change. Plus, what’s going on at UNGA?

DRC’s digital disaster

The shift from a rickety old filing cabinet to digital admin is stressful enough, and things can go wrong. But when a 100 million Danish kroner move from digital to a swanky cloud-based system messes up, it can be chaotic.

That’s what happened to the Danish Refugee Council, which launched its enterprise resource planning system back in 2019. It hoped the new software would pave the way “for much greater efficiency, transparency, and productivity in the execution and monitoring” of its projects.

But the move created havoc at Denmark's largest international NGO that lasted for years. While its old, headquarter-based digital system was clunky and needed to be updated, implementation of the new structure left the organization’s data in disarray, writes my colleague Sara Jerving in her exclusive story.

Donors delayed payments because reports weren’t sent on time and staffers couldn’t track finances. DRC supports people forcibly displaced from their homes in 40 countries, so just imagine the turmoil.

But it got worse. The secretary general was fired, and by 2020, some 29.5 million Danish krone worth of assets couldn’t be confirmed “due to incorrect and incomplete bookkeeping records” stemming from the new system.

Then auditors issued a rare “qualified opinion,” because underlying financial records were so poor they couldn’t deliver a clean audit with confidence. “This is huge,” says one auditor in the sector, who has never seen such severity in more than two decades.

Despite the chaos, the new system was the right thing to do, and implementation is ongoing, Anne Mette Barfod, DRC’s executive director of finance, tells Sara.

She adds a note to self, though: Next time, do it differently.

Exclusive: How a new IT system jumbled Danish Refugee Council's finances

ICYMI: New partnership aims to help NGOs ramp up cybersecurity

The king’s causes

As king, Charles III has promised to keep quiet about his pet causes. But as Prince of Wales, he was harangued in the media — and likely by his mother, too — for revealing his political thoughts. That’s not permitted under a constitutional monarchy, where the royal family must keep schtum on politics.

While many question whether he can keep his opinions under wraps, his role as a soft power on issues like climate change and the Commonwealth is relevant for the development world. My colleague William Worley looks at what comes next for the royal campaigner.  

A great admirer of Islamic culture, Charles reportedly learned Arabic to study the Quran, and he was arguably ahead of the curve on climate change. He also spoke up for indigenous communities — and hedgerows, writes Will.

But it’s the Commonwealth, an organization of 56 countries, mostly former colonies, that’s often viewed as a framework for U.K. aid and broader international policy. It’s also where most care is needed. It’s pretty controversial.

The Commonwealth includes 21 African countries, which have a complicated history with the royal family because of its association with colonialism, Will says. There’s also restless republicanism simmering, along with calls for slavery reparations in some African countries. Charles and his son, Prince William, have apologized for Britain’s involvement in slavery, but the calls for reparations are getting louder and more agitated.

How far he takes his soft power remains to be seen, but some observers say there’s a place for him to be “outspoken” in areas that enjoy broad support within the Commonwealth family.

King Charles III: How monarch could influence development in the UK (Pro)

+ Catch up on all the latest news and analysis of the U.K. development sector. Devex Pro members can also read Will’s profile of the U.K.’s inaugural minister for development, Vicky Ford and learn what her portfolio entails. Not yet gone Pro? Sign up now and start your 15-day free trial.

Stephanie does UNGA

In case you’ve been visiting Mars and haven't heard —  the 77th United Nations General Assembly has officially begun. Global leaders fly in right after the queen’s funeral on Monday, but meanwhile, we’ll keep you updated on what’s expected.

My colleague Stephanie Beasley will be there — her first UNGA — and will track the private sector. She’ll let you know about their impact on the SDGs, particularly in areas such as climate change and world hunger. She’ll also watch how foundations — like Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Ford Foundation — make progress on ambitious diversity, equity, and inclusion goals.

Inside UNGA 77: The global development issues we're watching (Pro)

Time to pay the bill

Da Silveira says the idea that climate change is everyone’s problem is only partially accurate. Although the impact of pendulum swings in temperature is felt by us all, he reckons it’s time to “point our fingers” and call out those responsible.

“The math is quite simple: China, India, Japan, the United States, and Russia alone are responsible for 61% of global [greenhouse gas] emissions,” he writes in an op-ed for Devex, adding that they bear a moral responsibility.

Opinion: We need bolder climate action from the world’s top powers

ICYMI: African nations finalizing demands ahead of COP 27 (Pro)

In other news

The U.S. will withhold $130 million in aid to Egypt for failing to meet certain human rights requirements. [Bloomberg]

The founder of California-based outdoor apparel brand Patagonia is transferring ownership of the company to two entities to help combat climate change. [The New York Times]

The U.S. has announced that it will provide more than $750 million in additional humanitarian funding to bring immediate aid to the Syrian people. [ABC News]

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