Embedding an indigenous approach to development: Tips from indigenous aid suppliers

CANBERRA — An indigenous approach to development seeks to better engage with communities in developing countries for sustainable change. Community is the focus with engagement, implementation, management, and evaluation occurring at this level. Rod Reeve, managing director of Ninti One, and Peter Dunn, global indigenous economic development advisor for i2i Development, said the approach is gaining traction as evidence of the benefits mounts. NGOs including Oxfam are already seeking advice and support for including indigenous approaches in their programming. But both Reeve and Dunn hope that the approach can become mainstream and not specialized. Here are their tips for NGOs. 1. Be courageous and take on indigenous staff “You will be surprised how effective these people can be and the different set of thinking compared to the norm,” Reeve said. Important in developing an indigenous approach is to have indigenous staff. And they should themselves be demographically diverse — male and female, young and old, from different professions, and different regions of the donor country. This will be an important base for indigenous knowledge to be shared and enable indigenous capacity to be built broadly within the organization and not simply concentrated in an “Indigenous Department.” “Indigenous needs to be mainstreamed within NGOs to change the way aid is delivered,” Dunn said. 2. Encourage indigenous staff to take on greater responsibility and promote their work In encouraging indigenous Australians to consider a career in international development, it is important to hear success stories. Seeing an indigenous person with a leadership role in an NGO, an indigenous professional using her or his knowledge to benefit developing communities, or even an indigenous policymaker within the organization will be inspirational to others. But this knowledge can’t hide within the organization. Encouraging indigenous staff to promote their work to other NGOs, international counterparts, to government — and within their communities — can build awareness of career prospects. And it can even develop awareness on the benefits of an indigenous approach to development. 3. Build an indigenous arm NGOs have the opportunity to share their knowledge and build capacity of indigenous business. But they could also build an indigenous arm that itself becomes an independent indigenous business. “Don’t just deliver stuff, create it,” Dunn urged. “Facilitate and create a new indigenous operated NGO as an arm and build their capacity. In eight years’ time, they could be receiving funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to deliver aid programs. And that is something the NGO has created.” The values are not only to the aid program but to local indigenous employment. “The Minister for Indigenous Affairs continually quotes the figure that indigenous companies are one hundred times more likely to employ an indigenous person than a non-indigenous company,” Reeves said. “More indigenous businesses means greater prospects for indigenous Australians.” Devex delivers cutting-edge insights and analysis to the leaders shaping and innovating the business of development. Make sure you don't miss out. Become a Devex Executive Member today.