Industry leaders say development's future is bright

This article is part of The Future of Global Development, a series for Devex Executive Members that explores what development leaders think of the industry’s top issues. Shrinking aid budgets, increasing donor fatigue and escalating humanitarian crises are among the factors portending future challenges for international development. But a recent Devex survey of senior development executives reveals that these leaders are largely upbeat about the industry’s coming decade. Seventy-six percent of the nearly 1,000 top executives who responded to the 2014 Development Influencers Survey said they are optimistic about the future of global development. These executives come from nongovernmental organizations, donor agencies and the private sector from six continents. “Global development isn’t a science,” said Randy Tift, senior adviser for international programs at World Vision, stressing how development professionals around the world need to constantly adapt to an industry in flux. Nonetheless, Tift remains “optimistic that this work will continue to bear fruit in ways large and small — otherwise I wouldn’t still be here after nearly 20 years.” According to the survey, the top reason executives think development will change in the coming decade is the rise of developing countries. As developing countries make headway against poverty, it’s likely many will transition from aid recipients to emerging donors. This change has already happened for many countries in Asia, the region where development executives are most optimistic about the future. “Asia has undergone an incredible transformation over the past generation,” noted Michael Strauss, U.S. alternate executive director at the Asian Development Bank. Nearly 1.5 billion people in Asia lived on less than $1.25 per day in 1990. Now, Strauss said, less than 500 million people in the region are living below the poverty line. “While scholars and development professionals will all debate how and why this transformation has taken place, whatever the causes, one cannot help but be optimistic in the face of this improvement in so many people's lives,” he added. The Devex survey also found that 82 percent of executives in large organizations — those with more than 250 staff members — are optimistic about the future of global development, slightly higher than the 74 percent of executives in organizations with fewer than 50 staff members who reported similarly. It’s possible that executives in larger organizations feel more secure in an industry with an increasingly uncertain funding picture. “I’m always hopeful because when you’re working with people and communities you realize their resilience and their ability to not only survive and stay afloat, but ultimately turn adversity into opportunity,” said Akhila Sivadas, executive director at the Center for Advocacy and Research, a local NGO that advocates for vulnerable communities in India. “Today communities are better informed and better organized. They are privy to all communication advancements, and their ability to connect and harness the people around them has jumped leaps and bounds,” she added. Among different development sectors, executives involved in conflict, peace and security were the least optimistic about the future of global development, with more than 30 percent taking a pessimistic view. Executives involved in infrastructure and transportation were the most optimistic, with 89 percent expressing a positive outlook. “Fragile states are the most vulnerable to conflict and the most aid-dependent. These contexts are at the center of the global development crisis,” World Vision’s Tift said, especially since children in places like Syria, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and South Sudan are all living in extremely difficult circumstances. “By 2030, the Brookings Institution projects that two-thirds of the world's poorest people will live in fragile states.” While the future of global development depends on a variety of complex factors, development executives Devex surveyed are largely optimistic. “The steady progress in developing countries across almost every sector — health, education, income, peace, political freedom — is measurable and clear,” Tom Hart, U.S. executive director at ONE Campaign, told Devex. “Of course, the progress is halting and the exceptions get most of the attention. But over time, the trends are clearly up.” Do you share our survey respondents’ optimism over the future of global development? Join the conversation by leaving a comment below or tweet us at #futuredev. What do nearly 1,000 senior-level executives from NGOs, donor agencies, corporations and the public sector think about the future of global development? View our complete series — featuring exclusive insights and interviews with top executives — to find out.