Perspectives on change: Elena Bonometti and Penda Mbaye

Humanitarian action has become more participatory, holistic, data-driven, gender-sensitive, power-conscious, and locally-centered, says Elena Bonometti, CEO at Tostan, an NGO that works to support rural communities in five West African countries.

Such positive shifts over the past few decades have also played out in the funding that supports relief and development work, she added.

“Big funders [are] shifting the ways in which they support organizations, and they support change,'' she said, adding that bilateral governments are also getting better at exploring new ways of doing things and partnering with non-traditional stakeholders.

A lot of development projects previously failed in Africa because donors and organizations’ would impose their goals and make decisions without community consultation, said Penda Mbaye, senior program manager at Tostan. The recognition of this has led to a change in the aid and development space.

“We had to move toward programs that were a little more inclusive, that will integrate the needs and aspirations of the community,” Mbaye explained, adding that such an approach must continue.

Tostan aims to support communities to lead their own development by facilitating human rights-based, non-formal education programs in countries across West Africa. The organization won the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize in 2007.

“These generations who are experimenting with these new approaches to development will thrive everywhere in Africa. The communities are now able to say ‘this is our vision, the aid we want has to go toward this,’” Mbaye said, adding that, going forward, humanitarian aid has to work around this new order.

Watch the full interview.

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