Opinion: Lean in, let go, keep it real — effective INGO-local partnership

Early in my career, I led the midterm evaluation for an international organization’s project in southern Ethiopia to assist Borana nomadic people with various needs. The process included addressing a problem with a new water catchment system installed by the project: Thirsty monkeys were falling into the cisterns during the dry season, drowning and fouling the water. Engineers and their expensive concrete cover solution were no match for these monkeys, and the whole first season’s worth of water had been lost.

At a coffee ceremony soon after I arrived, an elder told me, “The solution is simple: Don’t cover it. Do you see those bamboos? Just make a ladder for each cistern. The monkeys will go in, drink, and get out without dying and spoiling the water.” One community mobilization and several ladders later, at less than 15 cents apiece, a durable solution was in place. An example of localization at its best and simplest.

By that time, the organization I now lead, ChildFund International, had been partnering with independent local organizations for years — since the 1980s, though no one called it “localization” or “locally led development” then. Today, ChildFund remains decentralized, with most staff in our country offices hailing from the countries where they work. According to our data, we collaborate with 145 community-based organizations, 38% of which have worked with us for over 20 years. We are their partner in creating the social change they seek, and often we are not their only one — 59% of our partners have successfully attracted funding from other sources.

Our long-standing experience with local organizations affirms three key principles to guide INGOs in supporting locally led social change.

1. Lean in to local leadership as the driving force.

The problem with the monkey story is that in the search for a solution, local people were — as usual — the last to be asked.

Too often, international nongovernmental organizations’ default is to apply our own best practices and technical solutions — such as bringing in engineers as a first response — rather than looking to local resources, including human resources, that are already in place.

At ChildFund, the purpose of working with local organizations is to help communities unlock their resources and implement their own programs to address their children’s needs. In fact, local partners co-create and lead about 80% of ChildFund programming because they are best positioned to effect local change. Likewise, local leaders and leadership structures, formal and informal, are best positioned to lead.

When we respect and engage local leadership, their wisdom and experience can strengthen communities’ ability to effectively connect with systemic institutions as they seek to access technical and financial resources. Indigenous wisdom can ensure the efficient use of those resources.

2. INGOs must be prepared to relinquish control and accept risk.

These days, no one disagrees that local people know their communities best. However, INGOs, as the source of funds, “best practices,” and the powers of the global north, remain hard-pressed to trust local groups to effectively manage the resources INGOs would offer. This dynamic echoes the colonialism that gave rise to the foreign aid system in the first place and too often results in “capacity building” that is more relevant to the donor than to local stakeholders.

Meanwhile, speaking of risk, consider the monkey story and the risk to that community had we not listened to local voices.

ChildFund is not there to build community organizations’ capacity from scratch; but we do share resources to help them build on and strengthen their own capacities — their relationships, responsiveness, and deep understanding of their communities’ resources and concerns, including capacities they would like to strengthen. ChildFund and its partners collaborate to define relationships and roles through letters of agreement, ensuring that local organizations can work to and build upon their own strengths while ChildFund provides complementing support in trust that our partners will allocate funding in the most impactful way. Our internal data shows we allocated over $52 million in 2023 — 28.5% of our program expenses — to fund work by local partners in their communities. At annual partnership review meetings, we monitor and calibrate the power balance through jointly set agendas and open dialog on mutual accountabilities, achievements, and concerns. Partners also conduct self-assessments to measure their strength in compliance, governance, strategy, and programming. These self-assessments help ensure that support for partners’ organizational development is demand-driven rather than top-down.

When COVID-19 upended humanitarian and development assistance and forced local organizations to the fore, ChildFund’s partners quickly redirected funding to stop the spread of the virus, ensure food security, protect children from both physical and emotional violence, and facilitate children’s opportunities to learn. With so many intersecting factors shaping a multitude of varied contexts, and with INGOs’ ability to offer direct assistance largely hobbled, ChildFund’s local partners had full responsibility for designing their interventions. These ranged from cash transfers to food baskets to online delivery of educational curricula to neighborhood groups conducting door-to-door community-based child protection mapping.  

3. Partnership must be authentic.

Authentic partnership depends on the aims of both organizations, and the continued existence of either party cannot be a goal. A shared vision is an excellent place to start. ChildFund and its partners share a vision of child well-being, and our connections are rooted in respect for and curiosity about our different strengths and experiences. The collaborative process of crafting our letters of agreement, programming, and ongoing pulse checks all honor this vital relationship and tether us to the north star of children’s best interests. With a shared understanding that the conditions around a child shape that child’s ability to achieve their potential, we look at those systems, structures, assets, and deficits. Based on this assessment, we co-create initiatives both unique to the context and aligned with the larger vision.

And, when it is time, we each step away.

The Philippine organization Yakap sa Kaunlaran ng Bata, Inc., or YKBI, is a former local partner of ChildFund. Originally a loose group of parents’ associations, in 2004, they consolidated with ChildFund’s assistance into an officially recognized and registered community-based organization. By 2018, when ChildFund needed to refocus geographically, it was clear that YKBI was ready to stand on its own, with a strong strategy and new donors including the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Relief International, and ShelterBox.

YKBI’s board chair, Severo Talavera Jr., reflected on the partnership with ChildFund: “Our track record has been recognized by the government and international community. That made us a viable organization. This partnership is a human capital investment — in fact, wherever you go, there are alumni and former sponsored children and parents who are contributing to community development and nation-building. [The partnership] made our heart bigger for children. So now, YKBI exists to volunteer, and — what we always say — ‘we pay it forward.’”

Locally owned change is not only sustainable, but it also perpetuates itself. Together, INGOs and local partners can create change that is much greater than the sum of their parts — and at a much smaller cost.

Learn more at ChildFund.org.

Dig into Roots for Change, a series examining the push towards locally led development.

This piece is sponsored by ChildFund International as part of our Roots for Change series. Click here to learn more.