In Australia, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is continuing to push ahead with a strategy of greater ties to the private sector to deliver development outcomes. It’s far from alone; around the world NGOs, too, are increasingly seeking to better engage and utilize the private sector in aid and development.
Effective training in everything from power dynamics to relationship building is one aspect fundamental in achieving that collaboration, Chris Roche, associate professor and chair in international development at La Trobe University in Melbourne, told Devex.
Development happens in a “chaotic and nonlinear, power-riddled way,” Roche said, and timely knowledge of the power and politics behind it are crucial in order to navigate it successfully.