Liberation starts at home

Northern and Southern actors need to work towards a radical renewal of the international cooperation business

In the midst of a unifying global humanitarian and political crisis, as it is with the Covid-19 pandemic and a global call to seriously tackle systemic racism in the United States and the United Kingdom (two of the major “aid providers”), the international “aid” system is openly debating its weaknesses and finally facing unanswered accountability and equality questions. All this, even painful, might be good news. There is nothing better than a crisis, to build from scratch and start anew. I have seen this as I supported, for example, the momentous process of decentralization of Amnesty International or the historic negotiations towards the renewal of the South-South international cooperation agenda

I am writing this piece as a woman, sociologist from Latin America, considering my own experience as analyst and facilitator of multiple change processes around the world. I also write as a professional committed to participation and empowerment of local, Global South actors and historically marginalised communities and groups.

Liberation starts with language: aid and localisation as prejudiced concepts

There is a lot written about localization of aid; and yet again, it seems we need to remember that what we are battling in this discussion is really about who holds power in the international cooperation business. Beyond “fancy” concepts, the issue at hand truly forces us to ask: are there ways to hold those with the power in the international cooperation business accountable? How can we make them answerable and responsive for the sometimes unfair and non-transparent way they operate?

Localization of aid should be a process to share power, decentralize and deconstruct the inequalities inherited of the post-colonial international cooperation system. This is even more important in a multipolar world, as diverse countries strive to ensure the inclusion and rights of communities affected by multiple complex crisis.

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