This story is part of a series supported through a partnership with Humanity United.
Proximate Press has partnered with Kuja.org to engage our readers on topics relevant to their work and their lives.
Kuja is a platform that equips local organisations and funders to connect, collaborate, and create lasting change. Readers live across the world, and represent a wide range of people playing roles in the global development space.
As part of this partnership, we'll be posting periodic questions for discussion on KujaLink's Future of Aid Forum. Our first prompt is now live.
The prompt is inspired by a story Proximate published in 2024, How I Lost Respect Doing Community-Led Work. It's a personal narrative from a global development professional named Jonathan Kifunda, who worked in the INGO complex as well as back home. The story raises interesting points about how professionalized aid can siphon local talent from communities.
Here's the prompt:
For decades, international NGOs, bilaterals and multilaterals have recruited organizers and leaders from local communities. But what happens when those leaders leave the international aid system and try to return to locally rooted work?
Jonathan Kifunda experienced that transition firsthand. After several years as an INGO country director in Tanzania, he left to start a community-based initiative – and discovered that the power, relationships and access he'd accumulated inside the international system did not necessarily travel with him.
Today, as international development contracts and development professionals find themselves outside the organizations that once employed them, what happens to the power, relationships and access they accumulated? What do they bring with them, what have they lost, and how can they put what they've gained to work locally?
You can follow follow this link to join the discussion. KujaLink requires registration to participate. We plan to make this an ongoing feature and platform for in-depth discussions of our coverage and columns and we encourage you to create a profile and engage with the community of proximate leaders and practitioners in the network.
Stay tuned. We hope to host more discussions on KujaLink to extend the discussions, debates, and conversations on Proximate Press.
