Bond launches anti-racism guide for INGOs
Melanie May | 5 October 2022 | News
Bond has published a free online guide to support INGOs in becoming locally led and anti-racist.
Becoming Locally Led as an Anti-Racist Practice is available as a first draft, and has been put together by Bond and some of its members including All We Can, SOS Children’s Villages UK, Integrity Action, Transform Trade, formerly Traidcraft Exchange. It was developed with the support of The Social Investment Consultancy.
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Sarah-Jane, Director for Africa at The Social Investment Consultancy, said:
“The past two years have seen international organisations committing to anti-racism and shifting power in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, but action has not followed the rhetoric. We heard from organisations that they don’t know where to begin – so we hope this guide can help them diagnose where the organisations are at and direct them towards steps to begin the transformation. We are happy to join forces to make this journey more practicable.”
The guide aims to help organisations by looking at every part of their work and breaking down which behaviours and practices need to change if they are to become locally led in each area of their work, from fundraising and research to advocacy and communications.
It contains nine organisational elements already identified by INGOs as key to becoming locally led, such as partnerships, governance structure, business models and organisational culture with some additional elements and modifications. It also includes questions that organisations should ask themselves and statements to help identify where they are at each stage of the journey so they can work out what needs to change.
Stephanie Draper, Chief Executive at Bond, said:
“Locally led development is crucial if we are to create a more equitable and sustainable development system. We hope this guide will incite action from NGOs and the wider international development community to make the necessary changes within their organisation.
“We all need to adopt new behaviours and mindsets to ensure power is shared fairly and that resources drive more equitable, community-led development. This has become a priority for many in UK-based INGOs, and words must now be put into action to get results.
“Becoming locally led is part of decolonising and decentralising the development system. This is an urgent issue facing the sector, and this guide starts to address that by combining changing practice with challenging power dynamics and recognising the colonial history on which the development sector has been built.”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.