Social Enterprise, Development Aid, and the Listening Project

What is the Listening Project?

The Listening Project is a comprehensive and systematic exploration of the ideas and insights of people who live in societies that have been on the recipient end of international assistance efforts (humanitarian assistance, development cooperation, peace-building activities, human rights work, environmental conservation, etc.).

The Listening Project has organized over 20 Listening Exercises in various contexts and geographical regions since late 2005, including Aceh (Indonesia), Afghanistan, Angola, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, East Timor, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mali, Mindanao, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Thai-Burma border area, US Gulf Coast, and Zimbabwe. More than 130 international and local organizations have participated and contributed more than 400 staff members to the Listening Teams that held conversations with nearly 6,000 people.

For instance a recent Listening Project report highlighted the following two problems of international development projects:

In many cases, the amount of aid and of money is not seen as the problem. Almost everywhere, people talk about the significant amounts of waste and mismanagement of resources in the aid system, for instance: “with all of the aid that has come into Kenya, it should be a heaven!” They suggest that agencies should combine resources to address deeper, systemic problems rather than use individual projects for piecemeal solutions. In several different places, people have described the “water bottle” effect of international assistance being passed from donors to international NGOs or contractors, to local NGOs or sub-contractors, to community-based organizations. As the last in line, the people in communities who are the intended beneficiaries get but a tiny sip.

Some even complained of the “excessive generosity” of agencies. Of much greater concern to people is how aid is given. Many resent “pre-packaged” programs that they see as signals of arrogance and disrespect, as if local people do not have the analytic ability to discuss and find solutions to the major issues affecting their lives. This has raised the question of whether the increased focus on “coherence” and “coordination,” which assumes that a shared overall strategy can bring desired results, is enough without the participation of local people.

Elsewhere the Listening Project found these themes echoed:

People in recipient societies want more ownership and to play a more active role in their own development, saying that they want to “discuss together, decide together, and work together.” In calling for more ownership and effective participation, people in recipient societies want aid providers to be transparent and open to discussing all aspects of their assistance efforts, including: the local context; agendas (external and internal); mutual expectations; theories of change and the assumptions behind different approaches; process and criteria for beneficiary/project selection; constraints/limitations; implementation plans; the changing dynamics/context; and finally, exit strategies. People are also concerned about “who” participates and how they are chosen, saying that selected “representatives” are often not representing local people’s interests or providing information back to people.

Remembering the words of Winston Churchill are powerful:

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

(Note: there is an independent film by the same name, however I don’t think it has any direct link to the Listening Project)