seems like the last month in 'development aid' news has been dotted with examples of where traditional aid models have gone wrong. Don't think its a new thing, think it's just become okay to talk about it, i also think it's because there has been a paradigm shift in what is considered to be success. The key indicator people are talking about in this way seems to be sustainability - was the aid project sustainable after the project team left or after the initial funds were exhausted, did it leave behind a locally sustainable initiative, was there a plan for ongoing support.
i could list examples but i think that's unfair - it's the thinking that has changed and the practise needs to follow - it's a curve of learning from experience.
The old top-down thinking: identify a problem, work out a solution to fix it, get the funds & expertise to do it, then move on - why would that be wrong? actually it's probably the solution most preferred on the ground too - a no effort rescue - who doesn't want that?
So why do these methods often fail?
It certainly ticks all the boxes from the 'aid donor' perspective - measurable outcomes, happy recipients - job done!
Why then if these rescue like fixes are 'desired' at the receiving end - do they not last? Here's my pennyworth on a potential list of reasons in no particular order:
1) "not made here solutions' - solutions which do not fit with local understanding, use components from the outside or which are not maintainable locally after the donor aid is gone are always going to fizzle out
2) ROI - development aid funding, like other businesses also needs to show ROI, so short-term or practical fixes are often favoured over solutions which are less easy to pin down or would take longer to establish
3) no focus on change at the individual level, if the 'person' is not at the centre of 'fixes' will they adopt them, will they become part of the new fabric of their lives or will it be like a toy over Christmas, cast aside in January.
The core idea behind ubuni is really bottom of the pyramid stuff, focusing on the individual not the big picture, not pushing information at them from outside but taking them on a journey of enablement through information sharing, collaboration and reflection towards making their own changes, creating their own solutions. A combination of really useful information and a change empowering learning journey. i could say changing the social picture one person at a time, but that would also be wrong - it's just enabling people to change their own social picture.
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