Philosophical reflections
What do you understand as ‘Authenticity’? Authenticity is taken to mean truth: the reality of the situation and actual needs and requirements of the local people.Who benefits from ‘development‘? Those in need should benefit from development initiatives. However, unfortunately often, plans for development can be manipulated and abused in order to further other goals. One needs to reflect on who has the authority to judge whether development from a western perspective is a benefit for the local people. Are the skills gained from interaction with western NGO’s (i.e. book keeping, understanding of information systems and communications) a benefit for the local people? Do they necessarily need these skills? One needs to discuss whether tradition which is understood by western models as ‘out dated’ or ‘frozen’ can ever be evaluated in terms of right or wrong.Who should have the authority to decide what form aid takes and how funding should be used? The formation and implementation of aid should primarily be decided upon by the local people as it is their needs that are being addressed and they are the ones who can truly understand how they benefit within their context and environment. However, it is important for humanitarian development agencies to continually offer support, management and assistance once the projects are operational as agencies have expertise and knowledge that is not accessible to by the local people and will benefit them enormously.Do you think development funded by external international agencies should be organised and implemented externally without the inclusion of local people? Local people should be included and involved in every level of humanitarian development work. Ultimately, it is their requirements being fulfilled and thus the purpose of development rests on them. Exclusion of local people’s understanding, needs and requirements can only result in abstract, alienated and remote operations.Does the involvement of local people allow a deeper understanding of what is needed from aid? Culture and other socio-environmental factors affect our understanding and interpretation regarding concepts and the world. These can differ and appear subjective between cultures and world communities. In order to assist a group separate from one’s culture one must understand the concepts, understandings, priorities, needs and wants of another cultural group. This can only be achieved through collaboration with members of that group which enables knowledge and understanding.What are the problems associated with including local peoples’ requirements and motivations in the decision process? Can all subjective requirements be satisfied? It must be noted that it is difficult to fulfill all needs and requirements and everyone’s satisfaction is difficult to achieve without understanding and to some extent, compromise. It’s important to distinguish between want and need. |