This week, CCIC published to its web site
24 case studies profiling best and innovative practice among Canada’s
development and humanitarian sector – relating this practice to each of the eight
Istanbul Principles for CSO DevelopmentEffectiveness.
It is a process that has been nine months
in the making, but I think well worth the wait.
When CCIC conducted a series of workshops
on the Istanbul Principles out West in the winter, one message was clear: while
everyone was enthusiastic about the Principles, it all felt just a little too
abstract. What was needed, we kept hearing, was a series of case studies that
would help organizations better see how the Istanbul Principles could be
translated into practice.
And so CCIC kick-started a process, working
in collaboration with some of our members, the Provincial and Regional Councils
and their members, to pull together more than 30 different case studies (some
are still forthcoming) with at least two or three on every Principle.
Each case study speaks volumes about the
incredible work that organizations across the country are already doing.
But having been intimately involved in
helping to bring these all together, there are eight reflections that I wanted
to share from reading the case studies as a collection. They are all obvious,
but still worth mentioning since I think we often neglect them in the stories
we tell our supporters about development.
1.
Best practices are rooted in diversity.
No organization has a monopoly on best practices. The case studies are drawn
from across the country, from Antigonish to Vancouver, from small groups like
Women’s Empowerment International Foundation to big ones like Oxfam Québec.
2.
The Istanbul Principles are complementary and interrelated. To some degree, the Principle under which some of the case studies
fall is somewhat arbitrary. KAIROS’s “Womenof Courage” tour is as much about
human rights and empowerment as it is about gender equality. Canadian Foodgrains Bank’s “Conservation Agriculture” is as much about the promoting environmental
sustainability and realizing positive sustainable change, as it is about
creating and sharing knowledge.
3.
Learning is invaluable and needs to be integrated as a core
component into our work. The Humanitarian Coalition,
from the outset, invests in evaluations of its interventions in Pakistan, Haiti
and the Western Sahel. Oxfam Canada engaged in a process of blind evaluation by
its partners, to see what they really thought of Oxfam. Inter Pares set out to
document the connection between its recognized program results and its feminist
values and approach. In each case, organizations found the resources in their
budget to learn and to improve their practice.
4.
Long term outcomes require long-term investments. For groups like CAUSE and EQUITAS, working with human rights
defenders in countries with a long history of violence and conflict, change is
slow – but when it comes, also deeply rewarding.
5.
Sustainable Projects mean people are the subjects of development,
not objects. The Agha Khan Foundation’s Community
Development Councils, World Vision’s Child Health Now Program, Change For Children’s “Community Water Committees”, and Save the Children’s “As We
learn, We Grow” (forthcoming) all put men, women and children in the drivers’
seat, not as passengers, of development.
6. Civil society is incredibly innovative and resourceful. CARE Canada has developed a
toolkit for practitioners to help them better integrate climate adaptation
issues into their development programs, making them more resilient and
sustainable. Light Up The World is working to equip remote communities with
renewable sources of energy and the knowledge to be able to maintain the
equipment. Engineers Without Borders work on transparency has translated into
both an advocacy campaign to make the Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA) more transparent, and measures to placed their own organization under
the same set of standards they were demanding of CIDA.
7.
Sustainable change is key. CAWST has set
up Water Expertise and Training (WET) Centres in the areas where it work to
provide education, training, and consulting services on water, sanitation and
hygiene so that this knowledge stays in the community. Christian Children’s Fund has made building the skills, capacity and professionalism of its partners
a key pillar of programming, not just an afterthought. CODE’s approach to education goes beyond the
students, to enhancing the professional development of teachers, the community,
government officials and national teaching standards. While enhancing the literacy
of marginalized women and children in India is primary focus of the programs
that World Literacy Canada runs, WLC is also slowly creating space for women in
the political life of their villages.
8.
Development is an iterative process.
This is true of all the case studies. Good development identifies a challenge,
proposes a solution, and then adapts and readapts until the program has a life
of its own within the community of country.
Finally thanks to all of the organizations
who have put in a huge amount of time and energy (and probably, some blood,
sweat and tears), to help us pull this off. It was certainly worth it!
To read these and other case studies, go to
http://www.ccic.ca/IP-case-studies.php
This blog was written by
Fraser Reilly-King, Policy Analyst (Aid), CCIC. The views expressed are his
own, and do not necessarily represent the views of CCIC or its members.
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