Strengthening People-Driven Change Processes in Asia

• Description
   
  In the publication “Strengthening People-Driven Change Processes in Asia” MISEREOR sets out its support for a change of approach - away from donor compliance and NGO-led development toward People-led development that supports marginalized people’s endeavors to define objectives and strategies for themselves, and to shape their change processes in a self-determining way.
   
  This change in approach is the result of research that found that while all MISEREOR’s partner organizations intended to support participatory development processes, they were at the same time compromised by the demands of writing proposals and reports in line with donor requirements, budgeting and financial management, impact monitoring and evaluations – and that as a result most partner organizations ended up inviting people to participate in their (NGO) projects instead of supporting people’s own processes of development.
   
  MISEREOR now wants those partner organizations engaged in project work with local communities to adopt the notion of development as “a transformative processes driven and owned by people and their communities.” It wants partner organization to strengthen people-led processes, with marginalized people as the central actors in a process of self-directed change and transformation.
   
  The document focuses on the ‘transformation’ of marginalized communities. It adopts the terms ‘transformation’ in place of the term ‘development’, which is now associated with an economic model of expansive market fundamentalism (in other words ‘Global Capitalism’) which is at the core of the global problems (political, economic, ecological). The direction it sees for the transformation of marginal peoples is toward the goal of “a global common good, having as its object the human being, and acknowledging the dignity of that person as a social and interrelated individual connected with other living things.”
   
  Comment
   
  In LISO’s view the object of transformation should not be the marginalized communities, but “economic model of expansive market fundamentalism” (Global Capitalism) that is responsible for their marginalization.  Many of these communities (especially those indigenous communities still closely connected to the land) already do “acknowledge the dignity of each person as a social and interrelated individual connected with other living things”. It is the economic model of expansive market fundamentalism that does not. Action therefore needs to be taken toward transforming this economic model. But just how far MISEREOR can support marginalized communities in pursuing this transformation must surely be limited by its own accountability to the German government – one of the leading proponents expansive market fundamentalism. (Tran thi Lanh- Founder)