Posted on 25 July 2022
International aid organisations are in danger of losing relevance and need to start thinking about “the world beyond themselves”, a study by Nuffield College in Oxford has found. UK academics talked to 50 chief executives of the world’s leading development charities and found a sector in a “crisis of legitimacy, of core identity and of relevance”.
The researchers, from the University of Oxford, found that rather than focusing on critical external challenges, including how to decolonise their mainly western organisations, many confessed to being ‘stuck’ in internal dynamics. The INGO leaders say, their action is limited by:
- The need to pursue funding
- The expectations and demands of donors (including government donors)
- The demands of compliance and risk management
- Their organisations’ own internal governance structures