Blog: International Non-profits
Maximizing what we’ve got… Time is now!
Maximizing what we've got... Time is now! We had a stirring conversation here in D.C. with someone very knowledgeable about sustainability; this person is a strong proponent of local ownership of all development. They also said...
Making money– is this a way to sustainable livelihoods? PACT’s Nepalese Lessons
Making money-- microenterprise-- is this a way to sustainable livelihoods? PACT's Nepalese Lessons Many Americans are steeped in the belief that we must 'pull ourselves up by our bootstraps', that hard work and especially faith in small businesses is the...
What should projects accomplish… and for whom?
What should projects accomplish... and for whom? An unnamed international non-profit client contacted me to evaluate their resilience project mid-stream, to gauge prospects for sustainable handover. EUREKA, I thought! After email discussions with them I...
Data for whose good?
Data for whose good? Many of us work in international development because we are driven to serve, to make corners of the world better by improving the lives of those that live there. Many of us are driven by compassion to help directly through working...
Sustainability SPRINGing out all over the place… and Disrupting!
Sustainability SPRINGing out all over the place… and Disrupting So what is sustainability? You may think it's the climate's long-term wellbeing and how to gauge changes to that. You may think it's linked...
Pineapple, Apple- what differentiates Impact from self-Sustainability Evaluation?
Pineapple, Apple- what differentiates Impact from self-Sustainability Evaluation? There is great news. Impact Evaluation is getting attention and being funded to do excellent research, such as by the International Initiative for Impact...
Stepping up community self-sustainability, one [Ethiopian] step at a time
Stepping up community self-sustainability, one [Ethiopian] step at a time Having just come back from evaluation and design fieldwork for an Ethiopian Red Cross (ERCS)/ Swedish Red Cross/ Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent project, the power of...
Aminata and I both want to be proud…
Aminata and I both want to be proud... I met Aminata in Mali in 1990 during my doctoral research. She was a Bambara farmer and an impressive woman, with pride in her community. She was a helpful informant during my research on how communities cope with...
What are the prospects for self-sustained impact at the Macro level? (Part 1)
What are the prospects for self-sustained impact at the Macro level? (Part 1) After studying various impact evaluations, it became clear that different development projects also have different scales, with multilaterally-funded macro-level being focused on higher...
What can we learn from Ex-Post (Post-Project) Evaluations?
What can we learn from Ex-Post Evaluations? In trying to learn more about sustainable development solutions, the first place to look for information is in ex-post evaluations, also commonly called post-project evaluations, which are conducted by either...
Let’s start turning the oceanliner of development to dignified sustainability – today!
Let's start turning the oceanliner of development to dignified sustainability - today! No time like the present, our participants are waiting for dignified development to fully arrive. Dignity is the "quality or state of being worthy of esteem...
Development= A Jeep (motor optional).. Resilience? If within 5 years!
Development= A Jeep (motor optional).. Resilience? If within 5 years! Imagine being given a lovely new Jeep. You get a driver (remember driving school) to help you learn to steer it around the pothole-strewn, scantly lit roads. Eventually you take over the...
The ’causes and conditions’ are right for sustainable impact… $100 billion of funding needs it
The 'causes and conditions' are right for sustainable impact... $100 billion of funding in 2014 alone needs it! Many of us know that when the time is right, things click into place and manifest, but when they are not yet ripe for change, they...
Time is ripe for incentives to change….
Time is ripe for incentives to change…. There is so much promise now in returning international development to the hands of those who we mean to ‘develop’. Here are a few examples: •Accountability has been proposed as a core...
Mercy Corps – early leader in evaluating sustainability… and what donors are funding
Mercy Corps - early leader in evaluating sustainability... and what donors are funding Mercy Corps shared their work in post-project sustainability early on, inspiring me it was possible. As they put it, "clearly, a sustained ability for collective problem...
Unintended impacts – LWR and Gates Drought Resilience in Niger
Unintended impacts - LWR and Gates Drought Resilience in Niger Unintended development program impacts - how much do we know about what they are and how we could learn from them for future programming? How often do we even question our assumptions about what we meant...
Corruption. Now I’ve said it, fear is our greatest barrier
Corruption. Now I've said it, fear is our greatest barrier That wasn't a typo. When I started working in international development, and quite regularly since, the need for us international development agencies as intermediaries has been that we...
Accountability and Solidarity – what does it take?
Accountability and Solidarity- what does it take? Who are we accountable to? US agencies would say our taxpayers, international charities would say their donors, but what would ordinary folks like you and me say? Our consciences? My dear friend Peter...
“Free” resources? How many (no-comment) strings are attached?
"Free" resources? How many (no-comment) strings are attached? Is aid really free? We offer communities, households, individuals a lot -- training, in-kind resources such as seeds/ tools or clean water dispensers, etc. We also ask some in return, as...
The pitfalls of pushing development even faster… we need compassion for all
The pitfalls of pushing development ever faster... we need compassion for all There is great need for compassion in development, for all those pushed to perform. First, for the participants of development projects, who can have projects imposed on them...
The need to return.. and learn post-project close-out: Plan Int’l
The need to return...and learn post-project close-out: Plan Int'l It's like leaving the screening of a documentary; don't you too want to know how things work out after the movie makers leave? I do. And most of all I long to learn from it... I long to see...
What do we know… about international development, ourselves, ‘them’ and the intersection?
What could we know... about international development, ourselves, 'them' and the intersection? How would international development look from the eyes of the participants? What works best? What fails? Who decides what success and failure is, and how much...
Jindra Cekan, Ph.D. has used participatory methods for 30 years to connect with participants, ranging from villagers in Africa, Central/ Latin America and the Balkans to policy makers and Ministers around the world for her international clients. Their voices have informed the new Sustained and Emerging Impacts Evaluation, other M&E, stakeholder analysis, strategic planning, knowledge management and organizational learning.