Fragile Truths

No speech in our sector is complete without emphasizing the importance of equitable partnerships and local leadership. At the same time, we see “America/Europe first” policies on the rise in donor countries. Their politicians want ODA to benefit foreign policy interests and control the inevitable risks. In recipient countries we see dissatisfaction with the results of development cooperation or even outright anti-Western sentiments.

What do truly equitable international partnerships look like and how can we realize them within such a political climate? What is the future role of INGOs if such locally led, equal partnerships are a reality?

We discuss this with ⁠Abdilaziz Musa⁠, Director of Programs at the Somali NGO ‘⁠Media Ink⁠’ who wrote a ⁠report⁠ about linking the concept of ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’ (DE&I) to international partnerships. We will apply these together with ⁠Daan Stelder⁠.

Abdilaziz Musa is one of the founders of ⁠MediaINK⁠, where he focuses on leadership, managing complex projects, and building strategic alliances with donors, and international and in-country institutions. His work is centered around bringing together different stakeholders starting with communities, with a focus on fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders.

Daan Stelder works as Senior Project Manager at ⁠VNG International⁠, the international cooperation agency of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities. He manages programmes to enhance democratic local government in East- and Southern Africa. This includes leading consortia of diverse organisations to implement projects on disaster risk management, local governance and accountability in various regions of Somalia.

Click ⁠⁠⁠here for more information about the Fragile Truths podcast.

Are you on Twitter? ⁠⁠⁠Follow us⁠⁠⁠ and tag ⁠⁠⁠#FragileTruthsPodcast⁠⁠⁠ to let us know what you think! You can also reach the ⁠⁠⁠KPSRL Secretariat⁠⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠.

Worldwide, the indices for democracy, human rights and security are under pressure. Upholding democratic values seems more urgent than ever. But ‘promoting democracy’ in developing countries has been stained by associations with wars or neocolonial globalization. Moreover, what legitimacy do Western countries have, promoting values that are eroding within its own borders? Can we learn from democracy promotion methodologies in FCAS to strengthen democracy at home? In this episode, our usual host, Christian Kuitert, moderates the discussion between Thijs Berman and ⁠⁠Sever Džigurski.⁠⁠

⁠Sever Džigurski⁠ is an activist and professional in the international development programs, institutional reform

Links as mentioned in the episode:

Democracy Education (DE) page: https://nimd.org/what-we-do/democracy-education/

Mali publication: https://nimd.org/theme-brochures/lelue-a-graphic-novel-from-mali/

Click ⁠⁠here ⁠⁠for more information about the Fragile Truths

Are you on Twitter? ⁠⁠Follow us⁠⁠ and tag ⁠⁠#FragileTruthsPodcast⁠⁠ to let us know what you

Transparency International ranks Moldova 76th in its ‘Corruption Perception Index’. With a (hybrid) conflict in the region, solid checks and balances for a resilient democracy are urgent. New steps in the EU accession process create extra momentum for anti-corruption reforms.

At the same time, reforms can be messy on a technical level, while they can trigger resistance on a political level. The season 4 premiere of the #FragileTruthsPodcast investigates the “Momentum for Anti-corruption Reforms in Moldova.”

Our guest Radu Nicolae, from the Association for Cooperation and Sustainable Development, facilitated exchanges between Moldovan and Romanian anti-corruption actors. We discuss the lessons from that process (to be found here) together with our other guest Veronica Dragalin, chief of the Moldovan Anti-corruption Prosecution Office.

To get in touch with Radu Nicolae, you can follow his LinkedIn, Facebook, Academia.Edu account, and his Research Gate account. You can also follow the ACDD's work via their LinkedIn and Facebook pages.

 To get in touch with Veronica Dragalin, you can follow her Facebook account.

There is a growing resentment toward Western aid in recipient countries. There are many possible reasons why: a history of double agendas from donors, creating dependencies; a strong desire for self-determination; an increasingly multipolar world – the list goes on.

It’s about time to discuss the unexpected outcomes of aid that can lead to the backlash or undermining of the social contract in recipient countries. We discuss this with our guest Dirk-Jan Koch, Chief Science Officer at the Dutch MFA who wrote the upcoming book ‘Foreign Aid and its Unintended Consequences’. Our other guest, Haley J. Swedlund, Associate Professor, Radboud University, did research on how aid can distort in-country priorities, but can also be used in nationalist politicians’ anti-Western propaganda.

Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast.

To get in touch with Dirk-Jan Koch, you can follow him on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Twitter, or check out his website here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To follow the work of Haley J. Swedlund, you can follow her on LinkedIn or Twitter, or check out her website here.

Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tag ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#FragileTruthsPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to let us know what you think! You can also reach the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ KPSRL Secretariat⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

A string of coups and regime changes in 2021 and 2022 triggered the question: How should the international community respond to such situations? Do you disengage your support and thereby leave people to their threatening fate, or stay engaged with the risk of legitimizing abusive governments?  

Our guest, Betty Wainaina (NYU-CIC), worked on a report that highlights responsible options for continued engagement, as most experts agree full disengagement is not the solution. With the help of Dr. Idris Nassery (Universität Paderborn) and his knowledge of community work and (religious) law in Afghanistan, we apply Betty’s recommendations to the Afghan context. 

⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast.

To get in touch with Betty Wainaina, you can follow her on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ or ⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠. To follow her work at NYU-CIC, you can check out their LinkedIn page or Twitter.

To follow the work of Dr. Idris Nassery, you can follow the ⁠Paderborn Institute for Islamic Theology (PIIT)⁠ or the ⁠Institute for Law and Society in Afghanistan (ILSAF)⁠, a non-profit NGO that actively engages in research, collaboration, and evidence-based projects related to the role of law in Afghan society. Check out ⁠ILSAF's LinkedIn page here⁠.

Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tag ⁠⁠⁠⁠#FragileTruthsPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ to let us know what you think! You can also reach the⁠⁠⁠⁠ KPSRL Secretariat⁠⁠⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠.

In 2022, the Colombian Truth Commission published its 10.000-page thick report ‘Hay Futuro Si Hay Verdad’. It describes the immense impact the conflict had – and still has – on the victims of the civil war and society as a whole. Together with María Prada (former advisor to the Truth Commission’s President),

Click here⁠⁠⁠ for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast. To get in touch with María Prada, you can follow her on Twitter⁠⁠⁠. To get in touch with

Supplemental reading:

Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? ⁠⁠⁠Follow us⁠⁠⁠ and tag ⁠⁠⁠#FragileTruthsPodcast⁠⁠⁠ to let us know what you think! You can also reach the⁠⁠⁠ KPSRL Secretariat⁠⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠.

When we think of security, we usually think of weapons, patrols, war and crime. For many indigenous people in Colombia however, security is more linked to well-being of the collective community and its natural environment. Our guest, Cristina Hoyos (DCAF), represents a recent research on indigenous strategies to adapt to climate change and their broader interpretation of security. With Abigail Robinson (Continua), she will a.o. discuss the role ‘ecofeminism’ and the security sector can play in supporting these indigenous communities.

⁠Click here⁠⁠ for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast. To get in touch with Cristina Hoyos, you can follow her on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠. To get in touch with Abigail, you can follow her on LinkedIn.

Supplemental reading:

Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? ⁠⁠Follow us⁠⁠ and tag ⁠⁠#FragileTruthsPodcast⁠⁠ to let us know what you think! You can also reach the⁠⁠ KPSRL Secretariat⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠.

Violence and poverty have a large impact on one’s “mental landscape”, as our guest Mareike Schomerus, Vice President of Busara, refers to it. A ‘mental landscape’ encompasses the many experiences, memories and emotions that influence your decisions such as biases and expectations; your willingness to take risks, and what you think is fair or just. Western peacebuilders often lack understanding of such mental landscapes. Our other guest, Nika Saeedi from UNDP, is the global lead on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Peacebuilding, a field where such understanding is key. How do we understand each other’s realities better?

⁠Click here⁠ for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast. To get in touch with Mareike Schomerus, you can follow Mareike on Twitter on ⁠LinkedIn⁠. To get in touch with Nika Saeedi, you can follow Nika on ⁠Twitter⁠ or ⁠LinkedIn⁠.

Supplemental reading:

Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? ⁠Follow us⁠ and tag ⁠#FragileTruthsPodcast⁠ to let us know what you think! You can also reach the⁠ KPSRL Secretariat⁠ at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

Peacebuilding initiatives regularly only produce small scale, short-lived results. Our guest Dr. Sukanya Podder (researcher at King’s College London) says it’s time to think in terms of the Peacebuilding Legacy. That means: not-too-tightly planned interventions that fit local norms and behavior, and - with the help of youth leadership - take different interpretations of a conflict across generations into account. A prominent case in the book concerns a community radio initiative in Sierra Leone, so our other guest, Isata Mahoi, will share her experiences as network coordinator of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) - and as a radio star in one of the peacebuilding initiatives, Atunda Ayenda.

Click here for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast. To get in touch with Sukana Podder, you can e-mail: [email protected] or follow Sukanya on LinkedIn. To get in touch with Isata Mahoi, you can e-mail: [email protected], follow Isata on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? Follow us and tag #FragileTruthsPodcast to let us know what you think! You can also reach the KPSRL Secretariat at [email protected].

Climate change discussions are often about emissions, finance and sustainable alternatives. However, today’s guests bring in women’s stories; a perspective seldomly included in climate action. Climate change especially affects those who are dependent from natural resources, have little capacity to adapt and are excluded from power. Due to everyday gender dynamics, these characteristics disproportionally apply to women in many countries. To counter this, IDLO’s Nupur Prakash proposes a ‘feminist rule of law approach’ to climate action that takes these gender differences into account, helps women claim their rights and supports gender responsive justice systems. Nupur conversation partner, Jelen Paclarin, from the Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau puts many of these recommendations into practice in the Philippines context, where Jelen supports women’s legal rights around natural disasters.

Click here for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast. To get in touch with Nupur Prakash, you can e-mail: [email protected], follow Nupur on LinkedIn or on Twitter. To get in touch with Jelen Paclarin, you can e-mail: [email protected] or follow Jelen on Twitter.

Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? Follow us and tag #FragileTruthsPodcast to let us know what you think! You can also reach the KPSRL Secretariat at [email protected].