Rethink Social Change

Le 10 mai est la journée internationale de l’arganier! 

Cet arbre, mentionné pour la première fois au moyen age par le médecin égyptien Ibn El Baytar, est au centre du développement économique et social de nombreuses cooperatives de femmes au Maroc.

J’ai eu le plaisir de recevoir Dr Imane Chafchaouni sur podcast. Ancienne professeure en biochimie en école d’ingénieur, elle se tourne vers le développement social et économique en accompagnant les chaînes de valeur des produits du terroir, justement  l’Association Ibn Al Baytar https://association-ibnalbaytar.org  fondée par la Professeur Zoubia Charrouf , la pionnière dans l’organisation de la filière de l’huile d’argan au Maroc et sa reconnaissance comme Indication Géographique et Fair Trade.

Les cartes qui ont guidé notre conversation n’auraient pas pu être mieux choisie. Nous avons parlé du contexte Environnemental, de budget/financement, de changement Institutionnel et de Pérennité. 

Ce qui nous a mené à discuter de la valorisation durable des ressources par un fort engagement local pour leur préservation. Mais aussi de la résilience des plantes qui lorsqu’elles sont stressées, vont créer des métabolismes secondaires qui les rendent plus riches de certaines molécules recherchées spécifiquement pour certains produits. Nous avons également abordé la mise en œuvre des projets qui repose sur une vision institutionnelle impliquant une multitude d'acteurs locaux, d'ONG et d'institutions gouvernementales, collaborant ensemble pour le développement. Enfin nous avons discuté de l’inter-dependance entre le development de chaines de valeurs et d’autres secteurs notamment l’énergie avec un exemple de Mauritanie.

L’experience d’Imane Chafchaouni nous démontre l’importance de la terre, de sa préservation et de la responsabilité collective qui nous incombe toutes et tous. Elle nous rappelle de l'importance de commencer le development de chaines de valeurs en prenant en compte les réalités du terrain, le copier-coller n'étant pas possible car chaque chaine et chaque maillon de ces chaine détermine le chemin à suivre.

Pour en savoir plus sur le développement des chaines de valeur des produits du terroir n'hésitez pas à contacter directement Imane Chafchaouni sur LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/drimanechafchaouni/

Quant à moi, je vous donne RDV au prochain numéro du ReThink Social Change Podcast!

#ressourcesnaturelles #argan #chainesdevaleur #valuechains #arganoil #naturalresources #sustainability #environmentalstress #environementaldevelopment #developpementdurable #sustainabiledevelopment #socialchange

Dans de nombreux pays la réforme de la fonction publique est un chantier complexe, avec de nombreux défis et une sensibilité politique, sociale et économique certaine. La GIZ s’est attelée, à la demande de la présidence du Gouvernement Tunisien, à l’un de ces défis en accompagnant le processus de modernisation du système de formation et d’évaluation de la fonction publique en Tunisie.

Un projet d’envergure et de longue haleine qui ne peut se faire sans réelle volonté et collaboration des différentes institutions impliquées.

Mon invité @NahlaGrati, Experte Technique Senior à la GIZ, nous parle du pourquoi et comment de ce projet à partir de quatre cartes tirées du jeu ReThink Social Change. Notre conversation était donc guidée par les mot/concept suivants:

• Changement communautaire
• Acteurs du développement
• Facteurs pull-push
• Points d’entrée

Elle a partagé les approches innovantes notamment l’utilisation du théâtre comme porte d’entrée à la discussion avec les fonctionnaires, les instruments et les concepts qui ont pour but de standardiser et certifier les offres de formation initiale et continue pour les fonctionnaires.

Étant donnée l’approche participatives et inclusive de l’initiative, elle explique comment ce projet facilite aussi le dialogue entre l’État, les représentants syndicaux et les organisations non gouvernementales. En étant conscient des obstacles qui ralentissent tout autant que les leviers qui permettent d’assoir tous changements.

Quel lien avec le changement social?

Une réforme de la fonction publique aussi pragmatique qu’audacieuse mènera certainement à plus de confiance entre les représentants de l’état que sont les fonctionnaires et les citoyens, ce qui mènerai à plus de confiance entre l’état et les citoyens et à terme plus de participation des citoyens dans l’avenir de leur pays.

N’hésitez pas à partager vos réactions et commentaires ci-dessous.

#internationaldevelopement #bilateralcooperation #GIZ #reforme #civilservice #fonctionpublique #tunisie #ENA #competences #servicepublique #socialchange

Mon dernier invité du podcast ne m’a pas donné le choix.
 
En me mettant au défis de faire un épisode en Français, il ne m’a pas seulement permis de penser « hors de la boite », car comme dit Deepak Chopra, il m’a débarrassé de la boite!  Et j’en suis ravie parce que ça me permet d’élargir la portée du podcast en l’ouvrant aux voix francophones.
 
Mon invité ? Massimilliano Di Totta ! 
 
Depuis 24 années, de l’Amérique Centrale à l’Afrique de l'Ouest en passant par le Maghreb, il met ses comptences au service de la coopération internationale dans la formulation et la mise en oeuvre de programmes pour l’amélioration des politiques publiques mais aussi de l'évaluation de programmes complexes de coopération. Ses secteurs de prédilection sont la gouvernance territoriale et plus récemment la gestion de la migration.
 
Les cartes tirées nous ont amené à parler de contexte géographique, de frontières, de migration. Il a d’ailleurs commencé notre échange par une référence à la cartographe et artiste française Sabine Rhéthoré qui nous invite à penser la méditerranée sans frontières http://sabine-rethore.net/fr/cartes/mediterraneesans.html. Massimiliano se fait aussi écho des demandes des pays dis du Sud à avoir des relations plus horizontales avec leurs homologues du nord.

Nous avons aussi longuement discuté d’Expertise et de Qualité notamment celle qui ressort des pays au sud de la méditerranéen pour se diriger vers un équilibre et une reconnaissance de la valeur ajoutée de l’expertise locale. Une discussion qui, en partie, s’aligne aux débat plus large de « décolonisation » de l’aide au développement.

Il conclut avec un message important pour les jeunes qui entrent dans ce domaine du développement international, dans un sens large, sur l’engagement et la valeur ajoutée.

Si vous souhaitez contacter Massimilliano il est sur Linkedin à https://bitly.ws/3eBIH et si vous voudriez participer au Podcast, contactez moi sur LinkedIn à https://bitly.ws/FCLn pour organiser cela. Merci pour l'écoute!

#internationaldevelopement #bilateralcooperation #migration #borders #decolonizingaid #morocco #maghreb #algeria #competences #expertise #socialchange #localexpertise #localknowledge

Interested in discussions around the decolonization of aid?!

You wouldn’t want to miss this galvanizing episode of the podcast with Charles Kojo Vandyck.

Charles is a true visionary and catalyst for change who's been reimagining civil society for some years now. Through his ongoing work at the West Africa Civil Society Institute, where he heads the #capacitydevelopment unit, or the RINGO initiative, Charles is contributing to rewriting the rules for civil society: Developing strategies to strengthen the financial sustainability of civil society, tapping into local philanthropy, championing indigenous leadership, untying aid to northern CSOs or utilizing AI technology to address key barriers to system change.

🃏The cards drawn to guide our conversation were Historical context, Budgets, Sustainability, and Diversity. 

They allowed us to discuss so many aspects of the donor, INGOs, and local CSO triangle including:

🎯 The evolution, strength, and recognition of civil society in the Global South despite the many challenges they face.
🎯The shifting of power & efforts to reimagine the role of INGOs
🎯 Holistic sustainability through a new funding paradigm and landscape

To close our convo I asked him the one piece of advice he’d give to a local CSO in the global south. 

💡STOP RUNNING AFTER DONORS! Focus on being relevant, on #identity and value add, on designing qualitative & innovative programming, and on streamlining processes and systems… the money will make its way to you! 💰

And sprinkled throughout our discussion, his advice to global north INGOs.

💡RETHINK YOUR ROLE! Look at how you can become brokers or enablers of social change, so you can stay relevant.

Reach out to Charles on Linkedin @charleskojovandyck to learn more about his work in Africa and beyond; and be sure to listen to his very own podcast @AlternativeConvos where his guests share insights and experience at the intersection of social cohesion and social change.

Hope you’ll find this episode interesting. 

#decolonizingaid #socialchange #westafrica #ghana #UKAID #INGOs #CSOs #aidfunding #civilsociety #diversity #history #globalsouth #decolonization #capacitydevelopment #identity #brand #valueadd #internationaldevelopment #WACSI #alternativeconvos #civicparticipation 

In this episode of the podcast, I had the pleasure of sharing with Yulia Jessica Romo-Ramos, founder of Nexus Evaluation LTD. Known for her inclusive and participatory evaluation methodologies, Jessica blends systems thinking with diverse approaches and an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) lens to deliver impactful findings.  She also shares her observations and thoughts in a blog that offers invaluable insights from a range of evaluations, covering topics like strengthening civil society, optimizing impact through knowledge management, and fostering collaboration within organizations.

The cards drawn to guide our conversation were Capacity Strengthening, Institutional Change, Relevant, and Scale. This led us to discuss the use of multi-model approaches like the iceberg model to guide reflections for evaluation or further upstream during strategy development. 

We also discussed the importance of flexibility and adaptation for real system change, that it takes time to engage people and build trust in sometimes politically charged environments.

This conversation comes at a time when more and more evaluators and practitioners are questioning the detrimental power dynamics that have underlain the international development system. Through her focus on EDI, she spoke about those power dynamics and their impact on her work as well as the tensions that exist both in deciding what is needed and in imposing Western systems, language, values, etc. 

We closed by briefly talking about the difference between private philanthropy and government funding since she has worked extensively with both.

She left me with her 3 lessons learned:

- Not to be afraid to change or get attached to ways of doing evaluation. She got comfortable with uncertainty and adapting to changing situations.

- Be very aware of yourself, the baggage you bring, and your assumptions which tie in discussions on decolonizing evaluation.

- Be very relational in your approach

Have a look at Jessica’s blog  https://jessicaromo.wordpress.com and https://nexusevaluation.co.uk

Hope you have found this episode insightful. Please share in the comments if and how you share Jessica’s experience.

Hey Changemaker,

Get ready to dive into this insightful conversation with Florencia Gierzovich!

With a background in political science and extensive experience in governance, programming, and monitoring and evaluation, Florencia has made significant contributions to transparency and accountability initiatives from the Argentinian Anti-Corruption Office to her work with the World Bank and the Open Society Foundation, she's definitely honed her systems convening skills. 

The cards drawn got us to discuss the Economic context surrounding Dialogue Facilitation, highlighting its value, the costs involved etc. and how we could harness Technology to support these processes.  We talked about the role of facilitators at various levels, acting as brokers and system conveners, negotiating progress and change; and how adapting and scaling facilitation methods is crucial for sustainability and long-term impact. We also, of course, discussed monitoring and evaluation, emphasizing the importance of capturing progress and reframing indicators for learning. 

She also shared her effort to re-think complex causal pathways as a result of relationships that entail deliberation, social learning, and compromise. She and co-creator Alix Wadeson designed a rubric to address the « evaluation-of-sustainability-paradox » with a focus on evidencing sustainability prospectively. More on that below.

Some of my key takeaways from our conversation included:
1. Value of Facilitation: Exploring the economic context of dialogue facilitation underscores its importance in driving meaningful change. Facilitators serve as brokers and system conveners, navigating complex dynamics to negotiate progress and foster authentic dialogue.
2. Adaptation and Learning: Adapting and scaling facilitation methods are essential for sustainability and long-term impact. Monitoring and evaluation processes play a crucial role in capturing progress, reframing indicators, and resignifying failure as valuable learning opportunities.
3. People-Centric Approach: Emphasizing the value of people and networks in learning highlights the importance of intentional learning and authenticity. Creating spaces for dialogue and knowledge-sharing within complex organizations is essential for fostering meaningful change and building blocks for future progress.

If you’d like to learn more about the rubric you can check out this quick-read blog post: 
https://medium.com/@florcig/addressing-the-evaluation-of-sustainability-paradox-a-relational-rubric-for-evidencing-001683a36398

And if you’d like to dig deeper, here’s their full publication entitled “Scaling Up Collaborative Social Accountability in Complex Governance Systems: 
https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099248202082451403/idu143be23531a0f714f561b91515c596de86102

Hope you’ll get as much from it as I did. Feel free to comment with your own insights and thoughts about the potential of facilitating dialogue for real, inclusive, and sustained change and how YOU are demonstrating outcomes for lengthy and complex projects.

#systemschange #facilitatingdialogue #complexity #systemslearning #evidence #monitoringandevaluation #evaluation #rubric #causalpathways #conveningpower #socialchange #consulting #MERL #MEL #organizationalculture #walkthetalk 

He's navigated the complex landscape of international development for close to two decades, designing and measuring the results of social change. Jérôme Health is a senior consultant at INOMER. Not just an evaluation expert, he's really a storyteller of impact in fields ranging from peacebuilding to governance, but also migration, poverty reduction, and more recently, science, technology, and innovation. With 50 evaluation and research studies under his belt, Jérôme skillfully uses both quantitative methods to unpack and understand projects implemented across Africa. 

The cards drawn to guide our conversation were an invitation to discuss:

• How do we consider the Historical Context when designing projects or programs
• Change at the Individual level specifically as it pertains to knowledge, attitudes, and behavior
• What efficiency means when it comes to measuring the effects of social change programming! 
• And the bonus card allowed us to talk a little about the push-pull factors that are preventing us from using the qualitative tools that help us get to the depth of change.

The key takeaway from our conversation is that given that the findings of evaluations are rarely used because of lack of space to reflect on them or lack of interest, how about we move away from individual project evaluations towards more evaluations that take a portfolio perspective, say focusing on a topic or an approach. This could be a better use of resources and help us gain useful insights to improve programming or to design new interventions.

I hope you’ll enjoy this episode! Please do share your thoughts or comments. 

If you’d like to contact Jerôme, you can reach him on LinkedIn and if you work on social change, in whatever sector, and are up for the challenge of sharing what you do and how you do it guided by only 4 words, message me on LinkedIn or any of the social media platforms, through the unique handle @rethinksocialchange, and we’ll set something up! 

‘Till then, be the change!

#internationaldevelopment #evaluation #results #change #socialchange #innovation #projectdesign #monitoringandevaluation #NGOs #civilsociety #peacebuilding  #efficiency #pushpull

In this episode, the dynamic Tarek Lamouchi took me up on the challenge. He's a trainer, an advisor, and a writer. He started his career working in microfinance in Tunisia before extending his expertise to NGOs and the private sector in areas of conflict management, peacebuilding, economic justice, or social responsibility. The diversity of his professional experience gives him this holistic perspective on social change. When he’s not facilitating a social change process, he writes books. Not any books. Horror, Sci-fi, and fantasy books! But that’s not what we talked about… 

The cards drawn to guide our conversation took us into an exploration of a project that aimed to formalize the informal sector in Tunisia. The cards drawn were an invitation to discuss change at Individual level, Donors & Funding processes! The bonus card led us to talk about how to transcend the different stakeholders’ positions in such processes by focusing on their interests and needs to find common ground.

Some key takeaways from our conversation: 

-          Individual change processes, that focus on shifts in attitudes and behaviors, take time. So much longer than 2-3 years! 

-          Take the time to understand the stakeholders and the nuances between and within stakeholder groups. Even when dealing with institutions, you still have to work with and transform individuals.  

-          Keeping the donor abreast of how the project is unfolding, and how you are making progress towards the goal all the while engaging them in a conversation to understand what it takes to bring about change and make it sustainable.

-          Move away from “projectization” of change to a more holistic longer-term vision. 

Hope you’ll enjoy this episode and get useful insights from it! If you’d like to contact Tarek you can reach him on LinkedIn. 

Finally, if you work on social change, in whatever sector, and are up for the challenge of sharing what you do and how you do it guided by only 4 words, message me on LinkedIn or any of the social media platforms, through the unique handle @rethinksocialchange, and we’ll set something up! 

‘Till then, be the change!

#informalsector #insitutions #internationaldevelopment #donors #knowledge #attitudes #behavior #stakeholderengagement #socialchange #tunisia

Silva Firretti is a free thinker who uses every project, every evaluation as a way of getting closer to her vision of social change, of development work writ large. Her experience spans decades, continents and sectors which gives her this poised, lucid and pragmatic outlook on our sector. You can check out her work on https://silva.duckonthemove.com.

The cards drawn to guide our conversation were an invitation to discuss change at Community level, how we measure and what we measure & the role of Consultants! And the bonus card was a reminder of the Diversity of actors, contexts and tools. She spoke freely about our need to change our way of thinking lest our sector becomes extinct and how there are people,  consultants but also civil society workers and staff of donor institutions and large organizations, who are dissatisfied with the systemic and structural limitations to real and tangible change, and who are trying to make the system more nimble and more responsive to the complex situations we are faced with.

Some of my key takeaways from this profound conversation are around clarifying concepts:

-          Beyond Measure, we should focus on Evidence which gives greater depth of understanding of how social change happens.

-          The term accountability should not be mistaken with compliance. Being accountable is about being “true to a promise” and that the quality of that promise is in the feedback loops of learning and adjusting as we do our work. 

-          The call to bring the human back to the fore of what we do and use creative ways of showing how our work is bringing about change.

So grab yourself a cup of tea and enjoy this episode. I personally didn’t want it to end; and please do share your thoughts or comments. 

If you’d like to pursue the conversation with Silva, you can reach her on LinkedIn and if you work on social change, in whatever sector, and are up for the challenge of sharing what you do and how you do it guided by only 4 words, message me on LinkedIn or any of the social media platforms, through the unique handle @rethinksocialchange, and we’ll set something up! 

‘Till then, be the change!

#internationaldevelopment #donors #results #measurewhatcounts #accountability #trust #consultants #socialchange #innovation #community #monitoringandevaluation #NGOs #civilsociety #soicalnetworks  

Ian Hopwood joined me from the Land of the Teranga, Senegal! If you’ve worked on M&E and in West Africa, I am sure you already know him.  Ian is one of those living libraries you seldom meet in your life. He’s been UNICEF country representative a few times and its chief of evaluation at headquarters. So, atop 3 decades of experience on the ground, he's got that big picture view of the whole development life cycle that I really like to tap into and a zesty, no non-sense outlook on the whole development complex.

The cards drawn to guide our conversation were an invitation to discuss the Political Context, Donors & Organizational Change! And the bonus card got him to share some of the obstacles that remain a hinderance to bring about tangible and sustained change.

Some key takeaways from our whirlwind of a conversation: 

- The political context is the central context. Politics is about power. Power is about resources. 

- Build approaches that are supported at the central level but also by the population to get movement. 

- Build credibility and trust at every level. People observe what you say, what you do and how you do it… and people move!

- We don’t know much when we start, be agile and seize opportunities.

Hope you’ll enjoy this episode and that you get out of it as much as I did, as much as I always do with Ian! Please do share your thoughts or comments below. 

If you’d like to pursue the conversation with Ian, you can either sit on a bench on Place de l’Independence in Dakar till he emerges from one of the side streets (tell him Ratiba sent you 😊), or you can contact him on LinkedIn. 

Finally, if you work on social change, in whaterver sector, and are up for the challenge of sharing what you do and how you do it guided by only 4 words, message me on LinkedIn or any of the social media platforms, through the unique handle @rethinksocialchange, and we’ll set something up! 

‘Till then, be the change!

#politics #westafrica #internationaldevelopment #donors #organizationalchange #results #evaluation #unicef #trust #powerdynamics #socialchange