Can NGOs in the Global North help Shift The Power with Senior Hires from the Global South?

For years now civil society organisations and advocacy groups in the Global South have been running campaigns such as #ShiftThePower in an attempt to move Aid & Development decision-making and control into the hands of developing communities.

But power still resides mostly in regions like Europe and the USA, and communities in the Global South have to put up with being told what’s best for them by international “experts”.

As Jonathan Glennie points out in this video, the whole sector is based mostly in the Global North, and that’s not likely to change any time soon. Degan Ali of Adeso explains that you could be living through a disaster in Nepal and the decisions affecting your survival could be made in Geneva.

Arbie Baguios asks: if we accept that most NGOs are Head Quartered in the Global North, then why don’t they just hire people from the Global South to make decisions and shape strategy?