Enhancing agility amongst development partners, donors and NPOs

Introduction

During times like these, when the core of society and the economy is rocked globally and locally, efforts to progress towards various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are even more important. The eradication of extreme hunger and poverty, enhancing good health and well being, and providing decent work in the context of economic growth has shown a spotlight on the donor community working through not-for-profit organisations (NPOs). Now, we need to ask how agile are their systems and structures to respond to emerging threats like COVID-19?

The UN, development agencies, NPOs and the wider donor community play a vital role in building healthy communities by providing critical services that contribute to economic and social stability and mobility. They make a difference in our society in many ways.

Most donors also support the emergence and development of policymaking processes that are formal, transparent and accountable to the interests of the poor. To achieve these policymaking processes, donors need to enhance their organisational capacities to effectively support country-led, pro-poor growth agendas. The pro-poor growth agenda also requires donors to change the way that they are organised so that they can provide assistance effectively. Broader and deeper coordination is essential to addressing the broad agenda for pro-poor growth.

Certainly, the world has changed. The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in scale and also in terms of the need that it has generated. Almost every household, community, organisation, sector and nation is reeling from its impacts on health, the economy and society.

The humanitarian community has a huge part to play, both responding to immediate needs and helping with recovery in the medium to longer term.

For example, over the last few months as the COVID-19 pandemic has spread, turbulence in financial markets and weaker economic growth have dominated the headlines. And yet now is precisely the time when donors must take centre stage in responding to the pandemic and its effects on communities. NPOs should also prepare for the impact of these events and respond accordingly. It is heartening to see that many of them have - locally and globally. The disruption and suffering caused by pandemics like COVID-19 and Ebola, and by famine and other tragedies, pose serious threats to vulnerable countries in terms of morbidity and mortality risks and the knock-on effects on wider public health and social and economic systems.

Enhancing agility for faster impact Most development agencies and donor communities recognise the impact of unforeseen events on many of the projects that they implement in the broader development ecosystem. Donors therefore must commit to a swift, nimble and pragmatic approach to support implementing countries in their fight against pandemics and other threats like famine. They must also work with host countries to promptly mitigate any potentially negative consequences of emerging threats on their projects.

However, most interventions sponsored by development agencies and donors are project-based and funding is restricted to project-specific objectives. For example, if funding is intended for the provision of clean water in a specific community, then the funds cannot be redirected to the provision of ventillators without prior approval. What happens when the operating environment changes rapidly and drastically, such that the community requires ventilators urgently?

Therein lies the challenge for greater agility in response to great change. Clean water is still a challenge, in this case, but an emerging and urgent need for ventilators has also arisen.