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Localisation, racism and decolonisation: Hollow talk or real look in the mirror?

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Monde
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ODI - HPN
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by Smruti Patel

This article is dedicated to those change-makers who are working on issues of localisation, anti-racism and de-colonisation – it is not an easy path. It is especially dedicated to Ritah Nansereko, the Executive Director of Africa Women Youth Action for Development (AWYAD) in Uganda, who passed away from COVID-19 recently. Ritah showed leadership and great courage in speaking truth to power. She was a dedicated humanitarian and advocate for localisation and is greatly missed by her family, colleagues and friends.

Why is this important and why now?

Unprecedented anti-racism protests across the globe, triggered by George Floyd’s death, put a spotlight on deeply ingrained historic and systemic racist attitudes and racial discrimination that deny people their fundamental human rights, and challenges us to consider our own blind spots. The protests have – finally – created an opportunity to speak openly about racism in the ‘humanitarian’ and wider aid sector, where underlying attitudes of superiority and discrimination, and negative narratives such as being labelled corrupt, incapable, unable to be principled and high risk and untrustworthy, undermine the quality of relationships between international and local and national organisations and stymie progress on localisation.

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