The Dearing Dialogue

Last week, President Clinton and Scottish philanthropist, Sir Tom Hunter, visited Malawi to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the people of Malawi through President Bingu wa Mutharika.  The MOU is designed to provide private money for rural development projects.  The unique quality of this MOU is that it keeps power and decisions in the hands of locals in the community, as opposed to outsiders with little understanding of local needs.

 

Too often in the past, development aid initiatives had been disconnected from the participation and fundamental ownership of the people at grass root level who were the ones heavily affected by poverty,” said Clinton.

Speaking with locals in Malawi, I learned that many programs failed to fund the needest people because of a lack of both local and cultural understanding.  While the intent of international donors may be noble and altruistic, they often fail to meet the needs at hand due to misunderstandings and a lack of local control.  This program looks like it can solve many of the past shortcomings, and will be one which researchers of development should follow.

See Video of Clinton visit: Clinton Foundation

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