Changing contexts, abiding principles

In a lunch conversation just before the start of the CIVICUS Assembly in Gaborone this year, a group of development practitioners marvelled at the seminal shifts of the last decade, but also reckoned that some things have not changed at all. One timeless issue is the relationship between NGOs and development funders. In particular, grantees remain relatively powerless to influence the strategy shifts of grantmakers, and the way they enter or exit relationships, programme areas and even countries. Two interesting insights emerged: that market values and thinking have started to erode a previous conception of mutual accountability between development actors; and that a changed conception of sustainability has shifted donor practice substantially.