Giving Compass' Take:

• Writing for Devex, Thousand Currents communications director Jennifer Lentfer discusses the complications of aid organizations aligning with social movements: Where are the conflicts of interest?

• Those working in development should heed the warnings here, especially when it comes to focusing more on global solidarity rather than "heirarchy" and "interventions."

• Here are some reflections from a Global South leader amid #AidToo.

I have heard much talk of movements in the aid and development sector of late. It is no wonder that the hundreds of thousands of people who work for aid agencies, NGOs, and contractors have been moved to think about the role of movements. The past years’ elections in wealthy countries reveal to those in the United States and United Kingdom, especially, the extent of corporate political capture, the roll back of progressive policy agendas, and the importance of people-fueled pushback during this critical time.

It’s also no wonder people want to support movements. Most of us joined global development efforts to help people who are marginalized and we are all impacted by the current zeitgeist.

I have seen a worrying trend in the aid sector, however, as more and more people view their organizations as part of movements or as movement builders, or say they want to partner with movements. Some organizations even want to describe their work overall as a movement.

But before we use this language to frame our work, we must first understand what a movement is, and what it is not.

Movements are focused on moving systems, structures, and institutions toward justice and equity — the aid sector is itself an institution. This means fundamentally changing society’s status quo, not just making changes, and it is certainly more than service delivery ...

What differentiates movements from other social good efforts is that they are rooted in and driven by “the people.” This collective leadership can take many forms, but it is seen in its accountability to people — not boards nor funders.

Read the full article about whether aid organizations can be part of social movements by Jennifer Lentfer at Devex International Development.