Listening and Learning to Improve Aid
11 February 2008
As part of the Listening Project, Oxfam America talks to community members about their experiences with international aid—and gains some valuable insights.
In October 2007—usually the start of Ethiopia’s dry season—an intense storm struck the fertile Rift Valley region. Wind and rain lashed the area’s small agricultural communities, and hail rattled loudly on the metal roofs. Many staple crops were destroyed.
The residents of one community were still picking up the pieces when three NGO workers arrived in their village. As the visitors made their way through the trees, the elders were not surprised to see them; several aid groups had already come to document the storm damage as a basis for providing assistance.
But today’s visitors were there for a different reason: to listen. As part of an initiative called the Listening Project, they had come to learn about the villagers’ perceptions of international aid. They wanted to know what worked and what didn’t. And the community members were happy to talk—not just about the recent crisis, but about their long-term experiences.
How the Listening Project works
Initiated by a US-based non-profit called CDA Collaborative Learning Projects, the Listening Project is based on the belief that aid providers have much to learn from the wisdom and experience of aid recipients—and that what they learn can transform their overall approach. CDA has conducted “listening exercises” in twelve locations since 2006, with several more planned for this year.
In each listening exercise, a team of staff from different aid agencies learns how to approach people, what questions to ask, and, most importantly, how to listen. “The goal is to just let the conversation flow,” said Oxfam America’s Emily Farr, who facilitated the Zimbabwe listening exercise. “It’s different from an interview or a survey, because there’s no specific agenda.”
In each location, the teams talk to local NGO staff, government officials, and community leaders, as well as people who have received assistance, to gain different perspectives on making international aid work better. All of the people that they speak to remain anonymous, but their words are carefully recorded.
People want long-term solutions, not just emergency aid
As a member of the Cambodia Listening Project team, Oxfam America’s Annaka Carvalho traveled to a remote forested region on the border of Thailand—a former Khmer Rouge stronghold with many wildlife preserves and few modern amenities. “We drove through areas full of land mines from the war, where there were no roads or infrastructure,” said Carvalho. “But there were still people living there, relying on the forests for their survival.”
Though many people were knowledgeable about local projects, they wanted to be more informed about international aid—who gives it, who receives it, and why. In addition, Carvalho said, “nearly everyone we spoke to said that short-term aid helps, but that they need long-term investments in a number of areas in order to be lifted out of poverty.”
Participants in other listening exercises also stressed the need for long-term solutions:
- In Zimbabwe, one group pointed to their community garden, which they had been trained to plant and maintain, as an example of a successful and sustainable long-term project.
- In southern Ethiopia’s Rift Valley, villagers planted new crops to replace those that were lost in the storm. But to earn money while the crops matured, they had to trade for small goods on the fringes of nearby cities—work that was both dangerous and unprofitable. Villagers wanted training in marketable skills that could help them earn a decent living.
As one community member told the Listening Project team: “Emergency aid helps us through bad times, and that’s okay. But assets that don’t run out, like oxen, are better.”
Women need to be a part of the process
In some listening exercises, women in particular said that they were not always able to participate in international aid projects. For example, when NGOs held information meetings to talk to the Ethiopian Rift Valley communities about their needs, mostly men attended; the women were too busy with their household duties.
But many of the women had clear ideas about effective aid, and they were glad to have a chance to be heard. “We consistently heard that women wanted more material aid, like food and supplies,” said Oxfam America’s Gabrielle Watson, who participated in the Ethiopia listening exercise. “Women control these goods and felt that they would be more useful to their families than money, which can be spent or gambled away.”
Women and girls also wanted aid efforts that would help transform their roles in the community. “I want women to be as free and equal as men. I want the next generation to be able to support themselves,” said a 15-year-old girl. “Mothers work so hard now. If men understood, they would help out.”
What we can learn about aid
According to Oxfam America’s recent briefing paper Smart Development, "Intended beneficiaries know when they have real ownership over meaningful development processes, and when they don’t. They judge the value of aid not by how it is branded, but by how it changes their lives in real ways.”
The Listening Project provides valuable insights about what type of assistance is most and least useful for the people who receive aid, regardless of the organization behind it, and helps aid providers learn how to best meet people’s needs. In each location CDA publishes a detailed report about the team’s findings, which is shared with local and international aid agencies and donors.
Oxfam America staff who took part in the Listening Project found it to be a powerful tool for learning and reflection.
“The Listening Project gives us a broader perspective about aid, beyond just Oxfam-specific projects,” said Farr. “It really helps us take a step back and learn how we can do things most effectively.”
