From development to dignity: a profound challenge for international cooperation

openDemocracy "Some people just don’t want to develop.” During my years of work in international development I’ve heard this view expressed, implicitly or explicitly, by frustrated practitioners. It sounds bizarre, and demonstrates a monumental lack of empathy, but funnily enough it can often be right. Many communities don’t want to ‘develop’ according to someone else’s definition of that word.

People don’t want pity, they want respect. Why not put that challenge at the heart of decision-making?" (Photo: UN Women/flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

• www.opendemocracy.net