Partnerships between individuals and organisations in the Global North and Global South have become common practice in the humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding sectors. They aim to address critiques of international aid and development approaches by increasing local participation and ownership, and improving development outcomes.

Despite ongoing reform processes emphasising improved and equitable partnerships, many approaches still reflect neo-colonial hierarchies, undermining the value and dignity of local partners. More recent efforts to reform the sectors, including the Grand Bargain agreement, the ‘localisation’ agenda and the ‘ShiftThePower’ movement, have focused on the power imbalances between Global North donors, INGOs and intermediaries, and indigenous civil society actors in the Global South. In some parts of the sector, this has led to calls to decolonise international aid and development, and build more equitable partnerships.

In the second half of 2022, Peace Direct convened a global online consultation to discuss the issue of inequitable partnerships and how to decolonise them. Over 200 participants from 70 countries and across the humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding sectors took part in the consultation and follow-up interviews