The development charity ActionAid has announced a significant shift in its approach, moving away from traditional child sponsorship schemes as part of a broader initiative to 'decolonise' its work. This decision has sparked a vigorous debate among supporters, researchers, and development professionals about the colonial legacy embedded in international aid practices.
Research Reveals Local Unease in Tanzania
Recent research conducted in Tanzania has revealed that local staff working with international NGOs have long felt uneasy with the core premise of child sponsorship programmes. These schemes, which often feature photographs of children from disadvantaged backgrounds, have been criticised for representing what some describe as 'poverty porn' – exploiting images of poverty to generate donor sympathy and funding.
The research indicates that while local staff recognised the problematic nature of these programmes, they often faced pressure from higher up the organisational chain to maintain them. This was frequently a pragmatic decision, as sponsorship schemes provided a crucial source of unrestricted funding that enabled other important advocacy work that project-based funding couldn't always support.
Fractured Relationships and Community Tensions
Relations between NGO staff and families with sponsored children could become particularly fraught, according to development researchers. The difficult task of managing these tensions often fell to unsalaried community volunteers, creating what has been described as 'thankless and endless work' that placed additional burdens on local communities already facing significant challenges.
Kathy Dodworth, a research fellow at King's College London, notes that these sponsorship schemes 'reify the community in ways that don't work for those who sign up for them.' The programmes often created artificial relationships between donors and recipients that didn't reflect the complex realities of community development work.
Innovative Alternatives Emerging
Recent approaches to international development have begun to innovate less colonial-like models. Organisations like GiveDirectly have pioneered programmes where money is given directly to people without conditions or agendas, allowing recipients to invest in their futures according to their own priorities.
These new models eliminate requirements for sponsored individuals to exchange letters or photographs with donors, removing what critics describe as transactional and paternalistic elements of traditional sponsorship. While not without their own challenges, such approaches represent what development experts consider a considerable improvement over previous models.
Supporters Defend Their Contributions
The announcement has drawn strong reactions from longstanding ActionAid supporters. Christine Marshall from Barney, Norfolk, expressed astonishment at what she described as 'vituperative coverage' of the charity's change in direction and the 'sudden pejorative dismissal' of its child sponsorship programme.
'Through its scheme, I have proudly sponsored community development, children and women's education, and their welfare and livelihood skills development,' Marshall stated. She emphasised that her support had always been shaped by community needs and voices, and she had never been asked by the charity to 'choose' a child from a photograph.
The Complex Reality of Development Funding
The debate highlights the complex reality facing international development organisations. While critics argue that governments should fund education, state welfare systems, and healthcare, the practical reality in many developing countries is that such comprehensive state funding doesn't exist.
This creates a difficult balancing act for charities like ActionAid, which must navigate between addressing immediate needs through available funding mechanisms while working toward more equitable, long-term solutions that don't perpetuate colonial dynamics.
The discussion raises fundamental questions about whether efforts to improve lives globally are inherently paternalistic when they come from international organisations based in wealthier nations. As ActionAid's co-chief executive Taahra Ghazi has noted, traditional sponsorship models carry 'racialised, paternalistic undertones' that need addressing.
Looking Toward a New Model of Support
As the development sector continues to evolve, the conversation around ActionAid's shift reflects broader movements within international aid. The challenge remains how to maintain vital funding streams while creating more equitable relationships between donors and recipients.
Some supporters suggest that better communication and participatory engagement with donors might help bridge the gap between traditional approaches and new models. The dream of creating genuine 'community sisterhoods' of support, while ambitious, points toward a future where international development might operate on more genuinely collaborative terms.
