Who is it really benefiting? by Maria Teresa Roca de Togores

I want to talk about two comments that I have heard today at very different stages of the day, but which, upon reflection, are completely related and deserve some attention if we want to be as accurate as possible in the task of assisting women issues and advocating for their development.

The first was the moment this morning when a member of an indigenous community in Mexico came up to the microphone to make some comments on sustainable urbanization. I was struck by her courage to raise her voice although she did not speak English. Her words were very powerful because she very bluntly pointed out the differences in perception that arise between the NGOs acting in a specific area, and the actual population that lives there. On a side note, I found it slightly sad to feel a generalized condescendence in the room simply because of the language barrier.

The second comment came up during dinner tonight. I was inspired to tackle the thought of cultural understanding and sustainable development after hearing our own Mbasireh Saidybah’s comment about the need to include – and actually further empower – the women who are directly related to these issue areas into the sustainable development conversation, rather than giving that task to western activists who may have a more theoretic approach to the matter.

This is indeed a very important point, and it made me think yet another time of a comment that I constantly make when I have conversation about cultural understanding. Although I fully support humanitarian initiatives to assist populations in developing countries – especially regarding women and children issues – I have observed in many of my readings and classes, that western organizations often lack precisely the understanding that would make a difference. They land in a country with a genuine intention to help, but bring the wrong approach because they are built in a western mindset.