Global Communities And The New World Around Us
A few months ago, at CHF International, we were faced with a question that would have major consequences for us: do we change our name? At that time, I saw a discussion in Arabic on our Facebook page. Amid the Arabic floated three letters “CHF”, then three unsettling words: “Congestive Heart Failure.” Finally, in a response, I saw “Cooperative Housing Foundation.” I took it to a member of our staff who speaks Arabic, who explained to me that it was a serious discussion between a Palestinian doctor and another of our supporters. In the medical world “CHF” stands for “Congestive Heart Failure.” At that moment, any doubts about the name change evaporated.
But a name-change was the last thing we considered as part of our branding process. We began examining our brand because of the changes in the world around us. Just before the New Year, the London-based Center for Economics and Business Research announced that Brazil had overtaken the United Kingdom as the world’s sixth largest economy. Furthermore, it predicted that by 2020, India and Russia will also have overtaken all the European economic powers. All of these newcomers to the G8 give aid to developing countries even though some still receive substantial international aid themselves. This apparent schizophrenia is the symbol of the emerging new world order – a world of multi-polar powers, where half of the G8 still have significant poverty within their borders. Outside of the well-publicized BRIC countries, in the next 10 years, 7 of the fastest growing economies are expected to be in Africa.
NGOs are increasingly working in countries with economically diverse populations. This makes for a new and challenging environment. We increasingly work alongside the private sector, not from the standpoint of corporate social responsibility as window-dressing for an annual report, but in maturing markets where those who were formerly “beneficiaries” are now “consumers”. We work alongside stronger governments, building the capacity of their ministries and the country’s civil society organizations to operate with self-sufficiency. We are increasingly facilitators rather than implementers, trainers rather than builders, and old paternalistic attitudes in aid have had to be replaced by partnerships based on equality and shared responsibility. In many ways, this is the world we have been seeking to build; and, yet, there is plenty more to be done. All of us who work in the development community must ask ourselves about our role in this changing world and how our organizations can bring our skills, scale and experience to help it become an equitable and fairer world.
We also began our branding process because of changes inside our organization. Between 1952 and 1982 the Cooperative Housing Foundation built 60,000 houses in 35 states of the USA. But, in the last decade alone, we have grown to have the largest network of microfinance institutions in the Middle East; we have won awards for climate change adaptation and working with LGBT communities in Honduras; and we have pioneered new responses to urban disasters in Haiti and youth leadership programs in the West Bank. “CHF International” does not tell you that. Nor does it tell you that the uniting feature of our approach for 60 years has been putting the community at the center of the work we do – not working for the community, but with them. It is our core belief that if the community has ownership of the project then it will be sustainable. Our work is about partnership between communities, governments, private sector and putting power into the hands of the people who know their needs best, making them the most vital voice in their affairs. This partnership-based approach, where we facilitate the enduring relationships needed to make long term, real and positive change – this is what we do and what we believe in. And we believe that it matters just as much now as it did in 1952 when we began building houses for low-income Americans.
So we’ve chosen a name that reflects exactly that. We are Global Communities, Partners for Good.
David Humphries is the Director of Global Communications for Global Communities.
Global Communities is an international nonprofit organization that works closely with communities worldwide to bring about sustainable changes that improve the lives and livelihoods of the vulnerable. Learn more at www.global-communities.org.
