Doing ‘Development Differently’ and Other Ideas on Localization from Dr. Moses Isooba
As Fund for Shared Insight reframes its international efforts to focus on encouraging U.S.-based funders to support locally-led development practices around the world, we turned to Dr. Moses Isooba to learn more. Dr. Isooba, a thought leader in the localization movement, is the executive director of the Uganda National NGO Forum and a member of the Re-Imagining INGOs (RINGO) Social Lab, a systems change initiative to transform global civil society. (INGO stands for international non-governmental organizations.) Among his other roles, he serves as an advisory member of the panel on locally-led development at Bond UK, a network of organizations working in international development.
Dr. Isooba spoke and answered questions during a webinar we hosted in September 2023. He explained what localization is and is not, shared sayings that got to the heart of things, and pointed us to resources, including the lessons one international nonprofit took away from its work with local partners. The following are excerpts from that discussion with Dr. Isooba and his follow-up comments, with some material reordered and edited for length and clarity.
