The Power Shift: Decolonising Development  

I was previously invited to the Development Hub’s podcast The Power Shift: Decolonising Development where I shared highlights and challenges from Womankind’s journey to date on anti-racism and decolonisation. It was a great opportunity to reflect on our anti-racism pledge two years on thinking about our learning along the journey. 

Our commitment to an anti-racism pledge was inspired by the global anti-racism movement following the tragic killing of George Floyd in 2020.  As an organisation, we are deliberate on moving from paper to action by daring to confront our own structures, mindset, and blind spots in tackling racism in all its forms. While we realise that this is a challenging journey, we are keen on embracing uncomfortable truths, having difficult conversations, and acknowledging our weaknesses as we forge on. 

How’s our progress been so far?

Co-creation has been key in the execution of our anti-racism pledge together with staff, partners, and trustees. We have strived to ensure that the pledge is owned by everyone and captures our shared aspirations and vision. Tracking progress on a quarterly basis is central to measuring how we are meeting our goals whilst also adjusting our plans where necessary. We do this deliberately with our staff and board. 

The road to structural change is not a journey we can walk alone. We are working with experts, organisations and individuals who specialise in anti-racism and decolonisation, together navigating historical practices to dismantle racism. A deliberate shift in culture is the unseen benefit that will trigger the biggest changes in systems and processes. This however requires constant learning and as a feminist organisation we have rolled out regular sessions to unpack topics around colonialism, racism, and solidarity with the movement. 

We have also institutionalised the anti-racism pledge. This includes structural change across the organisation from HR, fundraising, communications, advocacy, and programming to be reflective of our commitment and put it into practice.   

A hard look in the mirror

Challenging racism requires a hard look in the mirror with the realisation that meaningful change is slow and progressive and will not take place overnight. Implementing our anti-racism pledge has also had its fair share of challenges, but we are also determined to learn and share this knowledge with like-minded individuals and organisations. 

First, the difficult appreciation that the speed of change can be too slow. We have had to remind ourselves that transformational change takes time and requires a lot of resilience. 

Secondly, time is essential and should be planned for to review, change, and test as we juggle this with existing priorities. Time can easily be overlooked as a factor in living up to our promise especially in engaging our partners as we implement change. 

Thirdly, organisational change is personal – we have had difficult conversations whilst creating a safe space where people can move from discomfort to collective change. 

Lastly, we are embracing learning from our failures. We often question the language we use and reflect on the processes we are implementing. 

‘’It is my hope that in sharing these experiences we will encourage our friends and allies to be bold in sharing their journey in challenging racism and decolonising all our practices and ways of thinking.’’ 

You can listen in to Disha’s conversation on Spotify with Kate Bird and her co-host Charmaine McCaulay from the Development Hub UK.