In this 6-episode podcast series (which publishes every fortnight, September to December), we share methods and approaches to locally-led development and research - developed by Christian Aid, its partners and communities living in the Global South - to improve the lives of local people. Hosted by Suzanne Fisher-Murray.

Episode #6: Decentralising research in a north-south multi-country partnership

Suzanne Fisher-Murray and Anupama Ranawana speak to Cathy Bollaert, Research and Learning lead at Christian Aid, and Talatu Aliyu, Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning Manager at Christian Aid Nigeria.

Episode notes

The Evidence for Inclusion project aimed to address knowledge inequalities in a research consortium of 9 partners led by Christian Aid and implemented by in-country partner organisations in Myanmar, Nigeria and Zimbabwe before it experienced funding cuts in 2021. How did it decentralise the research process? We’ll find out how they built a hybrid team of academics and practitioners, co- designed research together, decentralised the research budget and set up a research ethics panel by speaking to Cathy Bollaert, Research and learning lead, and Talatu Aliyu, from the Christian Aid Nigeria programme.

Want to know more?

  • The Evidence for Collaboration page on the Christian Aid website provides an overview of the project.
  • The Evidence for Inclusion website includes research reports, blogs and reflections from ECID community reporters.
  • Christian Aid’s Research Ethics guide and toolkit help NGO staff, partners and consultants to conduct research and evaluation in an ethical way. It includes toolkits in 4 languages (English, French, Spanish and Portuguese). Christian Aid, 2020.
  • Rethinking Research Collaborative. Resource materials to support fair and equitable research partnerships produced by Christian Aid and The Open University. September 2018.  

Episode #5: Methods for locally-led development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Suzanne speaks to Alicia Malouf, Israel Occupied Palestinian Territory Programme officer, and Mai Jarrar, Director of the Women’s development programme for the East Jerusalem YMCA.

Episode notes

Christian Aid in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory introduced the Participatory Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment approach, which has helped people at risk of settler violence or other violations that are a consequence of illegal Israeli settlements or blockades.

Staff at the East Jerusalem YMCA Women’s Development Programme were originally trained by Christian Aid staff in this participatory resilience approach, who are now leaders in this field. What is this approach and why has it been adopted so widely? What has been its wider impact?  

Christian Aid in IoPt also adopted an adaptive programming approach, which involves learning by trial and error, testing initial approaches and adjusting rapidly as evidence on possible avenues of change is acquired. What have they learned about the adaptive programming approach and how best to work with partners?

Suzanne speaks to Alicia Malouf, Israel Occupied Palestinian Territory Programme officer, and Mai Jarrar, Director of the Women’s development programme for the East Jerusalem YMCA, a world-wide youth charity, to get some answers. 

Want to know more?

Episode #4: Side by Side - challenging gender injustice

Suzanne speaks with Dr Nontando Hedebe, International Coordinator for the Side by Side movement, and Temitope Fashola, Christian Aid Nigeria’s country director, to find out more about Side by Side's work.

Episode notes

Side by Side is a coalition advocacy movement which aims to coordinate and mobilise people of faith (and faith actors) in Africa, and around the world, who want to see gender justice become a reality.

Local faith leaders are physically present in communities; they enjoy strong relationships of trust and have huge influence over communities. Side by Side believes that gender justice can be achieved if faith communities and faith leaders work together.

Suzanne speaks with Dr Nontando Hedebe, International Coordinator for Side by Side, (and a lay preacher and lecturer in theology), and Temitope Fashola, Christian Aid Nigeria’s country director, to find out more about the movement. They also discuss how effective such coalition advocacy movements are as a method for achieving wider change.

Want to know more?

Episode #3: Reflexive practice: what exactly is it?

What is reflexive practice? What does it mean? We speak to two Christian Aid researchers and programme managers, who led an internal Christian Aid study on race and ethnicity, about what a reflexive process meant for them personally - and about how others might find this approach useful.

Episode notes

Christian Aid's Anupama Ranawana - thematic research specialist, and Ann-Marie Agyeman - poverty and inequality strategic advisor, led an internal Christian Aid study on race and ethnicity. This week they join us to talk about what a reflexive process meant for them personally, and about how others might find this approach useful.

Want to know more?

Episode #2: Faith in the time of corona

When covid-19 began to sweep across the globe in March and April 2020, Christian Aid needed to respond. A central pillar in the immediate humanitarian response was a focus on working with local and national faith actors, including faith-based organisations and faith leaders.

Episode notes

Podcast hosts: Suzanne Fisher-Murray and Anupama Ranawana

Interviewees: Sneha Krishnan and Andrew Powell from Environment Technology and Community Health (ETCH)

Overview:  

When Covid-19 began to sweep across the globe in March and April 2020, Christian Aid needed to respond. A central pillar in the immediate humanitarian response was a focus on working with local and national faith actors, including faith-based organisations and faith leaders.

In this episode we'll find out more about Christian Aid-funded research, which aimed to understand the role of faith leaders working with communities as agents of change in Cox’s Bazaar Bangladesh, the world’s largest refugee camp.

We'll talk to Sneha Krishnan and Andrew Powell from Environment Technology and Community Health (ETCH), a consultancy firm based in India. They're consultants who carried out research for Christian Aid Bangladesh to understand the role of Faith-Based Leaders in Christian Aid's COVID-19 Response Programme with the Rohingya Refugee and host communities in Cox’s Bazar.

Some of the questions we discuss include:

  • how the Rohingya community viewed the faith leaders and their role in the pandemic? did their messages help to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on the community?
  • what broader lessons can we learn from the research?

Want to know more?

Episode #1 - Transferring power to local humanitarian responders

It’s more important than ever to transfer power to local responders. We aim to share lessons about adopting a locally-led approach to humanitarian responses by finding out about the Survivor and Community Led Response (SCLR) approach from two experts.

Episode notes

Podcast host: Suzanne Fisher-Murray

Interviewees:

We talk to Simone de Vicenz, Head of Humanitarian Programme Policy at Christian Aid, who has led much of the SCLR work for Christian Aid and who is part of Local2 global, which champions this work. We also speak with Darare Gonchesalesa from Indigenous Resource Management Organisation, based in Marsabit county, northern Kenya who has practical experience of implementing the SCLR approach.

Partner organisation links

Want to find out more about this approach?

  • Read two Christian Aid reviews of the SCLR approach after the August 2021 earthquake in Haiti: a Christian Aid review which found that people are happier when they are in the ‘driving seat’ of emergency response projects, and a Learning Review which found that the approach was viable, accountable and an effective approach that worked at scale.  
  • Read Issue 79 on localisation and local humanitarian action in the Humanitarian practice network magazine.
  • Find out more about Local to Global, which has developed the survivor and community-led crisis response approach.