To address increasingly complex needs and solve pressing challenges for which single agency solutions seem largely inadequate, new forms of multi-stakeholder collaboration are emerging across the globe. Do they live up to expectations? Are the inevitable transaction costs involved in managing diverse (and sometimes divergent) interests worth it? Does such collaboration lead to bold steps forward or to settling for the lowest common denominator?
The Association has been working for the past few months with the Consortium of British Humanitarian Agencies (recently re-named START Network) which comprises 18 lead agencies working in the humanitarian sector who have evolved a collaborative way of working that both designs and delivers interventions and seeks to challenge and change the way the sector works for the better. We have worked with the Board and with the staff team (operating, essentially, as partnership brokers) to deepen understanding of what it takes to collaborate productively.
‘Dealing with Paradox – Stories and Lessons from the first three years of Consortium-building’ is an output from this work. It tells the story of Consortium, from its earliest moments (conversations in a pub) through a highly successful period of ‘joined up’ aid in response to the Pakistan floods and the drought in the Horn of Africa followed by a funding crisis and how the group has subsequently worked systematically (and sometimes unsystematically) to build (and re-brand) the collaboration into a bold new global venture.
“If we can hold together no matter what comes next, we can really have huge influence on the global humanitarian architecture and make a serious difference to how aid is delivered in future.”
Nick Gutmann, Chair, START Network
It’s a good read and has, we hope, genuine insights and lessons for others involved in this kind of venture. This is a ‘work in progress’ – watch this space for a regular (6-monthly) up-date and let us have your views on what you read.
To read an experienced humanitarian professionals blog on the piece click here
To read more publications by the Association, please click here
For more information on START Network please click here