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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 16, 2024

Contact: Tacy Layne | info@nuruinternational.org

Washington, D.C. – Nuru is pleased to announce the release of Community-Led Development in Practice, an edited volume that brings together the expertise of more than 30 international authors who offer a diversity of perspectives, from experienced community-led development practitioners to scholars. The book intends to address the gap between the intention to center communities in international development work and what community-led initiatives look like in practice, as well as how they compare across various landscapes.

Case studies throughout the volume showcase both differences and similarities in community-led practices, while also exploring the change and transformation that these practices help cultivate.

Audiences who will be most interested in this book include funders, implementing organizations, policymakers, students, researchers, and those exploring “non-Western, non-dominant, everyday stories of change” (Routledge). The book is broken into five parts:

  • Part I: Collaboration/Working With Sub-National Governments
  • Part II: Responsiveness to Local Context
  • Part III: Participation, Inclusion and Voice/Local Knowledge and Resources
  • Part IV: Accountability/Sustainability and Exit Strategies
  • Part V: Monitoring and Evaluation/Facilitation

“Community-led development is people authoring their own stories through the actions they take, the power they own, and the knowledge they share. As peers in service and allies in lifelong learning, co-authoring this volume with longstanding colleagues has been the culmination of over a decade of partnership.” -Matt Lineal, Nuru Chief Implementation Officer

Members of the Nuru Collective co-authored chapter 13 of Part IV: Accountability/Sustainability and Exit Strategies, “Accountability in Community and Local Leadership: The Nuru Collective Approach to Uniting People through Place and Purpose.” This chapter was collaboratively developed and co-authored by Nuru Nigeria Managing Director Amy Gaman, Nuru Nigeria Leadership & Partnership Director Simon Eli, Nuru Chief Sustainability Officer Casey Harrison, Nuru Chief Implementation Officer Matt Lineal, Nuru Ethiopia Managing Director Abiy Meshesha, and Nuru Kenya Managing Director Pauline Wambeti. The chapter explores the structure of the Nuru Collective, highlighting the importance of servant leadership, local impact, and agency, while unpacking the foundational aspects of accountability baked into the Nuru model and its organizational structure.

This chapter concludes by noting, “Accountability takes root and emanates from within an organisation through its values, principles, and ethical standards that guide staff conduct and operations. A diverse array of tools and procedures ensure that accountability is transparent to both external stakeholders and internal staff. Organisations that implement community- led development,  such as Nuru, deliberately cultivate a culture of accountability in its approach to eradicating poverty […] This investment in accountability and transparency requires long-term and patient investment to unite community development aspirations into collective experience and action that meaningfully  changes lives and livelihoods.”

The Nuru Collective is excited to be included in this book and to share lessons learned and best practices utilized over the course of its 16-year history. Learn more about the Nuru model by visiting the Nuru website.

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About Nuru:

Established in 2008, Nuru is a 501(c)(3) organization and the convener of the Nuru Collective, a network of organizations with a shared vision of a world without cycles of unjust poverty, where resilience and hope are cultivated in the most marginalized communities. Through locally-led approaches, Nuru works in six countries in Africa: Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, and Nigeria.

 

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