A Dialogue on the Future of Development Cooperation
Beyond Budget Cuts: From Lived Experience to Shared Roadmaps
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Beyond Budget Cuts: From Lived Experience to Shared Roadmaps
On 23 October 2025, Vice Versa Global — in partnership with the University of Nairobi’s Institute for Development Studies (IDS), Radboud University, Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF) and Impact Kenya — convened a diverse group of practitioners, researchers, and community actors for a timely and provocative dialogue on the shifting landscape of international development cooperation.
With development budgets shrinking across the globe and geopolitical priorities reshaping long-standing relationships, the convening explored one central question:
How are these global shifts being felt on the ground, and what new pathways can we collectively craft in response?
A Space for Listening, Interpretation, and Shared Meaning
The session combined short framing keynotes with participatory mapping, open dialogue, and a “citizen-based sense-making” approach. Participants shared lived realities from different sectors including community philanthropy, health systems, climate justice, youth organising, academia, and local development organisations.
The conversations revealed:
• The real impact of budget cuts
Organisations are facing reduced funding cycles, stalled programmes, and increased competition for shrinking resources — creating pressure, uncertainty, and organisational fatigue.
• Deepening power asymmetries
Participants noted that while the funding landscape shifts, decision-making power remains highly centralised in the Global North, often distancing lived realities from agenda-setting processes.
• Creativity, resilience, and adaptation
Despite the challenges, many groups are experimenting with new models: community-anchored resourcing, translocal solidarity networks, data commons, collaborative governance, and locally driven accountability mechanisms.
• A call for new ways of working
Discussions pointed toward the need to rethink partnership structures, revise incentive systems, and expand what “evidence” and “expertise” look like in development practice.
About the Paper
The report synthesises insights shared during the dialogue and the accompanying participant survey. It reflects the range of experiences, tensions and opportunities articulated in the room—while recognising that no single narrative can capture the diversity of realities across sectors and contexts.
DISCLAIMER
This paper presents a synthesis of insights shared by participants through the survey and during the dialogues. The individuals and organisations who contributed represent diverse contexts, sectors, and experiences. While every effort has been made to capture the range of perspectives expressed, not every statement reflects the views or realities of all participants. The findings and quotes included aim to illustrate key themes and patterns that emerged across the discussions, rather than provide a comprehensive account of each participant’s experience.
Why This Matters Now
As global systems shift, the future of development cooperation may depend on our ability to:
build locally grounded and globally connected knowledge networks
centre lived experience as a legitimate source of insight
surface “weak signals” that point toward emerging futures
create shared roadmaps that extend beyond institutional boundaries
imagine new funding, governance, and partnership models that re-balance power
This convening — and the paper that has emerged from it — aims to contribute to a broader, global conversation about re-imagining development from the ground up.
Click the button below to download The Publication Re-imagining Development Cooperation Paper.
About the Partners
Vice Versa Global – journalism for Social Change
University of Nairobi – Institute for Development Studies (IDS)
Together, these organisations are committed to deepening dialogue, strengthening knowledge exchange, and amplifying frontline perspectives shaping the future of development cooperation.
