There is a need to reimagine the global development ecosystem. This has largely been the consensus for the last few years, with most INGOs and international donors trying to work towards rectifying the mistakes of a neocolonial Global North-led system. But are these discourses and approaches the right ones? Are they being led by the right people? Are they favourable to those whose development futures have been dominated by former Western colonial powers?
Themrise Khan breaks down the gaps in the current discussions on reimagining or transforming global development and the role of INGOs to envision a system that includes the end of aid and the current role of INGOs in perpetuating post-colonial notions of power and dominance over the marginalized and under-privileged in the Global South.
The event included a Q&A segment for audience participation.
About the speaker
Themrise Khan is an independent development professional and researcher with almost 30 years of practitioner and policy-based experience in international development, aid effectiveness, gender, and global migration. She has worked with a vast spectrum of multilateral and bilateral organizations, INGOs and civil society organizations primarily in Pakistan, but also Canada and South Asia. She has a number of publications and articles on aid, humanitarianism and development to her credit. She is co-editor of the book White Saviorism in International Development: Theories, Practices and Lived Experiences (Daraja Press, Canada, 2023). She writes and speaks frequently on notions of national autonomy, North-South power imbalances in development, race relations and immigrant citizenship and integration and migrant and refugee rights. She lives in Pakistan.
