Despatches from Bond 2018

Despite the snow, the Bond Conference 2018 was opened to a packed audience at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster.  Penny Mordaunt, Secretary of State for International Development, gave the keynote speech which set the scene for her vision of development. She reaffirmed her commitment to the 0.7% of GDP contribution to international development aid but placed a greater emphasis on cooperative working with the armed forces and with corporate partners to ensure UK aid reached those that needed it most. The elephant in the room was directly addressed with new announcements on how governance over safeguarding would affect all NGOs working with DfID in the future. Mordaunt suggested that there could be an accreditation scheme to ensure safeguarding policies were being enforced within NGOs. See Mordaunt’s speech here.

In direct contrast, Vandana Shiva, environmental activist, physicist and author made a passionate plea for a paradigm shift that sees sustainability as a social commitment with true democracy as the way to achieve it. She refuted Mordaunt’s view that the armed forces were positive partners for development by stating clearly that violence had never delivered a solution.  Instead, development needs to go beyond silos in the service of communities and the earth. Displacement of people, refugees, land losses, climate change, and loss of biodiversity are the major crisis of the planet and we continue to divide issues relating to the environment and development. As GDP grows; poverty grows. Whilst the sustainable development goals are desirable, no government will meet any of the goals as they refuse to address the economic paradigm of colonialism and Capitalism. See Shiva’s speech here.

Back at the OU stand, delegates were genuinely interested and, in some cases, surprised at the extent of the OU’s engagement with international development. My colleague Dominic and I worked closely together to explain to enquirers how we research, teach and put into practice, through ID@OU projects, development that really makes a change, that addresses inequalities and is underpinned by the OU’s core mission of social justice. Visitors to the stand included long standing advocate of the OU, Sarabjaya Kumar, Teaching Fellow in Voluntary Sector Policy at UCL. Kumar spoke at the session on governance that I attended later in the day which directly addressed the current issue of safeguarding and how this can be implemented at a time when the British public demands that every penny is spent on the causes they support and not on ‘overheads’. She called for greater diversity on Boards and for more empathy within the sector, which she felt faces a crisis of legitimacy and trust.

A long but fruitful day, with plenty of food for thought to get me home through the snow. The divergence of views, the passion and commitment of those working in this sector and the goodwill displayed towards the OU reinforced my belief in international development and the work we do at the OU in this field.

Martha Knight

Staff Tutor, Development Policy and Practice