At last it can go public after a long time in the making.
A 5-year project between Monash and Oxfam, to build links between the two institutions and to particularly support the improvement of Oxfam’s services on the ground has been signed off. I will be one of the team from the Monash side of things, and I hope to be able to influence Monash to distinguish itself in actively supporting social justice and social change internationally, and particularly, to get people to ‘tell the story’ in way that crosses professional boundaries and in a way that also makes sense to the broader communtity. The commitment of a donor in substantially supporting this large project has to be applauded and I hope it attracts others to support the project as it develops.
In particular, the project will focus on the following areas
* Accountability – to develop strategy for gathering more effective feedback from communities we serve and to fix the broken feedback loops in aid more generally
* Climate change adaptation – to support community led adaptation to the impacts of climate change
* Gender equality – to address issues around culture and women’s leadership.
It will be a treat opportunity to combine theory and practice and work with people from many disciplines as well as Oxfam staff to improve international development though an interdisciplinary approach that could result in a new body of understandings and practices for university NGO cooperation. Stay tuned for many exciting details and activities. I was recently in South Africa where I had the privilege of visiting some projects on the ground, including the Hillcrest Aids Trust in Durban, where Monash students volunteer. It was a very moving occasion for me, and know that are students prepared to work with people in their final stage of life leaves me humbled. I am sure that many other thinks I will learn and document will be similarly moving, and important for people to know and be inspired by in social change and development work between a first world institution and people in great need.
For more details, see this press release
