This is the Work: Applying anti-racist & decolonial approaches to policy and advocacy in development

Today, Tuesday 29 October, Bond in collaboration with Peace Direct and The Advocacy Team, has released research identifying the barriers preventing the international development and peacebuilding sector from applying anti-racist and decolonial approaches to policy and advocacy. Alongside this, they have provided a set of resources to help policy and advocacy staff adopt and advocate for these approaches more effectively.

From late 2023 to early 2024, Bond, Peace Direct, and The Advocacy Team engaged with UK NGO policy staff, organisations from the diaspora and lower-middle-income countries and UK policymakers to explore how UK advocacy in international development can adopt a decolonial and anti-racist approach, as well as to find out the barriers preventing them from doing so. Based on these insights, Bond, Peace Direct, and The Advocacy Team have together produced a summary of the findings and developed a set of resources to help the sector more effectively integrate an anti-racist and decolonial lens into policy and advocacy work.

While 67% of UK policy and advocacy staff surveyed believe their organisations are addressing historical and unequal power dynamics and feel equipped to apply these approaches, 53% reported pushback from peers when raising these issues.

The common challenges identified by UK policy and advocacy staff in implementing anti-racist and decolonial approaches include:

Internal resistance and buy-in: Difficulty securing support from colleagues and senior management to adopt these approaches within their organisations, with reluctance to address internal racism and power dynamics.
Political constraints and fear of backlash: There is hesitation to discuss these issues with policymakers from different ends of the political spectrum out of fear of being labelled as too activist or risking relationships with government stakeholders.
External pressures and priorities: Conflicting priorities, funding restraints and a focus on immediate needs over long-term transformative change.
Communication: Challenges in finding appropriate language for stakeholders while maintaining anti-racist and decolonial principles.
Capacity and resources: Limited time and funding hinder efforts, highlighting the need for dedicated resources to support this work.

UK policy and advocacy staff called for improved sector-wide coordination on this work, improved networks and support structures for individuals and organisations to share experiences, greater engagement from leadership to engage in discussions and demonstrate a commitment to allyship, financial support for initiatives aimed at learning about and implementing anti-racist, decolonial approaches and practices and a deeper acknowledgment and addressing of the UK’s colonial legacy.

Interviews with policy and advocacy staff from diaspora and lower-middle-income communities revealed feelings of a general failure by UK colleagues and policymakers to address how colonialism, slavery, and occupation shape current policies. They urge UK NGOs to address structural racism, challenge unequal power dynamics – particularly within the UK civil service – and support community-led initiatives for change. They also stressed involving affected communities in high-level discussions and challenging the government on these issues.

UK policymakers agreed on the need to reassess how NGOs in high-income countries operate and focus on long-term, practical changes from the decolonial agenda. They called on the sector to push Ministers to listen, learn, and treat lower-middle-income country counterparts as equals.

Following the research, Bond has created a definitions document and FAQs glossary to help policy and advocacy staff respond to common challenges against adopting anti-racist and decolonial approaches. This tool provides ideas for policy and advocacy staff to respond to ‘pushback’ when trying to challenge the status-quo. This will be a living document, inviting contributions on arguments to support anti-racist and decolonial policies and frameworks.

Lena Bheeroo, Anti-racism and Equity Manager at Bond said:

This is the work has been intentionally co-created with Peace Direct and the Advocacy Team to transform and support those working in policy and advocacy, highlighting why a changed approach is crucial for improving how we do our jobs. One that is not a checkbox exercise, but rather a foundational change, to encourage effective outcomes.

While slowing down may feel counter-intuitive to our usual ways of working, it is necessary for collective reflection and to build a shared understanding of why an anti-racist and decolonial approach is important to how we influence. This work provides insights, support, and practical steps to help us, starting within our own teams, to collectively address the roots of systemic racism and move towards a more just and equitable sector for all.

Kit Dorey, Policy and Advocacy Manager at Peace Direct said:

At Peace Direct we know fundamental change is needed to the way international development is thought of and delivered by donor countries like the UK. Policy and advocacy teams in international charities have a lot of potential influence on powerholders and their own leadership, but too often, they are disengaged, face other barriers, or do not know what to do. Peace Direct is glad to have worked with Bond and the Advocacy Team on these new resources that can unlock progress towards a truly decolonised and anti-racist international development sector, based on solidarity not charity.

Tom Baker, Director of Politics, Participation and Campaigns, at Save the Children UK said:

Many of our organisations are working to implement the commitments that we’ve made to shift power in our work – but there has been less focus on what means for advocacy and influencing work. That’s why these resources are invaluable as a starting point for leaders in advocacy and campaigns departments to think about how this vital work can be done. I’m excited to get using them with my team.

Lorriann Robinson, Director and Founder of the Advocacy Team said:

These resources were designed for and with policy and advocacy staff to provide practical guidance on how they can apply equity/anti-racist/decolonial frameworks to their work. We hope these resources will not gather dust on virtual shelves, but instead provide a springboard from which advocates can begin to put principles into practice. The Advocacy Team is thankful to Bond and Peace Direct for initiating this process and for thought partnership and support, throughout.

ENDS.

Notes for editors

This is the Work was designed with and for people working in policy and advocacy and staff working in INGOs which includes policy staff, public affairs staff, campaigners, researchers and leaders. It is intended to apply to people working in every position, from leadership to entry level.
Read the survey findings.
Read the FAQs and definitions document.
Today, Tuesday 29th October, at 1pm GMT Bond will host a webinar exploring how NGOs can mainstream these resources in their work. Read more information online.
Bond is the UK network for organisations working in international development. Bond unites and supports a diverse network of over 350 civil society organisations from across the UK, and allies to help eradicate global poverty, inequality and injustice.
Peace Direct is a UK and US-based international NGO that has supported local peacebuilders in some of the most challenging conflict environments worldwide since 2004. We believe local people are the experts in the conflicts that affect their communities, and only they understand what it takes to build peace that lasts.
The Advocacy Team provides services for people and organisations working for a just world. Through our public affairs, consultancy, policy research support and training offer, we help our clients to execute creative and impactful campaigns. Equity is at the heart of our work; a verb that guides every element of our mission – from the causes we fight for, to the way we do business.
For further information or interviews please contact Jess Salter at [email protected] or call 07392972411.