The phenomenon of "globalisation" is a hard one to pin down. The term has come to refer to a series of interlocking trends which means different things to different people and stirs powerful emotions. Whereas some see it as a beneficial process providing opportunities for world economic development and making a significant contribution to improving people's lives, others see it as a dangerous force that increases inequality within and between nations, disempowers the weak and increases poverty.

If, as development actors, we wish to be effective and successful in achieving our mission to reduce social injustice in Africa, which of these analyses should we adopt and what are the immediate implications for our programming? Is the current direction of capitalist globalisation inevitable? If so, should organisations such as ACORD be programming to try and make it work for the poor and marginalised? Are current globalisation processes simply capitalist conspiracy systems? If so, what are the alternatives and what would be required to bring about change? Are there opportunities to be taken within the mechanisms of globalisation e.g. trade, sharing information and movement for political space?

Around 70 of ACORD's staff, management, members and allies met in Naivasha, Kenya in May this year to share their thoughts on globalisation, agree on some answers to these very questions and develop principles and strategies to create a Global Programme for ACORD. Understanding the link between globalisation and the ACORD change process is vital in defining our niche in the movement for change.

ACORD's programme teams across Africa had held preparatory workshops and submitted discussion papers to inform the debate. The papers offered insights into neo-liberalisation, capital flows, technological change and the information revolution, the tension between private and public resources, the relations north-south and the consequences of these for the poor and marginalised. Though the impacts and responses varied from country to country, there were many commonalities such as the collapse of services, destabilised economies and the loss of indigenous knowledge and languages.

Although participants arrived at the workshop with different perceptions of globalisation, it soon became very clear that everyone was experiencing its effects on their lives; the varying ability of those they worked with to sell their produce, their inability to influence their governments to provide appropriate services, the imposition of inappropriate forms of aid, the opportunities and threats afforded by improved communications technology, the links between globalisation and social exclusion within communities, the strengthening of external forces pursuing water, oil and the spread of religious fundamentalism of all sorts. In this way everyone participating in the workshop was in one way or another an expert on globalisation – even if some felt intimidated by the jargon used in discussing its various institutions.

This report does not aim to provide a session-by-session report of the workshop but rather to plot the thinking and discussion that took place and to outline the main outputs.

During the course of the workshop we moved from a very broad analysis of the implications of globalisation for Africa, first to consider what roles were appropriate for development actors of all sorts and then, more specifically, to what it all meant for ACORD and its own programming. A number of conclusions to these discussions emerged to be taken forward into the development of ACORD and its programming in the future. These were:

• To be part of a social movement

It was ageed that the cause that we seek to be part of is defined in terms of people’s rights and that we seek to be part of a social movement that is working to achieve those rights. By social movement we mean the combination of popular movements, trade unions, faith-based groups and academics as well as more formally structured community based organisations and NGOs of all sizes and origins. We recognise that the nature of any such movement is its lack of structure, its ever changing and mutating form, and its internal contradictions and conflicts. ACORD’s role is not therefore to seek to manage or create a movement but rather to model an international agency being an effective part of a movement while also delivering on its own specific organisational mission and programmes.

• To work in common cause with others to achieve development and social justice

Being an effective part of a social movement for social justice will involve using ACORD’s links across Africa and in the North, with community based organisations, NGO’s, academics, governments, donors and its members to encourage discussion and actions around a common cause for social justice. Understanding the implications of globalisation on people’s lives, the alternatives that are possible, the institutional actors involved, the meaning of social justice in different contexts and for different groups and designing the necessary activities to try and bring about changes from the local to the global levels, will be the outputs of these discussions.

We need to work with governments in Africa to help them resist or develop alternatives to implementing policies imposed on them externally that are damaging to their citizens. While NGO’s rightly challenge governments when they abuse their citizen’s rights, it is also necessary to recognise the loss of power of governments that limits their capacity to defend and promote those rights.

• To work on the causes of social injustice not just on its consequences.

If we work only on the consequences and do not start to challenge the dynamics of exclusion and exploitation that create social injustice, we risk colluding with an unjust status quo as we apply projects as sticking plasters that ignore the true nature of the problem.

• To leverage change through advocacy

By building solidarity throughout the organisation, with our partners, our allies and our donors and arming ourselves with information from the programmes, it is possible to take group action to contradict the dynamic of injustice, challenge those with the power and demand accountability.

To be effective in this area, we and those we work with need to be more policy literate with regard to phenomenon of globalisation. We will work with organisations such as MWENGO to promote economic literacy, with TWN on trade issues, CODESRIA on research programmes and with others as appropriate on such processes as the Africa and World Social Forums.

• To work on cross cutting themes that reflected some of the most important dynamics of globalisation.

The dynamics identified were:

• Gender
• Conflict
• Trade
• Livelihoods and natural resources
• AIDS
• Civil society and governance
• Social movements and alliancing

The work on civil society, governance, social movements and alliancing will underpin all our work in the different technical areas. The workshop developed principles and strategies on how we should work on each of these areas.

• To adopt activism and lobbying for change at different levels

Engaging in activism is crucial in any process to eradicate social injustice, though we recognise that it can create risks for staff, partners and the programmes. In order to work effectively in bringing about change, ACORD staff worked through their concerns about research, advocacy and activism. Activism in particular was initially seen as having a very confrontational connotation After discussion it was agreed that ACORD staff were already activists in the sense of being citizens who were engaged in promoting dialogue (rather than confrontation) based on research that sought to challenge social injustice.

• To strengthen the capacity of those on the margins of society to represent their own interests and perspectives through their own organisations that are accountable to them.

As an international agency, ACORD is clear that it speaks from its experience and does not pretend to "represent" those we work with.

• To further ACORD's identity an Africa-led international organisation

The meaning of an Africa-led international organisation was discussed in detail and the distinction from an African led international organisation made clear. To be Africa-led means that our strategic programming responses will be developed in line with and be accountable to an African agenda made by the people of Africa through the Africa Social Movement.

• To gain a better understand the dynamics of micro and macro economics

It was felt that be effective, ACORD would need a more in-depth understanding of the impact of increasing debt on developing countries, the conditionalities of PRSPs, debt relations and privatisation.

In order to define how we manage local interventions as part of an organisational global programme, a set of principles were developed that need to be finalised and operationalised.

Central to the next steps for ACORD is the definition of the organisation’s Global Programme which, together with ACORD’s identity as an Africa-led international organisation, will guide the future development of the organisation and its programming.

The overwhelming impression at the end of the workshop was that ACORD had been on a 'journey of discovery' and had reached a decisive turning point in its development - 'a point of no return' as one participant described it.

It was felt that the workshop had been extremely successful in providing ACORD with the basis for streamlining its future strategies and developing its Global Programme. It seemed clear to all that it was now inevitable for ACORD to get involved with, influence and challenge global systems and to devise new systems to deal with local/global issues in addressing injustice. The organisation's identity as an international, Africa-led organisation was strongly endorsed.

The workshop had also highlighted that so much of ACORD's history is head and heart, made up of a talented and dedicated group of people who are committed to furthering social justice with integrity and courage. ACORD's members noted the high quality of debate and strength of analysis of the staff and felt humbled by what they saw, describing it as - exciting, courageous, unique and daring. "I have never seen this happen before. Something very special is going on in ACORD," said one.

Members clearly shared our vision and values and expressed their interest in getting more involved and committed in continuing their financial support. ACORD now needs to harness this commitment, build on it and broaden the group who want to make this commitment.

Participants agreed that the challenge now, for ACORD, is to sustain the current energy, translate all this enthusiasm into reality and to take the above ideas forward in the following months to prepare ourselves for our next phase. The ideas developed at the workshop need to be taken back to the programmes and to our partners in the villages with whom we need to go through the analytical process.

Before concluding, it was agreed that ACORD would need to develop new ways of working and that staff would require support achieve ACORD's many new goals. The workshop recognised that there is much to do to make this happen, but that the ball is now in our court.

By the end of the workshop participants were both exhausted and excited by the clear and ambitious direction that ACORD was going in and committed to following up that enthusiasm without delay.

See the full PAWS report here (pdf)