Time to Listen: Hearing People on the Receiving End of International Aid by Mary B. Anderson

by Mary B. Anderson

Time to Listen represents the cumulative evidence of five years gathering evidence from people living in societies that are recipients of international aid. CDA’s Listening Project organized teams of “listeners” across 20 countries and contexts to gather the voices, insights, and lessons from people both inside and outside the aid system. This publication represents the lessons that have come forth through conversations with nearly 6,000 people. Using their words, their experiences, and their ideas, we describe why the cumulative impacts of aid have not met expectations and describe a way forward to make changes that, according to those on the receiving end, will lead to more effective results.

Paperback

First published November 1, 2012

Reviews

[Wim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for everyone involved in development aid: it puts in a very straightforward way how biased development aid works and how it could done better, through a very simple suggestion: just listen to the people.

The book does not examine why aid workers don't take the interest or the time to listen (it has a lot to do with the colonial and paternalistic origins of the aid system), but describes very well the consequences of the current aid approaches and procedures and how things can be done better.
I especially liked the part on information and communication and realized that "beneficiaries", the people whose lives aid wants to improve, never really receive the most basic information on the projects that concern them.

The book finally calls for a paradigm shift, a sort of participation revolution, on all levels of the aid machine. We are certainly not yet there.

[Maddy J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for anyone interested in international development (or anyone who donates to international development organizations). It is very straightforward and easy to understand. If you are active in the field, very little will come as a surprise, but the book is a worthy reminder of the limitations and possibilities of aid. It is especially noteworthy because the book is based on an extensive listening project and quotes at length many aid recipients which is a perspective usually lost in academic literature.