Degan Ali

Last updated
Degan Ali
Born
Somalia
NationalitySomali
American
Employer Adeso
Organization Network for Empowered Aid Response
Parent

Degan Ali is the Somali-American [1] humanitarian consultant and the executive director of Adeso. [2]

Contents

She is best known for her critique of power dynamics in the humanitarian aid system and promotion of cash assistance.

Early life and education

Born in Somalia to mother Fatima Jibrell and a father who was a Somali military officer and diplomat, her family moved to Washington when Degan Ali was nine years old. [2] [3] Her family lived in Chicago where she attended school and university. [3]

Career and advocacy

Ali was employed by the United Nations and deployed to Somalia before she resigned in disillusionment. [2] After initially working as the Vice Director, [4] she became Executive Director of Adeso (African Development Solutions) [5] where she has been at the forefront of advocacy efforts to provide more funding to local humanitarian organizations, [3] [6] [7] and to use more cash assistance. [8]

After speaking about the lack of localisation at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit, Ali became the founder of the Network for Empowered Aid Response. [2] [9] She has called for local organizations to take power, rather than wait for it to be given to them. [10] [11]

In 2020, she spoke to The New Humanitarian and was critical of the failures to implement the Grand Bargain. [12]

In 2021, at the Global Steering Group Impact Summit she warned of colonial attitudes and how they influence international aid spending. [13]

Ali runs DA Consulting, which created a framework to help international aid agencies to decolonise and switch away from service delivery towards advocacy and solidarity with local aid agencies. [14]

Selected publications

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ Fiegl, Amanda (2014-11-26). "A Somali Aid Worker Would Rather Give Out Cash Than Free Food". NPR. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  2. 1 2 3 4 The Editorial Board (2021-02-13). "Opinion | Foreign Aid Is Having a Reckoning". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  3. 1 2 3 Wall, Imogen (2016-03-21). "'We are demanding change': the Somali woman taking on international NGOs". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  4. ↑ Rooney, F. (2007). Exceptional Women Environmentalists. Canada: Second Story Press.
  5. ↑ "Degan Ali announced as Oceania Connect opening keynote speaker". ACFID. 2020-10-09. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
  6. ↑ "Does Africa need foreign aid?". The New Times | Rwanda. 2021-02-21. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  7. ↑ "10 of the best humanitarians to follow on social media". the Guardian. 2016-04-18. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  8. ↑ "Degan Ali". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
  9. ↑ "NGOs: bridging the North South divide". The New Humanitarian. 2015-06-08. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  10. ↑ Doane, Deborah (10 Dec 2019). "Are INGOs ready to give up power?". openDemocracy. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
  11. ↑ Houghton, Irũngũ (10 Oct 2016). "Five disempowering traits that international NGOs must drop". openDemocracy. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
  12. ↑ "Le mouvement Black Lives Matter contraint les ONG humanitaires à un examen de conscience". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
  13. ↑ "Sir Ronald Cohen: Victory is in sight!". www.pioneerspost.com. 2021-10-06. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  14. ↑ Aly, Heba (2022-08-12). "Ten efforts to decolonise aid". The New Humanitarian. Retrieved 2022-11-13.
  15. ↑ Maxwell, Daniel; Fitzpatrick, Merry (2012-12-01). "The 2011 Somalia famine: Context, causes, and complications". Global Food Security. Special Issue on the Somalia Famine of 2011-2012. 1 (1): 5–12. doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2012.07.002. ISSN   2211-9124.
  16. ↑ Coughlan de Perez, E.; van den Hurk, B.; van Aalst, M. K.; Jongman, B.; Klose, T.; Suarez, P. (2015-04-23). "Forecast-based financing: an approach for catalyzing humanitarian action based on extreme weather and climate forecasts". Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 15 (4): 895–904. Bibcode:2015NHESS..15..895C. doi: 10.5194/nhess-15-895-2015 . ISSN   1561-8633.
  17. ↑ Nor, Mohamed Ibrahim. "Do the global oil price shocks affect Somalia's unregulated exchange rate volatility?." (2018). APA
  18. ↑ Grosh, Margaret, et al. For protection and promotion: The design and implementation of effective safety nets. World Bank Publications, 2008.
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