Friday April 22, 2011

Director's Note

Dear Friends,

As you know, for the past few years we have had the opportunity to learn from you how Do No Harm is used. We have learned about how you work with Do No Harm, adapt Do No Harm, build with Do No Harm, and think Do No Harm. We have been inspired and humbled by the good work we have seen. We have been challenged and pushed by the creativity we have witnessed. You have encouraged us in our own practice.

Above all, we are struck by the maturity of Do No Harm as a solid, dependable, yet flexible framework. When used regularly, it really does help provide insight which translates into better practice. DNH can be used as a formal tool or the basis for a formal workshop. It can be a mindset and a lens, something that colors everything we see. It can be mixed into other tools to provide depth and imagination.

This maturity is highlighted in another way as well. This year several organizations are reviewing their use of and understanding of the concepts and tools they support. Several donors are reaffirming their commitment to conflict sensitivity. Several multi-lateral organizations are incorporating Do No Harm language.

This is the year Do No Harm prepares to go mainstream. There is a momentum around these ideas today.

How will we support this momentum? Look for several brief publications from CDA over the next months. We want to share the thoughtfulness and creativity you have shown. The learning from the Reflective Case Studies will be distilled and broadcast. We will begin preparing the next book, which will help organizations to take their next giant steps. And we are fascinated to see what those will be.

How will you maintain - and build on - the current global momentum?

Tell us and we will support you, just as you have supported us for all these years.

Peace,

Marshall 

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New Publications

Ten Lessons from the Reflective CasesThe DNH team has begun to analyze the lessons that have come out of the Reflective cases and produced a list of the 10 lessons we feel are the most compelling and significant findings from these cases. 

The Six Lessons from the Do No Harm Project With new lessons from the reflective cases and the new framework in mind, we then revised and condensed the original 7 Lessons. They are now framed as "6 Lessons" and contain updated language. 

The ABCs of Assistance: Actions, Behaviors and their Consequences Resource Transfers and Implicit Ethical Messages have been condensed into one lesson and renamed Actions and Behaviors respectively.  Our new Issue Paper, The ABCs of Assistance: Actions, Behaviors and their Consequences explains this transformation.

Training Case: Rural Development International A training case study about the fictitious NGO "Rural Development International". This case was written several years ago, but now includes a new and redesigned map to accompany the case!

Aid in Abyei A short paper discussing the context and challenges of providing assistance in Abyei, Sudan. (2009)

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Videos you don't want to miss!

How (Not) to Change the World Mulago Foundation Director Kevin Star gave this talk at last year's PopTech Conference about the importance of measuring impact and how to measure it well.

This is another great PopTech video with background on the use and impact of Ushahidi in Haiti after the earthquake.

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Recent and Upcoming Events

Two Day DNH Workshop in Chad A DNH workshop organized and hosted by Intermon Oxfam (IO) took place in N'Djamena, Chad, on December 14th and 15th, 2010. Winifred Fitzgerald, a consultant who has worked with CDA for several years, facilitated the training of approximately 40 participants representing 30 organizations (Chadian NGOs and associations as well as international agencies). This was the first exposure to DNH for many participants and they felt it was very relevant for the Chadian context and expressed a keen interest in wanting to learn more about it and to apply it to their programmes.

Two Hour DNH workshop for students Hosted by Millennium Campus Network at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Marshall and Candice presented the DNH framework to a group of undergraduates from a number of Boston-based colleges who are all involved in student organized international development projects within their universities.

Upcoming Training at Brandeis University This one day training will be given to students at the Brandeis Heller School for Social Policy and Management

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Thanks!

Thanks for taking the time to read our newsletter! If you have any stories, comments or questions to share with the DNH team, please don't hesitate to send us an email.

Take care,

Candice, Nicole, and Marshall

(This photo was taken just down the street from the CDA office outside the Harvard Square train station in Cambridge, Massachusetts)

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