Ese Emerhi, Global Fund for Community Foundations (Nigeria)

The world is exhausted, and if I can borrow the words of the former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, we are all grappling with our own version of "some form of low-grade depression." In the last four years, we have gone from crisis to crisis, from desperation to despair, and all with a sense that something worse is just around the corner so we must remain steadfast and hold on. As I write this, we are four days into a new war between Israel and Palestine. And from the corner of my eye, I watch as African heads of State play chess with their military generals to hold on to even more power, fearful that another coup d'état on the continent could happen any day now. But there's hope...

The #ShiftThePower global movement and the Summit in Colombia are about the hope that exists in communities despite the odds against them. In a world where unequal power dynamics in the international development and philanthropy sector determine the futures of the marginalized, we are experiencing and seeing the many alternative possibilities there exists in reimagining a new aid system where hope, love, dignity, trust and fairness are at the centre of it. One way forward is championing community philanthropy and resilience, putting people first in driving their own development initiatives. Community philanthropy, when it embeds the principles of trust, local knowledge, relationships,  assets and contributions, has proven to be a strong and value-based alternative within development practices.

The challenge and opportunity are for all actors to support community resilience in more empowering and innovative ways. We can do this through coordinated and coherent efforts to increase investments in empowering community actors to adopt alternative funding mechanisms, resource mobilization and generation approaches. The Summit will be a space to explore and to collectively say “another way is possible.” We hope you will join us in driving this change.