Despite so many examples, contemporary and historical, of how communities successfully nurture and (re)build themselves, the real power of community agency often remains invisible and unsupported in our international system. International actors speak about the principles of “local ownership” frequently, but we have yet to follow our words with our actions, especially when those are expressed through our programming. Creating the spaces for real ownership, whether in a village or across a country, takes longer, but it is the only way real community transformation can take root.
