Localizing a Development Project in the Context of Aid-Dependent Hierarchy: Learning from a Global Collaboration in Cambodia for Climate Change Adaptation

As local inclusion and participation have become central themes of development in the name of global justice, the role of local actors’ agencies cannot be overexaggerated. They are also called ‘translators’ or ‘intermediaries,’ linking local, regional, national, and global levels. The roles of these intermediary agents are often taken up by NGOs/CSOs and/or by a group of people from the communities concerned, such as Village Committees. While the importance of local agencies has been well-documented in the literature, what we mean by referring to ‘the locals' remains unclear. They are often unspecified, especially in aid activities, which often occur at crossroads with different levels of actors or stakeholders.

This study is based on the author’s three-year research project in Cambodia. This global research collaboration measured climate-driven disaster (flood) resilience across three selected villages, where Habitat Cambodia implemented an aid-supported climate change adaptation project. The current study delivers the author’s personal reflections and discusses what she has noted and learned from an angle of ‘localization.’ How are the meanings and claims of the validity of global norms (here, referring to local inclusion and participation) negotiated in the local context? What kinds of strategies do international development experts use to embed their agendas locally, and how do local actors react to these interventions? To what extent do local actors succeed in modifying these agendas if applicable? The insights discussed here are from multi-source data collected during the three years of the research; the data itself include internal documents, field observations, expert and key informants’ interviews, and focused group discussions with local villagers. Findings and discussions are expected to provide practical lessons to help global development projects be more locally accepted, if not locally led at all.