Why Development Projects Fail: One Size Does Not Fit All

From the creator

I'm Alex Villarreal with the VOA Special English Development Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish Last week we told you about FAILFaire, an event where people talk about international development projects that failed. Many of these projects started as good ideas. Others had some level of success, but not enough to have a measurable effect on the lives of people in developing countries.A nonprofit group in New York City called MobileActive held the first FAILFaire earlier this year. MobileActive is made up of people and organizations that use technology to try to improve the lives of the poor. Katrin Verclas came up with the idea for FAILFaire as a way to help nonprofit groups improve by learning from the mistakes of others. She says: "The primary goal is to learn from failure and not to repeat the same mistakes over and over again."Katrin Verclas says there are many reasons why projects fail, but one reason tops all others. She says development projects are not "one size fits all." Yet many people try to import ideas as if they were.What they fail to consider, she says, is the desires of the local people or their cultural, economic and political differences. She says the problem for many nongovernmental organizations and other groups is simply not knowing their audience.The creator of FAILFaire says this is true not only with technology but other projects as well. Ms. Verclas hopes nonprofits in other industries and fields wi

Published 2010-10-14 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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