PRB

This blog is the second in our series on centering youth in local development. Read the introduction to the series here and read the first blog here. 

The vocabulary we use in the development aid sector plays a fundamental role in driving change by not only shaping messaging but also ideas, perceptions, and mindsets. As I discussed in part 1 of my blog, we need to move beyond communities and local actors as we engage in localization and power shifting, and this influence is a key reason why.

By selecting certain terms, development aid actors influence how ideas are understood, adopted, and implemented. This role of vocabulary extends beyond the words themselves: It helps guide actions, priorities, and behaviors at a collective level.

By placing citizens—regardless of their role in society—at the center of our approach at PRB, we emphasize both individual and collective responsibility.

In doing so, we create spaces for policy dialogue that directly address each person as a rights-holder and stakeholder in public policies. We design tools to be accessible and adapted to individual life contexts to help citizens understand the information that shapes the decisions affecting them and that recognize them as active participants in society rather than as members of a homogeneous “community.”

By acknowledging the direct link between individuals and public policies, PRB reinforces the relevance of data, showing that every citizen has a stake in decisions grounded in facts. The presence of this connection in my work drives my enthusiasm for what I do at the organization.

We help decisionmakers adopt a people-centered perspective, focusing on individuals rather than exclusively on groups or communities. We promote equitable access to information, asserting that everyone has the right to know and understand the data behind public policies. This approach fosters broader and more informed engagement in evidence-based policies, ensuring meaningful and lasting impact. PRB’s commitment to this approach is a key factor in the success of our partnership with the Consortium for Research in Generational Economy (CREG) in West Africa.

The development aid sector should place citizens at the heart of localization.

When those of us in the development aid sector use the terms local actors, community members, and communities in place of citizens in the context of localization and power shifting, we risk undermining the profound changes these concepts aim to bring about. These collective terms group individuals under a common identity, which can weaken individuals’ responsibility and autonomy as political actors and position them as passive recipients of decisions made on behalf of the group. This is precisely what localization and power shifting want to avoid!

The word community is rarely used in the language of democratic or political participation, particularly in Francophone Africa, where the term citizen is crucial to designate individual political rights and democratic participation. By excluding citizen, localization and power-shifting initiatives risk reinforcing the notion that development is an external endeavor disconnected from individuals’ democratic rights and national political dynamics.

To achieve an authentic power shift, it is essential to adopt language that recognizes individuals as active and responsible citizens—holders of political rights and decision-making power.

This recognition anchors decision-making locally and supports real ownership of public policies.

In retaining the programmatic vocabulary of communities and local actors, aid organizations perpetuate an intervention approach that allows them to deliberately overlook the political frameworks and dynamics specific to the countries they operate in. It contributes to a segmented view of development where too few organizations strive to understand the political and programmatic interactions that genuinely shape change.

How many development aid actors take the time to grasp the complexity of power relations, national policies, and local decision-making structures that shape project success? By omitting this essential understanding, organizations risk proposing isolated solutions disconnected from the political and social realities of the populations they serve, ultimately missing the deeper transformations they seek to promote.

Our role at PRB is to help others tell their story and use data for autonomous action, to put research and knowledge at the service of local initiatives, and to prepare for a future where decisions are based on contextualized and relevant information for the needs of the population. Ultimately, this approach reflects my and PRB’s commitment to ensuring that the data we produce and share have a significant and lasting impact on public policies.

By integrating the principles of localization in our work, PRB aims to support citizens, local organizations, and local decisionmakers in their efforts to strengthen their autonomy and directly contribute to more equitable and sustainable development.