Promises and Challenges of International Development in the Digital Age symposium, April 15, 2024

On April 15, 2024, the Center, Outreach International, and Unbound.org co-organized a symposium of regional international Non-Governmental Organizations (iNGOs) to explore “Promises & Challenges of International Development in the Digital Age” on the KU campus.  The 9 iNGO participants included Unbound, Outreach, Water.org, Heifer International, Heart to Heart International, Children International, the Fundación Paraguaya, Clinic in a Can, and EOS International. These organizations, based in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Minnesota, serve hundreds of millions of disadvantaged and impoverished people internationally and have operating budgets totaling over $2 billion, and yet they had never united to collaborate in the same venue. All were thrilled to meet rather than compete and hear what new digital apps and techniques they are using, such as Poverty Spotlight, which allows poor participants worldwide to express their material and psychological needs any time for iNGOs to address. The featured speakers were Dr. Martín Burt, the founder of Fundación Paraguaya and Poverty Spotlight and winner of 19 international awards, and Ben Wood, the Managing Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning, and Systems for Heifer International. The symposium was so productive that the organizations would like to make this a regular event. With the help of our student workers, David Martínez and Kae Santamaria-Sosa, we are currently finishing the upload of the individual talks to YouTube.