10 un-FAQs about international development

10 un-FAQs about international development on Prezi

Last month the founder Improve International, Susan Davis, gave a talk questions social entrepreneurs should be asking more. She names them the '10 un-FAQs about international development.' un-FAQs defined frequently asked questions that are rarely asked. Davis takes an interesting approach towards talking about sustainability and international development. The 10 un-FAQ's she listed where as follows: 

un-FAQ 1: Why do people want a safe water project?

un FAQ 2: What happened before you got there?

un FAQ 3: Are you the best organization to help?

un FAQ 4: Is the technology appropriate?

un FAQ 5: How much will it cost now and over time?

un FAQ 6: Who should pay for what?

un FAQ 7: Does your model make the best use of the investments?

un FAQ 8: Who else is working in the area?

un FAQ 9: What impacts can you expect?

un FAQ 10: What happens after you leave?

I really appreciate this article because it forces social entrepreneurs to look into the context of their projects and really assess whether or not they are making real impact. In a previous article I wrote about and author and his cynicism towards social entrepreneurship. The idea that social entrepreneurship was just a buzz word to attract fame and funding toward a person and a project. While I do believe there are people in the social entrepreneurship space who are genuine in their approach, I feel many do not even realize the implications of their projects. 

With the high failure rate of many international development oriented projects, asking questions as the early on as possible is very important. I especially like how these questions revolve around a very important, yet often ignored, theme of contextual innovation. That is creating a product or service that keep in the mind the contextual user wants and needs. As we create our venture plans I feel these are very important questions that we ask ourselves.