ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the possibility of an alternative narrative to the current discourse of North–South collaboration for development. Here, this collaboration is defined as an (en)forced collaboration between the Global North and the Global South, where the South is forced to contend with power filtering down from the North and the relationship being enforced using Northern policy and practice, rather than Southern knowledge and capabilities. Exploring the case of civil society organizations in Pakistan, the chapter argues that locally led development is an existing alternative to such (en)forced Northern-led development in countries in the South. The chapter provides examples from four normally donor-driven social service delivery sectors: education, public health, micro-credit, and humanitarian assistance. These examples rely primarily on local philanthropic and charitable methods, as opposed to Northern-based funding. The chapter concludes that Northern donors need not force collaborations but should instead seek them out through existing initiatives.
