Development Professionals of the Future

'These Australians training to become diplomats are questioning what is their place and whether development is harmful.'

The Lab had recently co-convened the DFAT Diplomatic Academy’s Understanding International Development graduate intake course and we had a number of special guests in the room. Pacific leaders and development practitioners were inspired by what they’d seen: the next generation of diplomats and development professionals they encountered were keenly aware of their place in the world and the role development plays in the region. They described these grads as grappling deeply with what it means to be a bilateral donor amidst calls to decolonise aid, reckon with Australian Indigenous identity and the changing geopolitical landscape. A cheeky point was made that the Department might be better off if these young movers wielded a little more power.

'Development isn't just some technical skill to be taught. It's a way of thinking, a different way of looking at things.'

There was a resounding ‘hell yeah’ on this. Participants agreed that individuals engaged in social change and development support had no place operating overseas without a baseline understanding of things like locally-led development practice and the role of religion and family in the region. A deep commitment to learning languages was high on the hit list of capabilities needed as well.

But deciding who the targets for pre-deployment training are (beyond the usual suspects of Government and development organisation staff) needed some thought. Development professionals of the future do not look like those of now – they will include multinational and localised workforces, people working in the philanthropic arms of corporates and a range of other actors who don’t identify as belonging to the international development community.

It looks like there’s some exciting stuff to explore here.

'There are huge positives to bringing together different disciplines. Foreign policy is a different way of thinking and seeing the world.'

The CEOs in the room sighed and agreed that more high quality staff were always top of the wish list. But beyond that, the room wanted well-rounded individuals, diversified workforces and people with the ability to work through the interplay between development and international relations. Government was concerned about attracting high calibre individuals whilst the NGOs and implementing partners in the room were more concerned about retention.