Built by the South: A New Architecture for Development Finance
About the session
For years, the development and climate sectors have talked about getting more funding directly to local organisations and communities. Yet much of the infrastructure that determines how money moves, who is considered trustworthy and what counts as acceptable risk is still designed far from the people it is intended to serve.
What if we rewired the system itself?
Across the Global South, new and existing funding infrastructure is showing what that could look like: community and socio-environmental justice funds, locally led risk financing, new standards and platforms, and models that enable communities to co-invest in development on their own terms. These approaches don't simply change the final recipient of funding. They shift who makes decisions, defines risk and holds power.
This session will explore what it takes to move from isolated examples to a funding architecture built from and for the Global South. How do we strengthen the institutions already moving resources effectively? What needs to change in the risk frameworks and assumptions that prevent direct funding? And what happens when communities are treated not as beneficiaries, but as leaders and co-investors in their own futures?
Discussion Group Leaders
Evelyn Nassuna Co-founder and CEO of Shared Action Africa, connecting reproductive health, economic opportunity, and women’s agency to help refugee and host-community women and girls achieve self-reliance.
Jonathas Azevedo is Executive Director at Rede Comuá / The Global South House, strengthening locally led philanthropy and funding infrastructure across the Global South.
Laura Goddard is Funding Advisor at Start Network, supporting locally led and more effective financing for humanitarian action.
Patrick Higdon, Global Director of Programs at World Connect
What to expect
A practical conversation grounded in funding models already operating across the Global South. Participants will examine what these approaches are teaching us about trust, risk, decision-making and sustainability, and where existing systems continue to get in the way.
Expect an honest discussion about the political choices embedded in finance, alongside concrete examples of what a different funding architecture can look like.
Who this is for
This session is for funders, philanthropists, governments, development and climate finance practitioners, civil society leaders, community funds and locally led organisations interested in changing not only where resources go, but who has the power to decide how they move.
What you will get out of it
Examples of Global South-led funding infrastructure already moving resources closer to communities
New perspectives on how conventional definitions of risk shape who receives and controls funding
Practical insights into community funds, locally led risk financing and co-investment models
A clearer understanding of what funders and development partners need to do differently
Connections with people building the infrastructure for a more locally led funding system