And here are some red flags for performative participation! This checklist is written more for implementers than donors or their communities. But use it to hold your INGO partners to account or to make sure your donor is paying attention to the issues that matter to you.

Participation goes beyond the right words, simple actions, or looking at just one group of people. How often have we all seen participation being simply ‘we will try to have more women in our focus groups’? Not good enough, I’m afraid.

For example, having more women involved in your project doesn’t automatically mean they are feminists or will support feminist values. Just because you have cishet men on your project doesn’t automatically mean they aren’t feminists. They may be more progressive than you think!

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