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Intersectional issues in NGO-led short-term social innovation projects in Ethiopia: a conditioned call for a “shift in practice”

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  • Melisew Dejene
  • Tafesse Matewos
  • Tenaw Fentaw

Abstract

NGO-led social innovation projects (SIPs) of a short-term sort ambitiously aimed to empower target communities. The SIPs introduced productive approaches and alternative pathways. The power relations of the SIPs and target communities were subject to intersectional issues. This study explored intersectional issues and a conditional shift toward community-led practice for the sustenance of innovative practices beyond project lifetime. We employed intersectional gender analysis and the Five Domains of Empowerment (5DE index) to capture the SIPs implementation vis-à-vis target communities in five regions in Ethiopia. Their practices tended to put the community in the backseat of the business, compromising their purpose of empowering target communities. This was partly due to their project design and partly due to intersectional contextual factors. NGOs need to consider an intersectional approach and pursue a step-by-step shift in their practice, towards community-led engagement, with them as facilitators. This approach could foster the sustenance of innovative practice beyond the project period.

Suggested Citation

  • Melisew Dejene & Tafesse Matewos & Tenaw Fentaw, 2026. "Intersectional issues in NGO-led short-term social innovation projects in Ethiopia: a conditioned call for a “shift in practice”," Development in Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(4), pages 739-752, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:cdipxx:v:36:y:2026:i:4:p:739-752
    DOI: 10.1080/09614524.2026.2656870
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