Meet the Team: Understanding the UK’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) with Mathilde Benguigui
Meet the A Team: Mathilde Benguigui
We recently asked our colleague Mathilde about her experience as one of the trainers of The Advocacy Team’s flagship training course: Financing More Sustainable and Equitable International Development. For those who might not be familiar with it, the course provides an overview of the development finance landscape, an exploration of historical trends, future projections, and in-depth examination of some of the initiatives to promote a more equitable development sector.
Read the full Q&A to know what our very own trainer, Mathilde, enjoys the most about it:
- What is your role as an Official Development Assistance trainer?
As trainers, our role is really to facilitate discussions and engage participants, making them feel comfortable sharing their experiences and challenges within the international development sector. Beyond providing an overview of the sector, we touch on current realities, including political shifts, such as the rise of far-right movements in Europe, and rising challenges, such as climate change. Our goal is to help participants see the interconnectedness of all challenges, much like fitting pieces of a puzzle together.
- What do you enjoy the most about doing this training course?
The best part for me is the learning journey of being a trainer. I’m constantly learning too, especially since I’m fairly new to training. Each session lets me dive deeper into different aspects of development. Preparing for the course is a learning experience in itself, but what really excites me is hearing from participants. Some of them have hands-on experience in the field and share insights during the discussions. We also have newcomers, each bringing their own fresh perspective and often challenging the status quo.
- The training provides an overview of the development finance landscape and explores a great wealth of topics in this sector. What topic are you most interested in when doing the training?
It’s a difficult question, but if I had to pick one, I’ve been really engaged with the discussions around reparations. I think it’s what makes our training unique – we dive deeper than the surface, we dive into the flaws of the development sector, especially looking at how power is distributed.
It’s crazy how much power Global North countries hold in international organisations due notably to their voting power. In our sessions, we explore how we, as The Advocacy Team, are pushing for reparations for past injustices and Loss and Damage. We tie this into climate finance, showing how Global South countries are bearing the consequences of industrialisation from the Global North. We dig into these inequalities and discuss how Global North countries need to step up and take responsibility in addressing these challenges but also how they should do so.
- Equity is a central aspect of this training. What does ‘equity’ mean to you and how has this training shaped your understanding of this term?
Working within the international development sector has really emphasised, for me, the crucial role of equity. It’s like a guiding principle that should influence every decision within the sector. To me, equity means embracing diverse viewpoints, constantly being critical and questioning methods, and staying mindful of who we’re working for and what we are trying to achieve. This training and working at The Advocacy Team has deepened my understanding of how essential equity is, not just as an idea, but as a practical approach to making a real impact in the development sector.
- What tips would you give to a perspective trainer?
As a new trainer myself, I would say that being curious and leaning on others to learn and grow is important. I’ve understood the value of teamwork and the power of meaningful conversations, and so being open to different perspectives and ideas is essential for professional but also personal growth.
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