Abstract
This study focuses on the role of local coordinators in small-scale, private development initiatives, also called citizen initiatives for global solidarity (CIGS). Many initiatives are the results of tourists’ direct encounters with poverty whilst on holiday. Citizen initiatives for global solidarity tend to be run by non-professional development workers, and many initiatives are based in the Global North without organisational presence in the project country. A local coordinator is vital for establishing and maintaining connections and enabling transactions between the North and the South. Using the analytical lens of ‘the broker’, this chapter explores the role of three local coordinators in The Gambia and elaborates on the question: what role do local coordinators play in citizen initiatives for global solidarity? Based on qualitative interviews, the chapter will discuss the unique – and sometimes difficult – role the local coordinators hold as facilitators, translators, interpreters and mediators of development aid. We find that their role extends beyond facilitating transfers of resources. The local coordinators must balance sometimes conflicting interests, being pulled between different expectations and demands from founders in the North and their community in the South.
