Getting good at disruption in an uncertain world: Insights from Southern NGO leaders

This working paper summarises a series of interviews with non-governmental organisation (NGO) leaders in middle- and low-income countries, and highly experienced development practitioners. The interviews provide insights into how NGOs in the global South are addressing disruption in their external and internal operating
environments, and their unique perspective on what, in practice, ‘disruptive change’ means to them. The aim of this paper is to share the principal insights with donors and international NGOs to help inform funding and development strategies
and operating practices, and enable them to ore effectively support Southern NGOs facing uncertain and turbulent operating environments daily, while minimising the potential of those
organisations to act as ‘disruptors’ themselves