Foreign aid has helped save millions of lives. But the whole system is facing a huge reckoning. As the New York Times’ Editorial Board wrote recently, “A growing group of intellectuals, aid workers and civic leaders from Africa say the “white savior” mentality of the world’s foreign aid system can end up doing more harm than good. We’re asking: Does aid work? Is aid really so colonial that it needs to end? How must the whole system change? And is it time to move to talk about reparations? Nadia and Nabil have a truly fascinating conversation with Degan Ali – a trailblazer in the movement to decolonize development aid and rethink humanitarianism, and the Executive Director of Adeso, a Nairobi-based organization that works in Somalia and Kenya. Her website is www.deganali.com. Please do share the episode on your social media. If you’re joining us on EQUALS for the first time, tune in to our earlier interviews – from talking with the award-winning journalist Gary Younge on what we can learn from Martin Luther King Jr to fight inequality, to best-selling author Anand Giridharadas on whether we need billionaires, Zambian music artist PilAto on the power of music, thinker Ece Temelkuran on beating fascism, climate activist Hindou Ibrahim on nature, and the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva on what comes after the pandemic. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.