Beyond solidarity: five years on, will our sector live its anti-racism values? 

Five years have passed since the murder of George Floyd forced a global reckoning with racism.

Yet in the UK international development sector, the question “what has changed?” still lands heavily, often with silence, discomfort, or defensiveness. 

As news of an innocent Black man being killed by a white police officer spread around the world, companies, charities and organisations responded with pledges to no longer live in ignorance of racism and privilege. There were promises to do better and no longer be a bystander, and statements of solidarity. At the forefront, this was a moment that looked like the world would finally stop to address the deep racism that is rooted in systems, institutions, cultures, and ways of living. 

However, five years on since the bold statements and black squares posted on social media, there’s still so much to do with minimal progress made.  

George Floyd’s murder and the international development sector 

In the international development sector, this reckoning cut particularly deep. The aid system does not exist outside of history. It is built on the legacies of empire. In the wake of 2020, conversations that had long been pushed to the margins began to move into the centre: calls to decolonise aid, demands for locally led development, and recognition that anti-racism must be more than a statement of solidarity.  

The International Development Committee’s inquiry into racism in the aid sector was a landmark moment, amplifying the voices of racialised communities, thinkers and activists from across low- and middle-income countries and the U.K. Their words named truths long present but rarely acknowledged publicly. 

Since then, there have been moments of progress. Some INGOs have shifted decision making closer to communities and reviewed how resources are distributed. Others revisited harmful narratives in their communications, recognising that stories of “helping” and “saving” reinforce inequality.  

These shifts, though significant, have been fragmented, moments of progress without the sustained transformation needed to dismantle the structures that uphold inequality. While progress within INGOs has been inconsistent, conversations about reckoning with history have also gained ground beyond the sector. 

In the years that followed, even Heads of Commonwealth states spoke openly about the need for reparations as acknowledgement and repair of the harms of the past, breaking new ground and calling for a reckoning with history. These moments mattered. They showed that change is possible when there is courage to speak honestly and act differently. 

Yet five years on, the wider UK context feels harsher. Racism has become more brazen, no longer hidden but increasingly normalised in public and political spaces. For example, the weaponisation of the term “woke” is used to shut down conversations about justice, while anti-racism language is taken up as institutional branding rather than embedded practice.  

For those of us who experience racism personally, this context is not just challenging, it is worrying and frightening. The toll of pushing for equity while living within systems that constantly deny it, is not theoretical. It is daily, personal and exhausting. This is why duty of care cannot be optional. Organisations must care for and protect staff of colour, while also treating communities not as recipients of charity but as leaders whose expertise should guide the work. 

Without this dual commitment to colleagues and to communities, the words of 2020 risk being remembered as performance rather than practice.  

Five years on, the questions remain urgent. 

What would it look like for INGOs to truly step back and resource communities to lead?  

And while the sector continues to wrestle with this question, people outside our offices are not waiting. From the Black Lives Matter marches to the recent and continuous protests on immigration and borders, communities are refusing to let racism, colonial amnesia and injustice go unchallenged. Their voices remind us that silence is never neutral. 

Street-level activism and institutional reform are not separate struggles. The courage of those marching for racial and social justice continues to challenge the international development sector to live up to its own values. 

Racial justice protest movements   

The UK has a long and proud history of protesting to ensure the voices of people can be heard by those in power, a freedom that is established through law and re-emphasised in the UK by the government in the Civil Society Covenant.  

In 2020 it was no surprise that the UK was amongst other global countries to follow the US with mass protests taking place. The Black Lives Matter protests took place across all countries in the UK, with loud anti-racist and anti-colonial messages being chanted and written across placards.  

Five years on, the UK continues to experience a wave of sustained and significant protests across a range of racial, social and political issues. Since October 7^th 2023, the UK has seen hundreds of thousands protesting in solidarity with the people of Palestine calling for a ceasefire. In one instance over 500,000 people marched through the streets of Central London , making it one of the largest protests in British history. 

Both protest movements share similarities of a strong attendance from racialised and minority groups, calls for companies to revisit their ethical standards and divestment interests, and people using the power they hold to make their voice heard. Both movements share something vital: a refusal to stay silent in the face of injustice.  

Change within institutions will always mirror the movements that hold them accountable. Across the UK, those movements continue to remind us that racial and social justice is not a moment but a sustained demand. 

What still needs to change  

With the UK international development sector facing increased political hostility, shrinking funding, and growing divisions driven by racism and misinformation, this is the moment to hold true to our values.  

Confronting racism cannot remain a statement or a side project – it must shape how decisions are made, whose knowledge is centred, and how resources flow. Choosing collective courage over retreat means standing up for civic space, both globally and here in the UK, because when communities lose the ability to organise, speak out, and lead change, justice cannot be achieved.  

The sector still needs to redistribute the concentration of power in UK and Europe-based organisations, address the harm experienced by staff of colour, and stop using anti-racism as institutional branding without lived commitment.  

Organisations must support and protect colleagues of colour, strengthen inclusive leadership, and build real partnerships with communities based on respect, recognition and shared power. 

Only by standing firm in these commitments can the sector lead with integrity and help shape a future that is more just, equitable and united.