A picture says more than...what development in Nepal looks like

I love my facebook newsfeed. I love the fact that it offers me fascinating anthropological encounters of the visual kind or, in short, with moments of clarity that are difficult to express with words alone.
Last year I had a great 'what the UN looks like' moment and this week it's a picture from Gulariya, a few miles away from Nepalganj one of the hubs in central Nepal.



The picture was taken at a workshop on 'Enhancing Access to Aid Information in Rural Nepal' organised by the Alliance for Aid Monitor Nepal, an organisation that works on aid transparency and foreign aid debates in Nepal. There are quite a few things about this picture that make me hopeful: The equal number of women and men participating in the workshop and one of the women standing up during the dicussion to make a contribution. The fact that aid transparency and access to aid information is discussed in rural Nepal. The use of technology and the power of 'the laptop' in facilitating change without being a barrier to discussions or intimidating participants.
But the picture also highlights some of the challenges development faces in Nepal: It's great to have a laptop and projector - but the building, the physical infrastructure, still needs improvement. One of the reasons why most of the participants are wearing their coats is that it's probably freezing cold inside the room. Rural life is still tough and development is still behind Kathmandu levels. And there is also the question of the limits of technology. The laptop and projector seem a bit out of place in this setting. A few months ago I wrote about why having a laptop is not enough in the context of aid transparency and that's probably true in this context, too. But in the end, the picture leaves me more hopeful than sceptical and once again I'm glad to have connections on facebook to so many friends who do great things around the world!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Links & Contents I Liked 468

Image
Hi all, Davos came & went, but there are also other important stories from Afghanistan, Brazil, on faux carbon offsets, value/poverty chains, peace intermediaries & much more! And another brand new post on Aidnography -this time about PhD skills & their limited transferability. My quotes of the week “On the one hand, the stereotypes seem to hold true (...). There are decadent parties, executives spouting vacuous talking points about sustainability, and behind it all the mysterious World Economic Forum. “Still, every global development leader I spoke to was glad they came. The easy access to top-level corporate and government leaders is hard to replicate elsewhere, even at the United Nations. “But the question for journalists and development practitioners alike is whether, by their sheer presence, they are legitimizing a gathering which could not be more removed from the constituencies they’re meant to serve. Each year, it seems they ask themselves the question. And each yea...
Read more

Links & Contents I Liked 469

Image
Hi all, This week's not-so-good news from Lebanon, Ethiopia, North Korea & Syria found a positive counterpart with powerful, hopeful stories from women contributing to change-from Vanuatu, Sweden, South Sudan & India. It's also worth scrolling down to the archive section featuring pieces on 'the hut' & early signs of UK's decline in #globaldev leadership. My quotes of the week We often encourage human rights defenders, activists, and independent journalists to be heroes. Yet, we just as often fail to have their backs when they are inevitably pressed against the wall by their abusers in power. (Cameroon, Eswatini, Rwanda: Three devastating days that shook Africa) More than 600,000 people may have been killed. Imagine if Lilongwe disappeared. Millions of people in Tigray and other regions were displaced, their lives upended forever. The destruction of infrastructure, farms, homes, and jobs undid hard-won progress that may take the better part of a decade t...
Read more

Links & Contents I Liked 467

Image
Hi all, Welcome to the first link review of 2023! Unfortunately, we start where we left off: The climate crisis, Afghan refugees, toxic UN work cultures & challenges around localization; Bangladesh, Kenya & Uganda make news, but there is also a section on African fiction, science fiction & alternative #globaldev storytelling-and last, but not least, a proper, slightly rant-y blog post on a social entrepreneur & how not to communicate your #globaldev failings... My quotes of the week From January to June, the ward experienced an 800 percent rise in admissions of children under 5 who needed treatment for malnourishment — a surge that aid groups blame mostly on a climate change-fueled drought that has turned the region into a parched barren. ( In Kenya, an Epidemic of Children Hospitalized for Starvation) Climate change shobche darun masala [climate change is the most amazing spice], add climate change, poverty alleviation and gender and you will have a recipe for success ...
Read more

Don’t pursue a PhD as skills training for “the industry”!

Image
Based on another recent conversation on LinkedIn -this time far more productive and polite compared to my previous experience , I want to expand a little on the answer I posted. Ashley Ruba, a UX Researcher @ Meta Reality Labs, wrote about her experience of leaving academia after her PhD to pursue a career in the digital design industry with Meta : Unfortunately, I often hear PhDs lament that they have no transferrable skills. First of all, stop that. You have transferrable skills. You just weren't taught how to identify and market them. This is why academics struggle to write resumes (more on that later this week). Okay, so what are your transferrable skills? For UX Research, my biggest transferrable skills are: 1. Qualitative research methods & analysis 2. Experimental and survey design 3. Statistical analysis (using R) 4. Public speaking 5. Technical writing Do you have these skills too? I bet you do. Experiences, industries and sectors vary widely, but this is not the firs...
Read more

Should I consider a PhD in International Development Studies?

After the Economist’s piece on the (non-)value of doing a PhD and some comments later (e.g. Prometheus doesn't read the Economist (I like the slightly cynical dichotomy between ‘civilians’ and the ‘academic insiders) or the ' 100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School ' (they are only halfway through so check it out regularly in the future...) I had an interesting conversation with a prospective PhD student a few days ago. This was not the first time that I had been approached about doing a PhD and I always try to be as frank as possible, even playing the ‘devil’s advocate’ when it comes to the complicated ‘should I or shouldn’t I?’ decision-making process. At the end of our conversation I sat down and tried to summarize a few important and generic points from the point of view of doing a PhD in Development Studies and in the UK . I understand that every case is different and involves a range of motives, options and rationales, but there a few important questions and t...
Read more