Aidnography

Hi all, First half of the semester almost coming to an end and we enjoyed a great blog presentation day by our N ew Media, ICT & Development students ! But there is always time to share some #globaldev food for thought! My quotes of the week “Despite the best of intentions, the sad truth is that visiting and volunteering in orphanages drives an industry that separates children from their families and puts them at risk of neglect and abuse,” she said. ( JK Rowling urges students not to volunteer at orphanages) The report finds that getting a job was not the only motivation to move, that not all irregular migrants were ‘poor’ in Africa, nor had lower education levels. 58 per cent were either employed or in school at the time of their departure, with the majority of those working earning competitive wages at home. They are of the ‘springboard generation’ – beneficiaries of two decades of remarkable development progress in Africa. Still, some 50 per cent of those working said they w...

Hi all, Busy week with a special section on the Nobel prize for Economics; #AidToo featuring Mercy Corps, Myanmar & WFP; childhood obesity; Bahamas; Haiti; Papua New Guinea; improving conferences & much more! My quotes of the week By the end, more than 75 people, some with tears running down their cheeks, formed a semi-circle around Humphrey. They repeated that they believe her and that she has the support of Mercy Corps employees worldwide. Many thanked her for speaking publicly about her experience.“Thank you for standing here with me,” said Humphrey, looking at the impromptu crowd. (Mercy Corps workers embrace, applaud sex abuse survivor: ‘You matter so much’) But policies like cash transfers would have undermined the approach to aid in which rich countries simply prescribe “solutions” for poor ones, rather than allowing people to take their futures into their own hands. Little about the US’s foreign policy toward Haiti has changed since the 2010 earthquake. The US continu...

Social Media and Peacebuilding This is a short entry from the evolving Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies . You can also download a pdf version or access the (gated) official version . Introduction At the time of finalizing this entry, the New York Times published an article Where Countries Are Tinderboxes and Facebook Is a Match on how Facebook has become a platform that facilitates sectarian violence in Sri Lanka, fueled by a newsfeed of misinformation of the rapidly growing social media platform (Taub and Fisher 2018). Discussions about the power of the corporations behind these platforms, for example, Twitter , Facebook , YouTube , or messaging applications, indicate that there is no singular, universal, or unilateral way in which social media have been contributing to peacebuilding. An entry on social media and peacebuilding can provide a snapshot of some of these discussions that have been taking place in the ICT4D or media and communication fields. They show ...

Hi all, Unfortunately, this week features a lot of difficult reads: Mercy Corps is involved in a long-term abuse scandal, the de-facto prostitution of Iraqi child brides, the limits of ICT4D techno-solutionism or intransparency at the UN pension fund cover a whole spectrum of #globaldev issues with similar themes of abuse of trust, persistent power inequalities and those in charge violating the principles of their organizations. But Carmen Carcelan's open arms to Venezuelan refugees in Ecuador, Petina Gappah's inspiring thoughts on the state of African literature or Emma Edward's reflection on a great internship in India show 'the other side' of #globaldev and positive ways to engage, learn & empower people! My quotes of the week I'm constantly on the move and always feel like I'm visiting wherever I stay, as all the places where I work are several kilometers away from the office. I do not have a support system and I'm unable to create one with my...