Aidnography

Hi all, You’ll notice the new layout; there have been a few problems with Blogger’s dynamic themes so I switched to a more traditional one. The blog loads faster and looks better on mobile devices, but is certainly not on a path for winning design awards…let’s see how I can tweak things a bit-and if you have feedback, comments and complaints you know how to reach me! Back to business:    Development news: Kenya’s florticultural industry does not look rosy; saving children who don’t want to be saved; let Thousand Currents flow! Geo data and U.S. airstrikes; the tricky discourse of ‘social accountability’; a good example of celebrity advocacy; ‘working from home’ and the duty of care; the local-expat relationship in the Philippines; digital technologies exclude marginalized people; young male MBA guy wants to ‘disrupt’ development; the heroines of Haiti’s revolution; award-winning documentary on coco farmers in Ghana; ISIS and long-term effects of indoctrinating children. Our...

3 May marks the annual World Press Freedom Day . The Nordic Information Centre for Media and Communication Research (Nordicom) which hosts the UNESCO Chair on Freedom of Expression, Media Development and Global Policy at the University of Gothenburg launched its latest publication The Assault on Journalism-Building knowledge to protect freedom of expression edited by Ulla Carlsson and Reeta Pöyhtäri.  This substantial volume contains 34 chapters and is organized in four parts, covering key articles, broader reflections on journalist safety research and framework, empirically grounded case studies and a final highlighting key statistics around journalist (un)safety: The aim of the of this publication is to highlight and fuel journalist safety as a field of research, to encourage worldwide participation, as well as to inspire further dialogues and new research initiatives. Guy Berger summarizes the focus on journalism well in his chapter Why the World Became Concerned with...

Hi all, Another good week for #globaldev debates! Development news: Special section on the aid industry in contemporary America kicks of this review; sweatshops & industrialization in Ethiopia; Turkey’s crackdown on NGOs; Should World Bank staff visit the field? IKEA is upgrading its refugee shelters; Nepal earthquake anniversary; the complexities of social change in ‘mini-Indias’; local aid workers in the Philippines; the gig economy in the South; ICT4D for girls & women; bad schools may not always be bad ideas; can the UN system do innovation? #allmalepanel? There’s an app for/against it! Our digital lives: Facebook admits government exploitations; Silicon valley won’t be fixing health systems in the global South; rich charities are getting richer; thought leaders & plutocrats.   Publication: Blockchains for development. Academia: New UnPaywall extension . Enjoy! New from aidnography Electing Saudi-Arabia to the UN Commission on the Status of Women is not a bad ...

You read about the references to The Onion , saw the outraged tweets and global disbelief as Saudi Arabia was elected into the UN Commission on the Status of Women . Secret vote (likely incl UK) gives world's most misogynistic state SaudiArabia seat on UN Women's Rights Commission https://t.co/UC1VivVtkD — Charles Shoebridge (@ShoebridgeC) April 24, 2017 ‘ Electing Saudi Arabia to protect women’s rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief. It’s absurd. ’ Hillel Neuer, director of UN Watch is quoted by The Independent . But as justified as critique of Saudi-Arabia is, it is important to look beyond the headlines and re-affirm a few core working principles of the UN system (some of which you can and should be critical about-but that’s another blog post, perhaps). Saudi-Arabia is a normal member state of the UN Saudi-Arabia is a regular member state of the UN. The UN system does not judge, there are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ members-there are just members. Ac...

Hi all, Welcome to a jam-packed link review! Development news: #BringBackOurGirls-All they got was a hashtag?; pepsi-fication of resistance; Kathmandu is building back unsafe; mo’ #globaldev money, but less for poor people; the right way to give; has the aid industry lost its humanity to jargon and numbers? A new WFP graphic novel in South Sudan; should we treat refugee camps as long-term urban spaces? Outdated election observing; developing countries and digital start-ups; how to avoid stealing stories; the danger of a single story; Communication with communities in Haiti; Follow the car! Peacebuilding & material objects; one of those girls Our digital lives: How will comms teams look like in 5 years’ time? Crowdfunding is reshaping giving; inside the bleak world of content moderation. Publication: Academics on Twitter. Academia: The deadly sins of statistical misinterpretation; how detailed should grading scales and matrices be? Reflections on an academic career...