Aidnography

I want to kick off the new blogging year with a positive post and reading Cherie Hart’s biography From Hollywood to Holy Wars-Hounding Celebs, Dodging Bullets, Raising a Family Abroad over the holidays left me exactly with those good vibes. As you have probably figured out by now, primarily because I keep mentioning it at the beginning of most of my book reviews, reading autobiographies written by aid workers is part of my research on how development is communicated through energing literary genres, including (non-)fiction works. Cherie Hart’s reflections on her UNDP communications career from about the mid 1980s to about the early 2010s are a breeze of fresh air to my reading list that is dominated by retired male diplomats or UN staff who are usually quite serious about their serious UN business. I really enjoyed getting to know Hart better as a journalist, communicator, UN bureaucrat, woman, wife, mother and expat aid worker as it is usually quite difficult to bring out these di...

Christmas Tree in Milan, Italy Source: Wikipedia Hi all, I'm leaving some great readings here for the holidays. Aidnography will take a short break and I'll be back with my #globaldev review of 2018 at the beginning of January! Happy holidays! New from aidnography Don’t let agencies and influencers ru(i)n your development communication! A “quick fix” is not to work with “influencers” that have no sustainable connection to aid work, NGO campaigning & meaningful global engagement. I can’t see any benefit coming from these engagements and generating a few tweets, Insta posts and signatures to an online petition are some kind of development communication plastic engagement that will only pollute an ocean of mediatized engagement and get an innocent sea turtle entangled in your web of single-use campaign fast food waste. I would also urge organizations to be more careful, perhaps even conservative in their approaches of working with agencies. At the end of the day develop...

I didn’t want to end my 2018 blogging year with another critical post, but the two recent development communication fails from the Netherlands seem to warrant a response. Excellent coverage by @rebeccarat on #NGOSafeSpace critique of @amnestynl now cancelled refugee campaign, and @MSF pulled campaign. Here's to 2019 @shaistaAziz https://t.co/Gy1Gzf666S — Alexia Pepper de Caires (@je_ne_tweet_pas) December 20, 2018 I recently wrote about ICRC’s communication fail with a travel blogger in Papua New Guinea (which he has now deleted without comment) and also remembered Oxfam’s “The Heist No One Is Talking About” video from late 2017 that was also quickly criticized . I totally understand that most aspects of NGO work are professionalized these days and that it’s tempting to try out innovative and/or provocative formats. It’s also increasingly difficult in polarized media systems to get traditional advocacy and fundraising campaigns heard. As the CEO of A&O Hotel co...

Hi all, We are moving closer to a short, but well-deserved break (next week's review will be the last for 2018), but in the meantime, there's some interesting, eyebrow-raising, thought-provoking and inspiring reading around #globaldev! Enjoy! Development news Sweden freezes support to UNAIDS until leader removed Sweden said Wednesday it was freezing its support to UNAIDS until its executive director is removed, after an expert report blasted the agency's leadership for systematically failing to address bullying, abuse and sexual harassment. The Swedish government has no confidence in Michel Sidibe to lead the organisation, a spokesman for the ministry for international development cooperation told AFP, confirming reports in local media. "We have no confidence in him. He has to resign now," International Development Cooperation Minister Isabella Lovin told daily Svenska Dagbladet, adding "I've even told him so personally". That's the AFP...

Hi all, This is quite a substantial #globaldev review-and I wish there was more positive news to include. Saudi Arabia & UAE collaborate with Sudan on mercenaries for Yemen ; the appalling state of refugees on Nauru ; UN, data & looming elections in DRC ; child soldiers in the Central African Republic ; bride trafficking in Myanmar ; child marriage in Nepal ; trauma healing in South Sudan ; Maasai people visit museum in Oxford ; an American entrepreneur wants to 'fix' something in Rwanda ; reporting NGO work in media & research; why a movement in Lebanon failed; the quest to find successful blockchain projects; education, mobile technology & more challenges for girls & women; participatory video in rural Nepal ; impossible questions when local & expat staff are evacuated from a humanitarian crisis; the environmental impact of Canada 's mining industry. Plus: Reflections on 'leaning in', new publications on youth employment in Africa, depe...