Aidnography

Hi all, Sitting down on Friday afternoons to compile my weekly #globaldev links has become part of my weekly routine without actually being a routine at all...but this fascinating mix of not-so-good news from the aid sector & the many creative, surprising, beautiful responses to all sorts of challenges seems very 2020. From road death in Pakistan to fashion from old bags and the plight of delivery drivers-very often the topics here are re-cylcled, come back in different costumes & find new ways of often exploiting people. 385 link reviews in (almost exactly 9 years ago, on 17 September 2011 my very first post went up (I wonder what has happened to Crocheting for Peace ...) and I'm pretty sure next week will be more of the same-yet different ;)! Enjoy! My quotes of the week In Pakistan’s Balochistan province, thousands die on ‘killer roads’ each year “Roads accidents kill between 6,000 to 8,000 people annually in Balochistan,” Balochistan’s Deputy Inspector General (DIG) o...

Hi all,  How are things? I know...but amidst all the 2020 craziness this week's #globaldev review features interesting, often uplifting and always status-quo-challenging stories from indigenous peoples in Tibet, New Zealand, Guatemala & power-ful women in Nigeria; stories about the outdated governance of the UN pension fund & the platform capitalism of HP printers just give you a glimpse at some of the stories you never saw coming as another week is wrapping up... Enjoy! My quotes of the week Many philanthropic endeavors are tainted with opportunistic people eager for career trajectories that eventually neglect or sideline the people whose pain is presented as scholarly or journalistic work. It is extremely disturbing to watch and is visible in half done projects, zinc toilets, humid torn tents,“empowerment” programs. As the new wave of rehabilitation in a post conflict region continues, there are many questions to ask all involved; why are you doing this work? Who will it...

Hi all,  This week's link review is guaranteed free from the other topic that has been dominating this week's news...we are focusing on changing power dynamics in #globaldev, overlooked crises & much more! Enjoy! My quotes of the week Making decisions about how to support marginalised groups without their input also means that we are holding up – rather than challenging - the power hierarchies that enable inequality and oppression. When financial support is flowing primarily from the Global North to the Global South, for example, it’s still actors in the Global North deciding where the money goes and often, how it is spent. (Sharing Power) Indeed, before the word “desertification” was coined in the 1920s by a French colonial forester, western imperial powers had executed many different programs to try to curtail the perceived spread of deserts and also to try to “restore” the drylands to productivity. Underlying these attempts was a complex, long-standing, and primarily Ang...

I actually read Ulf Laessing’s Understanding Libya Since Gaddafi during my summer break and finally finished turning my initial notes into a longer review. Ulf Laessing’s book is not a happy read, but he finds an excellent tone to move beyond headlines and stereotypes, the ‘failed state’ narrative that all too often dominates mainstream discussions. In his book Libya comes to life between historical observations, journalistic insights and a detailed academic engagement with the country. Libya’ modern, 20th century history starts with another aspect of Northern power plays and extended colonialism: In Libya, independence was a result of neither ancient heritage nor armed struggle-it was a country created by world powers (p.21) A clueless international community Fast forward to the end of the Gaddafi regime and what strikes me more than once is how clueless the ‘international community’ seems after 25 years of dealing with post-war peacebuilding: ‘ It was a time when Western governments...