Aidnography

Hi all, This is the final link review for 2021 & Aidnography will be back in the second half of January 2022 (Twenty-Twenty-Too...). Many of us will have a holiday break & I hope it will be a restful & joyful time. This little guy below, Snoopy, has been one of the great gifts in our lives this year and so far he's turning every fiction of Simon's cat into reality :) Stay well, eat well, read well!   Move. Against. Fear. #bellhooks pic.twitter.com/VnJ379D95H — NIKKOLAS (@4NIKKOLAS) December 15, 2021 Development news How are global systems failing? Behind this year’s Emergency Watchlist The International Rescue Committee’s Watchlist is an annual report on the countries most at risk of deteriorating humanitarian crises. This year’s list, which is led by Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Yemen, indicates something more serious than things getting worse. Instead, it reveals what the IRC is calling a “system failure” sweeping institutions from individual governments to organ...

Hi all, The holidays are moving closer-which means that next week will be the last Friday link review of the year! Unfortunately, as we take a look this week at Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka as well as at localization, research partnerships & UN issues, the news are mainly bleak...so perhaps read the post in more than one session & have time + space for recharging your positive #globaldev spirit! My quotes of the week I had to be the bank of information that colleagues could withdraw helpful data from at any given time. My job was to know everything, to be able to find out anything, to remain abreast of any relevant updates on the stories we were following and to have the contact details of everyone on all sides.  (Why I Stopped Writing About Syria) In a country that has seen widespread displacement and contention over land since the beginning of the civil war, deciding on who is ‘local’ means intervening in tough political issues – issues aid...

Hi all, It's one of those weeks where a very eclectic set of links/post/reports has caught my attention-from Barbados becoming a republic, to crypto-mining-related power outages in Kazakhstan; bandits in Nigeria, racial discrimination at FCDO, violence against native women in the US & the garment industry in Ethiopia are all pieces of a puzzle on global power, injustices, capitalism & more...there's even a special section on celebrities, corporations, PR & various smokescreens around accountability & global responsibilities-so stay critical! My quotes of the week “If Sudan will open the border, a big problem will happen worldwide.” (Top Sudan general warns country could be source of refugee influx to Europe) Global fashion brands sourcing from Ethiopia did not seem to show much reaction to the conflict and the related reports on human rights violations, and rather remained in a ‘wait and see’ position as long as the conflict remained limited to the Tigray regio...

Hi all, Last week I included a Tweet about MSF using blockchain for patient data in my review ; after a message from MSF ('Hi Tobias, just to let you know that MSF is NOT putting patient info on Blockchain') I deleted the Tweet from my review on Monday. Even though I am quite careful about my sources, mistakes like this can happen-so please get in touch if you see a link, story or resource that doesn't meet the high quality standards you should expect from the blog! Otherwise, you can stimulate your mind with a new round of  free readings-no Black Friday discount, no judgement from your family that you are into #globaldev, no pressure ;)! Enjoy! My quotes of the week Within the charity ecosystem, the critical friend sits on the margins, often in a smaller or more precarious organisation. The critical friend has less power (of course: otherwise they would be taking the advice and making the decisions). It is often the lone lived experience ‘voice’ in a room full of commiss...

Hi all, Happy Friday, weekend & reading! From India's farmers to Beijing Olympics, unequal partnerships between 'North' & 'South' and Singapore's surveillance state we have another week of looking at an unequal planet, trying not to lose hope... My quotes of the week Chinese aid increases GDP growth, household consumption, and employment in recipient countries. So, contrary to conventional wisdom, the benefits of Chinese foreign aid spill over to ordinary citizens. (The Case for Chinese Foreign Aid) Despite these positive signs, some local activists and practitioners are worried. They argue that this is all smoke and mirrors; that we have seen all of this before and it came to nothing. Others are concerned that the definition of ‘local’ will be distorted to encompass international organisations registered in-country in order to maintain the status quo. (Dear USAID; let’s make sure that "local" really means "local") Development news I...