Aidnography

Hi all, Migration, conflict, drugs, greenwashing, the political economy of humanitarianism, transitional justice, NGOs vs civil society, reparations & a thirst for numbers - big issues featured in news articles, opinion pieces, reports & research articles - as you expect it from one of your favourite weekly #globaldev digest! Enjoy! My quotes of the week The Colombians transporting migrants through the jungle say they are providing a humanitarian service. The migrants will try to get to the United States regardless, they say, driven by violence, poverty and political upheaval at home. So, by professionalizing the migration business, Colombian leaders say they can prevent their impoverished towns from being overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of needy people, help the migrants traverse the treacherous jungle more safely — and feed their own economies in the process. (‘A Ticket to Disney’? Politicians Charge Millions to Send Migrants to U.S.) Members of the Network agree that th

Hi all, Last week I received a very nice message on LinkedIn  from a reader whose Masters thesis research was inspired by something she read in my weekly #globaldev review-a great reminder on why I like to do what I do almost every Friday! :) From Albania's ventures into humanitarian response, to Australia's public opinion on aid, fake news crisis in Bangladesh & a growing crisis in Congo there's lot to explore this week as well-including the impact of a returning fashion designer from Ghana, the hypocrisy of BRICS & the weaponized misspent of lots and lots of US dollars in Afghanistan and the long history of getting a Malaria vaccine. New academic publications on visa inequalities, the limits of global commissions & failures to include indigenous voices in global governance - and so much more! Enjoy! My quotes of the week The development of malaria vaccines was stalled over and over again: by the focus on the eradication campaign and suspension of research; the

Hi all, Welcome to a fresh round of #globaldev readings-and an extra warm welcome to our new students who are hopefully getting inspired from these contemporary readings on a broad range of #globaldev topics-from refugees writing about their experience in Bangladesh & Kenya, to the UN's lack of peace meditation efforts, Yemen's crowd-funded humanitarianism, Ghana's rising property prices & a great call for action from Brazilian gig workers: 'Come downstairs or we’ll eat your order!' Enjoy! My quotes of the week Sure, the history of tensions between Rohingya and Rakhine communities in Myanmar is long. But, in my personal experience, there was no substantial day-to-day animosity between our peoples until smartphones, and Facebook, entered into our lives and allowed politicians, bigots and opportunists to propagate hate against my people in real time. (Facebook should pay for what it did to my people, Rohingya) Among the recent coups in Africa, Gabon presents

Hi all, Our summer break is definitely ending when more than 100 students will commence their studies in our program next week; in the meantime we are looking at humanitarian situations in India, Saudi-Arabia, Myanmar, Hawai'i as well as period poverty across Africa, aid logos & plenty of academic readings on #globaldev's past, present & future! Enjoy! My quotes of the week But let's do that more with telling stories, and give them the voice to tell what happened and have perhaps [donor] visits and so on. The visitor doesn't need to see logos plastered all over. There are other ways of telling donors and volunteers that it is a worthwhile investment. (Why it’s time to stop the aid logo ‘arms race’) Sadly, Sergio’s trust in humanity was to be his tragic undoing in Baghdad. But, as a consequence, have the UN and international humanitarian agencies learnt the wrong lessons? The reality today is that the modern humanitarian enterprise has become more distant from i