Blog.
Are Africa’s women on the rise?
This was the question question recently explored by Malawian women’s rights campaigner Jessie Kabwila for the BBC’s Africa Debate programme last week. There have been a number of successes for African women over the last 12 months, according to Kabwila. These include: two Nobel Peace prizes – recognised for their
What we’re reading: £500million UK aid spent on private sector contracts; Andrew Mitchell throws class-based wobbly; development jargon sucks; how much water do we eat; why study development?
Many of the larger chunks of UK aid spending are channelled through big multilateral organisations and British firms. Last year alone, £500m was spent by the UK Department for International Development (DfID) on consultants. So much for untied aid reaching local firms in developing countries! The Adam Smith Institute, for
What’s in a …Blog?
As someone who remembers what it means to ‘put pen to paper’, being asked to write for a blog at first drew a total blank. Everyone has heard of ‘ blog,’ ‘blogger,’ ‘blogging’ and whatever else blog associated there is in ‘blogosphere.’ Yet, have we ever stopped to think what
The Story of Change: why citizens (not shoppers) hold the key to a better world
Can shopping save the world? The Story of Change is a new short movie that urges viewers to put down their credit cards and start exercising their citizen muscles to build a more sustainable, just and fulfilling world.
When aid is ‘debated’
Image: Plantu (France). See our cartoon library for more Mention ‘Africa’, the ‘Developing World’ or ‘Poverty’ and sure enough, it’s yet another debate on ‘aid’, whether it has ‘worked’, ‘failed’, ‘created dependency’ etc. and whether it addresses ‘overpopulation’, ‘corruption’ and ‘our’ current financial crisis. And, so it was on RTE
Rings (of inequality) around the world
The honour bestowed in carrying the flame, kindled by eleven women using the light of the Sun, its rays concentrated by a parabolic mirror in Olympia, Greece. The call to peace through the releasing of a flock of doves in the main stadium. The Queen parachuting into the opening ceremony
How to teach … slavery
Today’s blog was originally posted in the Guardian’s Education section, in their series ‘How to Teach…’ – which covers everything from teaching about tax, tennis and the referendum on Scottish Independence. This week’s post covers the issue of slavery, written by Valerie Hannah, in preparation for the international day for the
The True Size of Africa
Are you prone to ‘immappancy? Do you get easily confused by the actual size of countries and how they relate to each other by how much space they take up? Take a look at this: If you’ve come across the concepts of illiteracy and innumeracy, then computer graphic enthusiast Kai
The Games have begun, an opportunity missed
It was an amazing opening ceremony. Danny Boyle and his team had the opportunity at the outset, to challenge some of the more dominant, ugly trends that have taken over the Olympics. Acknowledgement of the injustice of colonisation would have gone a long way to set the right tone for
School Immersion: Vacation or Education?
“I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I understand.” – Confucius, Chinese philosopher and political theorist, 551-479 BC Immersion programmes are growing in popularity, with many Irish schools engaging and as the word spreads of successful trips many more are expressing interest. There are many questions surrounding