Submitting guest blogs is open to Global Washington’s members of the Atlas level and above. We value a diversity of opinions on a broad range of subjects of interest to the global health and development community.
Blog article submissions should be 500-1500 words. Photos, graphs, videos, and other art that supports the main themes are strongly encouraged.
You may not be the best writer, and that’s okay. We can help you shape and edit your contribution. The most important thing is that it furthers an important conversation in your field, and that it is relatively jargon-free. Anyone without a background in global development should still be able to engage with your ideas.
If you include statistics or reference current research, please hyperlink your sources in the text, wherever possible.
Have an idea of what you’d like to write about? Let’s continue the conversation! Email comms@globalWA.org and put “Blog Idea” in the subject line.
You might read the title and think, “What, is he crazy? What does a popular band have to do with global hunger?”
Ok, here goes.
For more than a decade, the best selling British band Coldplay has been one of Oxfam’s biggest supporters. With an interest in using their global celebrity for good, Coldplay teamed up with Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign beginning in 2002 to advocate for the end of the rigged rules and double standards of the global trading system. Band members delivered petitions to trade ministers meeting in Mexico in 2003, met with farmers from developing countries to learn more, and spoke out at their concerts around the world.
So what are they up to now?
Coldplay has continued to have an Oxfam presence on their tours and we’re back at it again this year. The U.S. leg of their upcoming tour starts in Portland on April 24 and then comes to KeyArena in Seattle on April 25 and we’ll be there. Want to join us?
We won’t be there to ask for your money, we’re there to ask for your voice.
This year Coldplay is teaming up with Oxfam to support our GROW campaign. We launched the GROW campaign last year with the goal of building a better food system: one that sustainably feeds a growing population (estimated to reach nine billion by 2050) and empowers poor people to earn a living, feed their families, and thrive.
We are advocating for better policies that support the efforts of small farmers in developing countries. We have an opportunity this spring to make changes to U.S. government policy through the Farm Bill – the legislation that governs America’s domestic and foreign agriculture policy. Through our joint research with American Jewish World Service, we found that up to 17 million people could receive life-saving food aid at no additional cost to U.S. taxpayers if Congress cuts red-tape in the U.S. Farm Bill.
Right now, more than 50 percent of the aid money the government spends on basic food grains is wasted. Instead of being used to fight hunger, these funds get caught up in overhead costs and fees, from paying for the high-priced food aid agencies are forced to buy, even if there are cheaper local alternatives available, to covering the exorbitant shipping charges of delivering aid on a limited number of expensive U.S. vessels.
This wasteful government system not only costs taxpayers dollars – it can also create delays of up to four or six months before aid arrives. For a community facing food shortages, such as those facing a pending crisis in the Sahel or those affected by last year’s drought in the Horn of Africa, those months can be the difference between life and death.
We can change this system for the better this year. Congress is currently debating the Farm Bill and Oxfam is gathering petitions across the country. We’ll be out at the Coldplay show to get more people to sign on. In Coldplay’s hit 2002 song “Clocks,” Chris Martin asks, “Am I a part of the cure or am I a part of the disease?” It’s time to rally around a cure for fixing our food aid system. Join us April 25 at KeyArena to spread the word. (Did I forget to mention that you’ll also get to see the show for free?!?)
Jonathan Scanlon is based in Seattle and is Lead Organizer, Economic Justice at the international relief and development organization Oxfam America, a new member of Global Washington.
On March 27, the International Youth Foundation released “Opportunity for Action,” a global snapshot of current state of social and economic opportunities for the world’s young people. That same day, IYF, Microsoft, and The Atlantic marked the report’s release with a worldwide town hall discussion in Charlotte, North Carolina on “The Jobs & Economy of the Future: Educating the Next Generation to Compete.” In the report, Bill Reese, President and CEO of IYF, wrote, “We need concerted, organized action that will lift us beyond today’s array of pilot youth development programs to a place where significant investments are made in proven practices and programs that can then be taken to scale.” The key to achieving this, he says, is partnerships between youth, civil society, and the public and private sectors. Corporate, government, and civic leaders are becoming increasingly aware of this, but if they do not act quickly, entire generation will never recover from the lost opportunities of its youth.
IYF and Microsoft’s programs are empowering some remarkable young people from across the world to meet the challenges they face head-on. An IYF fellowship helped Naadiya Moosaje turn South African Women in Engineering (SAWomEng) into a program where 81 volunteers mentor and guide over 2,000 girls. A Microsoft and IYF-sponsored Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) in Kenya allowed Monica Njau to start a small business that allowed her to attend university, support her destitute family and cancer-stricken mother, land a job as an insurance sales representative, and, most impressively, support her sisters’ higher education as well.
To make the millennial generation’s lives better than those of its parents, we must create millions of new opportunities for people like Naadiya and Monica. Today, there are 1.2 billion people aged 15 to 24. In 2035, there will be 1.5 billion. There is an enormous gap between what education systems give the world’s youth and what the global labor market demands from them. In many rich countries, youth unemployment is the highest in living memory: 18% in America, 22.3% in Britain, 30% in Italy, and almost 50% in Greece and Spain. And yet, as U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told the audience, “there are no good jobs for high-school dropouts” while “we have over 2 million high-skill jobs that we can’t fill.” In Brazil, 40% of firms have difficulty filling vacancies due to Brazil’s low-quality education outcomes. In the Middle East and North Africa, almost 25% of youth are unemployed in official statistics (the reality is probably even worse). The report estimates that 600 million jobs must be created over the next decade to make up for the jobs lost to the economic crisis.
Education alone cannot provide a comprehensive solution for youth unemployment. While higher education improves young Latin Americans’ employment opportunities, university-educated youth in the Middle East and North Africa are actually more likely to be unemployed than their less-educated peers (especially in Morocco and Tunisia). Across the region, civil service jobs are declining, the private sector is struggling, and rates of female participation in the labor market are stagnating. These problems demand a fundamental re-ordering of the region’s political economy and education system, but there are few signs, even in post-revolution Tunisia and Libya, that such a process is taking place.
“Opportunity for Action” concludes with an action plan that everyone can play a role in. The report calls on policymakers to reduce barriers to youth entrepreneurship, to create new programs and incentives for training, internships, and apprenticeships for disadvantaged youths, and to ensure high-quality secondary and tertiary education that matches the labor market’s demands. It urges NGOs and bilateral and multilateral donors to evaluate program outcomes rigorously, to support demand-driven skills training programs, and to invest in public-private partnerships that turn successful, proven practices into large-scale, sustainable programs. Lastly, it encourages young people to seek career guidance, to be continuous learners, to let go of preconceived notions about livelihood opportunities, and, most importantly, to not give up.
To watch the video of the town hall event, please visit the Atlantic’s website or watch the embedded video below.
With unemployment hovering around 8.5% in Washington State, it may be surprising to hear the global development sector is expanding daily. This means more opportunities for those interested in a career in poverty alleviation, global health and global engagement!
Global Washington’s first Global Workers Series event on Friday brought together over 40 eager job seekers of all ages and career levels who came to learn, network and connect with like minded individuals. Andy Dwonch, Senior Director of Social Innovations at Mercy Corps, and Bookda Gheisar, Executive Director at Global Washington, shared their stories, wealth of expertise in the field, and offered precious advice for those interested in international development.
Dwonch started off the night by talking about his upbringing in Walla Walla and his aspirations of becoming a farmer. The idea of working in the global development sector never crossed his mind as a child. “Walla Walla, where the international section of the newspaper was only a ¼ of a page?” Dwonch expressed, “International development was such a detour from the picket fence life!” It was only after spending time abroad in college that he discovered his passion for implementing humanitarian relief and development programs in the Middle East. Farm boy to social innovator, who would’ve thought?
Dwonch credits much of his success in the field to luck, simply being in the right place at the right time. In Global Washington’s eyes, that’s networking a critical component in the international development job search. He noted that his extensive time abroad, being able to work and adapt in foreign countries made him a prime candidate for his current position at Mercy Corps. International experience was highlighted throughout the night as a skill that significantly increases ones chances of finding a career in the sector. “Traveling allowed an understanding of poverty and real life that is unknown to all other things in a very mature way,” Dwonch reiterated.
Gheisar briefly discussed her past as Executive Director at the Social Justice Fund and at the Cross Cultural Health Care Program in Washington State. With over 22 years of experience in the global development field, she talked about the importance of bringing people together to find commonalities. In this field, Gheisar stated, “all voices together are much stronger than alone”. There is a great need for people who are willing to take on the task of bridging gaps between development organizations to coordinate strategies that are sustainable Gheisar said. She concluded by mentioning that it is the sum of all of your experiences that make you a valuable candidate in this field.
Both Dwonch and Gheisar brought up valuable points and sparked much discussion from the crowd. Attendees were able to mingle with one another and discuss the main points of the evening. All in all, it was an eye opening experience! Best piece of advice of the night: “Go out and get your boots wet!”
Below are the major tips from the night:
Tip #1: CLEARING THE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE TEST. First thing we look for once we pick up a resume, Dwonch said, is relevant international experience. It is not necessarily about the technical skills but it’s about the set number of years in the field doing developmental work.
Tip #2: LANGUAGE OPENS DOORS. Be open to learning a new language at any age, it will open up opportunities within the global development sector. It is vital to be proficient in speaking and writing.
Tip #3: CROSS FERTILIZATION OF SKILLS. It is essential that an individual can work in a corporate setting, a non-profit setting, a social entrepreneur setting. Being able to adapt is key! Don’t limit yourself to one skill and one career avenue. The more you have to offer, the more attractive you’ll be.
Tip #4: COMMUNITY ORGANIZING SKILLS. This is deeply needed in the ever changing global development sector. Being able to find commonalities and bringing people from all walks of life together helps build stronger communities and sustainable projects.
Tip #5: THE HIDDEN TIP OF NETWORKING.Though not explicitly stated by our two speakers, networking was the underlying theme of the night. Put yourself out there!
Global Washington’s 2nd Global Workers Series is happening April 13th, 2012! This event will focus on ‘What Employers Really Want: How to Get a Job in Global Development’ featuring Andrea Ballard (HR Consultant & Career Coach with Expecting Change) & Kate Cochran (COO at Vittana). Registration is required!