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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.
Posted on August 12, 2022
By Lynn Schnaiberg
Trust and humility.
That’s what Degan Ali said is sorely needed in international aid and development at a June Global Washington roundtable on decolonizing global development and the role of U.S. based iNGOS. What does trust and humility look like? More trust in local people on the ground in the places iNGOs work. And more humility to listen to and learn from them.
Degan Ali. Photo: Akhtar Badshah
Ali, the executive director of Nairobi-based Adeso and a trailblazer in the movement to decolonize aid and rethink humanitarianism, put it this way. “If there was a crisis, God forbid, in Seattle, we would expect that level of dignity and respect that people would trust you all to know what you need and how you need it and when you need it. But that level of consideration and trust is not given to people in the Global South, unfortunately.”
A global leader in community-centered development, Ali is working to change both the conversation about aid and development and take concrete steps to change the sector. Briefly, she envisions the Global North ceding more resources, voice and power to the Global South. It’s a vision that supports self-determination and civil society in the Global South—with iNGOs walking the talk of cultivating local vision, leadership and capacity. (And one where donors increasingly give directly to local groups.) Ali acknowledges the decolonization conversation can be uncomfortable—especially for leaders of iNGOs who aren’t based in the places where their work is being done or who don’t represent those communities. But she says it’s necessary. Continue Reading
Posted on July 26, 2022
By Arti M. Grover and Pooja O. Murada, S M Sehgal Foundation
Photo: S M Sehgal Foundation
Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being at all ages is essential to sustainable development. Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3) seeks to ensure health and well-being for all, at every stage of life. The goal addresses all major health priorities, including reproductive, maternal and child health; communicable, noncommunicable and environmental diseases; universal health coverage; and access to safe, effective, high quality, and affordable medicines and vaccines for all. Continue Reading
Posted on July 11, 2022
Carlie Stowe, Project Manager | PeaceTrees Vietnam
PeaceTrees Vietnam staff, officials from the Quang Tri Women’s Union, Department of Foreign Affairs, and the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi commemorating the 25th anniversary of U.S.-Vietnam normalized diplomatic relations in July, 2020 (photo credit: PeaceTrees Vietnam)
July 11th, 2022 marks the 27th anniversary of normalized diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Vietnam. Nearly half of a century after the end of the Second Indochina War, Vietnam is a middle income country with a fast-growing economy and is one of America’s strongest international partners. Continue Reading