Blog
Contributor Guidelines
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 May 3, 2019
By University of Washington staff
Through the Task Force program, students in the Jackson School of International Studies tackle critical policy challenges — and set their career paths in motion.
A country is in the midst of a brutal conflict.
The capital city has become a battlefield, and residents are caught in the chaos. Food is scarce, and every bed in the understaffed hospital is full. Public utilities were cut off months ago, so there’s no running water, electricity or garbage collection.
As a foreign aid worker, you’re trying to get basic supplies to civilians. It’s work that involves more than simple logistics: Will you need armed protection to reach people safely? If you do, will some groups see you as a threat? And should you even be doing this if the government in power doesn’t want your country’s help?
At the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, students grapple with questions like these as part of the Donald C. Hellmann Task Force Program. By giving undergraduates the chance to address real-world crises, Task Force — the capstone project for all international studies majors — immerses them in culture, politics, economics and human rights.
It has also created a pipeline for the next generation of global leaders, which is more crucial now than ever. Read More
Posted on April 26, 2019
By Angelia Miranda
(With contributions from Sheila Panyam)
Kristen Dailey, GlobalWA Executive Director, gives open remarks for a panel on ending child marriage, co-hosted by GlobalWA and the Seattle International Foundation. Panelists (L to R) include Thea Handelman, Board Member, Women’s Justice Initiative – Guatemala; Perla Vázquez, Deputy Program Director, Seattle International Foundation, Central America and Mexico Youth Fund (CAMY); Eric Sype, Community Engagement Fellow, UNICEF USA; and Cathy Herholdt, Senior Communications Director, World Concern.
Photo credit: Andie Long/GlobalWA.
Of all the women and girls alive today, 650 million were married before the age of 18. For some, it happened when they were much, much younger. Child marriage, or early marriage, is a practice that is more widespread—and more complex—than one might think. Perpetuated by gender inequities, lack of access to education and resources, and social norms, child marriage is a critical issue that presents severe consequences for the millions of girls still at risk. The UN has identified the elimination of child marriage by 2030 as one of the Sustainable Development Goal targets. According to Kristen Dailey, Executive Director of Global Washington, in order to reach that target the global community needs to work 12 times faster. Continue Reading
Posted on April 22, 2019
By Cyndie Berg, Director of Business Development, Splash
11 year old Kidist uses the water station at her school in Addis Ababa. Photo credit: Gavin Gough for Splash.
In March, Splash’s Seattle office hosted two of its leaders from Ethiopia: Dawit Alemishet, Country Director, and Kelbessa Wordofa, Director for Project WISE (WASH-in-Schools for Everyone). They were in town to meet with colleagues planning the launch of Project WISE (WASH-in-Schools for Everyone), an initiative to reach every government school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Kolkata, India, with WASH infrastructure (water storage, filtration systems, drinking and handwashing stations, and improved toilet facilities), as well as behavior change programs for children and adults, and strengthened menstrual health services for girls aged 10 and above.
Splash has reached 79 schools serving 78,000 children in Addis Ababa, and 194 schools serving 55,985 children in Kolkata. Through Project WISE, the organization expects to reach approximately 1,600 schools serving one million children by 2023.
Splash’s efforts will benefit even more children like Kidist, a fifth-grader who is 11 years old. Kidist is very pleased about the improvements that Splash has made at her school. She especially loves the different colored drinking and handwashing stations and is attracted to wash her hands and drink from them. Continue Reading