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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 February 3, 2014
By Holly Koch
Days after the Seattle Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos to win Super Bowl XLVIII, sex trafficking task force units continue their battle. News articles and op-ed pieces describing the Super Bowl as a magnet for prostitution and human trafficking are prevalent these days. Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) made a speech on the House floor condemning the spike in trafficking that takes place during one of America’s most beloved sporting events, and asked Congress for support of the End Sex Trafficking Act. While it is undeniable that the light Poe and others are shedding on the sex trade is providing new and necessary awareness to the public on the matter, this is not a problem that occurs once a year. There are 364 other days that women and girls are raped, beaten, and sold for profit.
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Posted on January 29, 2014
By Vanessa Lopez, Mangrove Action Project, GlobalWA member
The terms “eat local” and “sustainability” have quickly taken root in American culture. Popular authors and films (think Michael Pollan and Food, Inc.) showcased these two themes to a wide audience, quickly ramping up fervor and action among society. While I cannot deny the effectiveness on illuminating the injustices and lack of traditional farming in the U.S. beef, poultry, and seed patent industries, there has been little explanation about how the seafood industry, especially shrimp production, has adapted to meet increasing demand at low cost.
Wait, who really cares about shrimp?! In fact, Americans do! We consume more shrimp than any other country in the world. Even more surprisingly, about 90 percent of this shrimp is imported, and about half of that is unsustainably farmed (not wild-caught.) This says that we care enough to demand shrimp in abundance, but not enough to understand how it landed on the all-you-can-eat buffet. Continue Reading
Posted on January 23, 2014
By Kelly Gibbs
Immigrant populations around the world continue to grow. Statistics show that over 180,000 Africans immigrate to the UK annually, about eight percent of Italy’s population is foreign-born (with the figure set to rise in the next 50 years), and more than 50,000 asylum-seeking Africans have entered Israel in the past seven years. Washington State, too, has its own large immigrant population.
Despite growing numbers, immigrants are being brutally rebuffed as they seek refuge and better lives. Currently in Israel, more than 10,000 immigrants are protesting new legislation that would allow Israel to “further limit the rights of asylum seekers” by letting authorities detain indefinitely those without valid visas, spurring internal debate about political refuges versus economic migrants. Violence meets many hoping to make a new life in the European Union (EU), as recent reports show that a number of Africans are being murdered or killed on their way to Europe. It’s estimated that between 17,000 and 20,000 migrants have died at sea trying to reach Europe over the past 20 years. Continue Reading
