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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 October 31, 2013
By Katherine Schroeder
“I feel reassured about having this baby,” said Nepalese woman Lalita in her fourth month of pregnancy. Several years ago, you would be hard pressed to find an expectant mother who felt this way.
For years, Nepal has been plagued with poor economic and living conditions. This is reflected in its high rate of maternal and infant mortality. On average, Nepalese women give birth to six children over their reproductive years, and complications are extremely common. Over the past four years, however, Devex reports that Nepal has taken several steps to reduce these risks, motivated primarily by the Millennial Development Goals set by the World Bank. Continue Reading
Posted on October 30, 2013
By Katherine Schroeder
Habitat for Humanity, a Global Washington member, has recently received the FedEx Award for Innovations in Disaster Preparedness to honor the work they have done in the earthquake zones of Tajikistan. Using cost effective supplies such as locally sourced timber, the organization has worked to build houses that will withstand earthquakes. In addition, the project has led to the establishment of new building codes, and citizens in eight communities throughout Tajikistan are now trained to build these houses. Kip Scheidler, Senior Director for Global Disaster Response at Habitat for Humanity, stated, “We appreciate this recognition of our work in Tajikistan, where Habitat for Humanity has proven seismic-resistant construction [that] need not be costly and can be made available to low-income families.” The FedEx Award for Innovations in Disaster Preparedness was launched in 2013, and aims to recognize efforts to reduce community vulnerability to natural disasters.
Posted on October 24, 2013
By Mark Olmstead
A much overlooked casualty in the government shutdown debacle was foreign aid. How was it affected, and what are the future ramifications?
For the most part, foreign aid was left untouched by the government shutdown. As the New York Times explains, USAID functions off of a multi-year funding program, therefore it is not tied to yearly appropriations. So, all future contracts and grants made prior to October 1, 2013 should still be running and will be paid for. This is because, under the Obama and the previous Bush administration, development is listed as a security issue. All travel scheduled before the shutdown will go ahead as planned yet, during the shutdown, only emergency travel was authorized. Continue Reading
