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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 June 25, 2024
Republished with permission from Future of Fish
Future of Fish is excited to announce the launch of the Artisanal Fisher Development Fund (the Fund), a pilot loan guarantee fund to facilitate access to credit to support formalization, sustainable practices and financial inclusion amongst Peru´s artisanal fishing sector .
The informal economy in Peru is estimated to make up more than 40% of the country’s GDP and its presence is widespread amongst artisanal fisheries. As in many communities dependent on wild capture fisheries, this lack of formality prevents most fishers, vessel owners, and coops/associations from accessing the formal market and necessary financing to improve their businesses. Many of these fishers instead are reliant on informal money lenders who lock them into “debt-trap” conditions which, in turn, perpetuates the need to fish more to pay off their debts – thus exacerbating overfishing and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU). This dependency means that breaking off existing relationships with informal lenders to pursue new, formal financing sources can present significant risks to fishers. Compounding this risk, even when choosing a path to formalization, a newly formalized business will not be able to access formal credit due to their lack of commercial track record, credit history and adequate collateral. Given these challenges, transitioning from the informal to formal economy presents significant risks that many are unable or fearful to take given the risks to the activities that support their livelihoods.
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Posted on June 10, 2024
By S M Sehgal Foundation
“The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer”
~Percy Bysshe Shelley, A Defence of Poetry
Laser land levelling. Photo: Sehgal Foundation
This aphorism, published in 1840, may seem outdated in a twenty-first-century world driven by digitization and artificial intelligence. However, despite technological advancements, significant opportunities for growth remain. An Oxfam report on inequality in India highlights that 5 percent of Indians now own over 60 percent of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 50 percent possess only 3 percent. With 65 percent of the population residing in rural areas, a focus on rural development is crucial for balanced and inclusive progress. Efforts to address rural poverty show promising results. For instance, a study by the State Bank of India revealed a decline in rural poverty from 25.7 percent in 2011–12 to 7.2 percent in 2022–23. Despite this progress, millions remain in poverty, underscoring the need for continued focus on sustainable development.
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Posted on June 7, 2024
By Aisha Jumaan, President, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation
Food baskets distribution. Photo: YRRF
Yemen, a country rich in history and culture, faces significant challenges due to prolonged conflict and economic instability. The Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation (YRRF) is actively working to address these issues through initiatives aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 (No Poverty) and 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).
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