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 October 27, 2014
By Liv Froehlich
Ghana is a nation that has always produced some of the world’s most essential national resources, from gold to cocoa. However, when the country discovered 3 billion barrels of sweet crude oil beneath its soil in 2007, it drastically changed the country’s standing in the global economy. With expected revenues averaging $1 billion per year, the question on everyone’s mind was how the country would choose to spend this revenue windfall.
On Sept. 22, Oxfam America, Global Washington and Seattle University’s Poverty Education Center hosted a panel discussion about Ghana’s Oil for Food Initiative. This initiative focuses on directing oil revenue towards the promotion of sustainable and inclusive development through agriculture modernization. Continue Reading
Posted on October 20, 2014
By Sam Wolff
The 1994 Rwandan genocide crippled the country, leaving it torn by violence and death on a massive scale. The recovery from this atrocity was made more difficult because an estimated 75 percent of the Rwandan medical community was murdered or forced to flee the country, which left the healthcare system in shambles. The situation has since improved, however, there are still only about 400 physicians to treat a country of more than 11 million people.
Healing Hearts Northwest (HHNW), a Spokane-based Global Washington member, works to remedy this situation. Founded in 2008, HHNW began with a meeting in Rwanda’s King Faisal Hospital, which then inspired subsequent medical missions to perform operations on Rwandan patients. HHNW continued to provide medical training and equipment so that the hospital could better manage acute patient care and better handle complex patients. HHNW hosts annual training seminars and lectures for Rwandan nurses and physicians, and obtains funding for equipment that improves the capabilities of Rwandan medical facilities. Continue Reading
Posted on October 13, 2014
By Alex Blair, Extractive Industries Press Officer, Oxfam America, a GlobalWA member
When Ghana discovered oil in 2007, it was hoped that the resource would help transform the country’s economy. Ghana was once known as the Gold Coast, so it’s quite familiar with the risk of the “resource curse” – when countries rich in oil, gas and minerals don’t see the full benefits of that wealth. Gold hasn’t translated into development; in fact, the industry caused years of human rights and environmental problems. With oil expected to bring $1 billion to the government each year for the next 20 years, Ghana hopes to better manage these revenues in order to reduce poverty and fuel sustainable development. Continue Reading
