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Ricken Patel: The Opportunity Of Our Time

April 24, 2013 by AIDemocracy Leave a Comment

By Rafael Panlilio Last week at the Guildhall in London, Ricken Patel gave the Commonwealth Lecture, a once-a-year event hosted by the Commonwealth Foundation featuring distinguished speakers discussing issues and ideas pertinent to the global community. Patel, founder of the online activist group Avaaz, delivered his lecture entitled “The Opportunity Of Our Time” proposing that a “new politics, a new activism, a new democracy” is coming, empowering us, bringing us together, and changing our world. “Practical idealism is not just our … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: empowerment, opportunity, poverty

The European Dilemma

May 13, 2012 by Ana Ila Leave a Comment

According to the European Anti – Poverty Network (EAPN), one in seven persons in the EU faces the risk of poverty. Children and older persons are at even higher risk. One of the causes of neglect towards the situations of these individuals is that many in power associate poverty with developing countries. The problem lies in the European institutional constructions of identity. According to EAPN, poverty is a state of being that violates our human rights. They argue that poverty: “is a direct attack on people's fundamental rights, limits the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Security Tagged With: EU, Europe, homelesness, poverty, racism, Roma, Romanies, social exclusion

Get Used to the Orange Jumpsuit

December 27, 2011 by Patrick McDermott 2 Comments

The date is Tuesday, September 11th, 2012. I had just gotten back from seeing my family for the Christmas holiday. I’m sitting in the living room of my apartment, and I’m on my computer getting ready to write a critique of US foreign policy 11 years after 9/11. But just when I’m about to begin, there’s a knock on my door. I’m wasn't accustomed to getting knocks on my door, as I lived in an apartment complex and visitors were few and far between. In looking through the peephole, I realized there were two police officers standing outside my door. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Security Tagged With: Afghanistan, aid, China, climate change, Congress, democracy, education, foreign policy, global warming, Iran, Iraq, law, Libya, military, nuclear weapons, Obama, poverty, Somalia, terrorism, war, Yemen

The 10 million faces of climate change: drought and hunger in East Africa

July 15, 2011 by Rachel Merker 2 Comments

With the Horn of Africa suffering the worst current food crisis in the world after one of the most severe droughts it’s seen in decades, the grave threat that climate change and all its unpredictability poses should be clearer than ever. So why aren’t we doing anything about it? Climate Change is a real and urgent global challenge, and its harmful effects are already visible across the world, from increased global temperatures, more frequent and extreme weather events, melting glaciers and rising sea level. These shifts, whose extent and timeline … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Climate Change, Featured Less, Hunger Tagged With: Africa, agriculture, climate change, conflict, food security, humanitarian aid, hunger, poverty

Dispatches from Argentina: Alternative economies and an alternative internship

June 8, 2011 by Alma Raymer 5 Comments

Hello again AIDemocracy Network! For the first time, I am writing you from Argentina, where I am lucky enough to participate in an internship the summer before my final year of undergraduate studies back in the US. I am currently in Rosario, birthplace of the Argentinian flag, 2nd-largest city in Argentina only after the capital of Buenos Aires, birthplace of Diego Maradona (futbol legend and god, I'd argue), Lio Messi (futbol legend who plays for Barcelona) and the more than famous Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. But there is much more to Rosario than … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Hunger Tagged With: Argentina, capitalism, democracy, economy, financial crisis, Latin America, poverty, sustainable agriculture

Facing ‘difficulties’ after brutalizing a population? Obama and David Cameron could learn a lesson from their North African and Arab counterparts

March 18, 2011 by Gillian Rollason

After decades of brutalizing the population, political leaders shouldn’t be surprised to find their authority challenged by violent uprisings. But this plight is not only of political elites in North Africa and the Middle East - European and American leaders face serious dilemmas at the United Nations, after years of ignoring the human consequences of their foreign policy abroad. It is hardly surprising that Gaddafi is able to use mercenaries to suppress a popular uprising, despite outrage from the international community at the (continued) … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Security Tagged With: Africa, Barack Obama, Britain, capitalism, conflict, diplomacy, economic growth, economy, EU, globalization, Government, government shutdown, human rights, Human Rights and Social Justice, Libya, Middle East, Middle East Democracy, military, national security, NATO, North Africa, oil, poverty, social justice, United Nations, US foreign policy

Aid for AIDS* – Exporting health and expectations (* political revolution optional)

February 28, 2011 by Gillian Rollason

Protect human rights, empower women, create jobs, strengthen the economy, spread democracy, save children, pipe water, grow crops…the benefits of development are a shining torch that many in the international community use to guide their foreign and domestic policy (or so at least, they would have us believe). A few contentious issues arise when we ask ourselves in which direction we are supposed to be ‘developing’ and tensions run high when foreign powers are accused of buying political influence with aid or investment. America might be used to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Hunger, Security, Sex and Justice Tagged With: activism, aid, capitalism, China, Climate Change, Cold War, economic growth, Egypt, foreign aid, globalization, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights and Social Justice, humanitarian aid, Libya, Middle East Democracy, national security, poverty, social justice, sustainable development, transnational corporations

Lost in Translation

January 28, 2011 by Sara Hooker

There was a stats conversion problem I had to do today, changing miles per gallon into gallons per mile. Gallons per mile, the end result of the problem, which might seem unusual to US drivers is actually how the rest of the world views gas consumption. My textbook said it best: Americans think of it as: I’ve got 10 gallons in the tank. How far can I drive? Where as most of the world says: ‘I’ve got to go 100km, how much gas do you think I need’ This little math (or maths, if we are continuing with our global conversions) problem actually … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Hunger Tagged With: activism, capitalism, economic growth, economy, Europe, financial crisis, Issue Analyst, policy, poverty, public opinion, United States, youth

Beyond symptoms: causes of poverty as a definition

November 23, 2010 by Rachel Stanley

Poverty has existed for thousands of years; its existence is not in question. The debate among the international community is now on ways to address poverty. Too often, time and energy is focused on “band aid” solution, particularly within the student community. Holding a canned food drive is great, but it only provides a temporary solution to a serious problem and does not address the causes. Any permanent solution has to focus on the causes, not simply the consequences. The habit of ignoring the causes of poverty can be seen at a fundamental … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Hunger Tagged With: poverty

Haiti’s Cholera Outbreak. Where did it come from? Where is it going?

November 5, 2010 by Binta Diallo

By Binta Diallo, Global Health Issue Analyst Eleven months after the earthquake hit Haiti, the country is now faced with its worst health challenge; cholera. As of November first, the cholera outbreak in central Haiti had killed more than 250 people and infected more than 3,000 people. Until the current outbreak, cholera has not been documented to be found in Haiti since the 1960s. Due to the lack of familiarity with the disease, many people are said to be frightened by the news of the outbreak and unsure of what steps to take to avoid the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Sex and Justice Tagged With: aid, global health, Haiti, poverty