Street Papers: The Low Down
Just last month, the media network News Corporation caused some contention as it implemented an online subscription system for The Times and Sunday Times – two of the UK’s most widely read papers1. In an interview, NC’s Chief Executive, Rupert Murdoch said - “we can no longer afford to give away news for free.” It’s a fair point – newspapers have come up against a whole ran
The Ajiri Tea Company: What's in a Name?
Ajiri (v): definition: to employ; origin: Kenya [Swahili, national language].
Open Spaces
Last year, when the newly nominated Miss World Punjaban was asked in a press interview to describe the state of India’s youth, her reply was - “we are a confused lot.” There is no wonder really. The social and political messages projected through India’s mainstream media channels seem to lend to the image of ‘shining’ India – the one that politicians want the world to see.
Benchmarking Democratic Practice in Egypt
A recent article in The Guardian, “Egypt’s government to restrict NGO vote monitoring,” probably came as no surprise to people familiar with Egyptian politics. Just as governments and people worldwide have come to accept democracy as the “correct” way to govern, so too have they come to view the independence of NGOs as central to ensuring democratic practice.
In Defense of a European Peace Corps
At a recent EU summit in Brussels, the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke with other officials about the implementation of the European volunteer service or, the “European Peace Corps.” Although sending volunteers overseas to help out in developing countries has been around for decades, as a volunteer myself working for an organisation funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), I can’t help but feel that it still goes largel
A Quest for Credibility
Major cutbacks in donor budgets are not the only matter calling the future of NGO operations into question. Something else looms large, and perhaps more significantly, on the agenda: the diminishing credibility of the sector in the eyes of the public, donors and governments.
Haiti - Putting NGOs in their Place
On March 31, the United Nations and the United States will co-host a conference in New York in attempt to “lay the foundations for Haiti’s long term recovery.” It is vital that this platform is used to address the fact that the country has become too reliant on international NGOs to provide basic services to citizens.
Indian NGOs - The Marketing Debate
Increasingly, NGOs are drawing on marketing techniques, such as paid advertising, branding, celebrity endorsement programmes, and audience profiling, to project their messages and to attempt to influence policy. Whilst this trend has been widely accepted in countries like the United States and the UK, many Indian NGOs engaged in advocacy work are, on the basis of political ideology, questioning its suitability in India.
Perilous Games, Palestinian Lives
There is little question that international NGO workers have been playing an important role for many Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank. According to a recent Care International report, approximately 80% of the 1.5 million refugees living in these areas are dependent upon humanitarian organisations for livelihood facilities, such as health care, education and access to clean drinking water.
