So, you’ve got your education, you finally finished that internship during your undergrad, you have participated in a thousand mock interviews, and your resume has been polished at least 100 times. Now you just have to find that job you’ve been working toward your entire career. Here are seven websites to help you find policy jobs:
1. USAJOBS
USAJobs.gov is a helpful resource when it comes to finding a policy or federal job. According to USAJOBS, “The Pathways Programs offer clear paths to Federal internships for students from high school through post-graduate school and to careers for recent graduates, and provide meaningful training and career development opportunities for individuals who are at the beginning of their Federal service.” Programs include the Pathways Internship Program, Recent Graduates Program and the Presidential Management Fellows Program.
The site also has additional helpful resources that allow users to search federal occupations by college major, look through a comprehensive A-Z list of federal agencies, find an internship, or recent graduate job by a keyword, salary, pay grade, category, location, department or agency.
2. Going Global
Going Global is committed to providing “grassroots intelligence” through their team of in country researchers. They monitor and update the career information and resources that are delivered to users. GoinGlobal.com allows the user to easily find international jobs and policy jobs. Their website provides country specific career and employment information for 30 countries and its database search allows users to search by country, profession or topic.
3. International Organization Careers
According to International Organization Careers, “International Organization Careers is brought to you by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs (IO). IO is the U.S. government’s primary interlocutor with the United Nations and a host of other international agencies and organizations.”
IO Careers allows users to register for job alerts online, search international organization jobs database and filter the search by organizations, grades, professional fields, and locations, subscribe to jobs, assists students and young professionals, lists federal agencies, provides other employment possibilities.
4. Partnership for Public Service
According to their website, “The Partnership is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that believes good government starts with good people. By strengthening the civil service, and the systems that are supposed to support them, we help government serve the needs of all Americans.”
The Partnership goes above and beyond by actually getting involved and challenging policymakers and our government to have quality employees. Their website provides users with ample amounts of resources for programs and services for Federal Management, Federal HR, Political Appointees, Higher Education, Private Sector and Congress.
5. House of Representatives
The U.S. House of Representatives can be a great resource for those seeking policy jobs online. This website allows users to see how to apply for various positions within the House as well as employment positions with members and committees and positions with other House organizations. The site also provides information for new employees and information for former employees.
6. United States Senate
Like the House, the U.S. Senate holds various resources and information about employment and policy positions. According to senate.org, “The Placement Office assists Senators and Senate Committees with filling entry-level through professional staff vacancies by providing resumes of qualified candidates. The Office is nonpartisan and administered by the United States Senate Office of the Sergeant at Arms. Read the Placement Brochure and complete the required Applicant Referral Form to begin registration in the Resume Bank.”
The Senate Employment Bulletin is published as a service to Senate offices that choose to advertise staff vacancies. The listing is posted online and revised throughout the week.
7. State and Local Government on the Net
State employment websites include agencies that conduct studies, publish labor market statistics, and often enforce occupational safety regulations. These agencies process unemployment claims, administer workmen’s compensation programs, handle workplace discrimination complaints, and sometimes sponsor job fairs.
This site states that it is “The Official State, County, & City Government Website Locator.” All 50 states are listed on this page with various websites of departments, divisions, industries and employment opportunities, allowing users to skim through a variety of helpful links that correspond with the state of their choice.
– Eastin Shipman
Sources: USAJOBS, Going Global, International Organization Careers 1, International Organization Careers 2, Partnership for Public Service 1, Partnership for Public Service 2, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate 1, U.S. Senate 2, State and Local Government
Photo: Business Marketing Blog
Liberia’s Ebola Treatment Unit Design Could Save Lives
There are numerous reasons why Ebola has continued to spread and defy all attempts at containment. With widespread lack of vaccinations paired with unsanitary living conditions, it is no surprise that the disease has continued to thrive for most of 2014. At the beginning of 2015, new ideas for combating the Ebola spread are being implemented.
While U.S. advocates are providing as many vaccinations as possible right now, a new solution may offer a decline in mortality rates by changing one line of defense that may be a bit easier to control: clinic conditions.
African temperatures average in the upper 90 degrees Fahrenheit each day, and the intense heat is detrimental to patients losing precious body fluids from lying in the suffocating heat. Tents and tarps are set up in the typical Ebola clinic center, attempting to shield patients, volunteers and doctors from the intense heat. But as sweat, bugs and more people gather under the tents, patients and volunteers alike become quickly dehydrated and exhausted from the relentless sun.
A new Ebola treatment unit, or ETU, opened in Zwerdu — about 300 miles from Liberia’s capital of Monrovia — and is the first of its kind to feature bamboo-lined walls and a thin, tarp-like roof.
Thomas ten Boer of the German non-governmental organization Welthungerhilfe raves about the new structures. “I used bamboo because it is hollow and helps absorb the heat … Feel the plastic on the inside of the tent, it is cool to the touch,” he said. American aid organizations are excited about the new ETUs as well and USAID is set to build four ETUs in Liberia this year.
All construction materials, including the bamboo, are purchased locally, which also stimulates the economy while keeping costs down for the buyers. Local workers turned out to aid volunteers in the construction of the ETU. “You include the community and it helps them accept your project and gives them hope,” said ten Boer. For head engineer Daniel Dined, this project hit home. A Liberian native himself, Dined explained, “I have been working for humanitarian organizations … but to work for the Liberian people, that’s my dream and I love it.”
USAID hopes to have all four clinics open by Christmas, but as Dr. Elsie Karmbor of the Zwedru County Health Office said, “we pray that no patient will [have to go there].”
– Alaina Grote
Sources: Doctors Without Borders, USAID, YouTube, World Health Organization
Photo: U.S. Department of Defense
Poverty in Tehran
Nearly 40 years after the Iranian revolution, the nation’s leaders have yet to ensure equal distribution of wealth and opportunity to its citizens. Iran is currently home to seven million people living in absolute poverty, struggling to find enough food to eat each day.
Meanwhile, there are also five million people living in Iran who are tremendously wealthy, with Labor Minister Ali Rabiee deeming their financial statuses comparable to those of the wealthiest Americans. Nearly all of Iran’s national government officials are multimillionaires — a fact that the nation’s working class has protested over the years — and the country gains a considerable amount of wealth from its lucrative oil exports.
More detailed figures describing poverty data in Iran remain hard to come by, as news sources have criticized the government for withholding such information. This tendency to shy away from revealing relevant statistics is in no way a new trend; when former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in office, the government similarly refused to comply with the United Nations’ requests for official data reflecting poverty levels in Iran. This remained the case despite the passage of Iran’s Fourth Development Plan, which required the Welfare Ministry to make such information accessible.
Despite the ongoing secrecy, current Iranian President Haxdsssan Rouhani has been vocal about making poverty a top focus since assuming office, declaring in an October speech that there was “no evil worse than unemployment and poverty.”
Since taking over the presidency in 2013, President Rouhani has implemented several measures intended to address the nation’s growing poverty problems. Some of these measures have proven successful in helping to curb rising inflation levels and bringing a timely end to two full years of negative growth. However, it remains to be seen whether the president will be able to address the issue as fully as it demands; critics point out that the largest parts of Iran’s economy are heavily controlled by the government or semi-private bodies that remain intricately linked with the nation’s power players.
Officials believe that unemployment will only grow in the years to come, as approximately four million new college graduates leave their universities and struggle to find employment, joining the four million people in Iran who are currently in need of jobs. In the last fiscal year, nearly one quarter of all households in the nation were entirely unemployed.
In Tehran, many of the poorest city-dwellers turn to establishing informal businesses on the streets as a means of survival. It is common to see such vendors setting up makeshift “shops” on sidewalks or simply carrying their goods for sale throughout the city, peddling items like balloons, hair ties and socks to passersby. These street peddlers face instability and even danger in the face of constantly changing city ordinances and brutal security officials who try to extort them for protection money. Some peddlers, when confronted by rogue officials, are forced to regularly pay them in order to avoid harassment. If they refuse, the officers simply take all of the sellers’ earnings.
The situational poverty in Tehran goes beyond an economic problem to a human rights issue.
– Shenel Ozisik
Sources: The Borgen Project, PBS, Al-Monitor, FIDH, The Guardian, The Baltimore Sun
Photo: Payvand
Private Sector Partners Further Development
According to Martin Sajdik, president of the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council, including non-state actors in the development agenda is a crucial step in making the post-2015 development goals more feasible. “Our economic life, our social life is not only determined by state actors, so if we want to have a development agenda that is for all countries of the world — both developed and developing—we cannot ignore the fact there are many more actors,” said Sajdik.
The new Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, place particular emphasis on the importance of building multistakeholder partnerships across sectors. While the U.N. has involved private sector partners to a greater extent than it did when crafting the MDGs, some believe that the private sector’s role in setting the post-2015 agenda could be expanded further.
“Ultimately, we in the [Community Service Organization] community and World Vision understand this is a governmental process, that the ultimate decision will be taken by member states of the U.N. but our role is to influence those member states,” said World Vision external relations director Chris Derksen-Hiebert.
In recent years, cross-sector relationships have become increasingly common. One advantage of such relationships is that they harness the valuable expertise, resources and distribution channels of private enterprises.
One example of this movement is ColaLife. In 2012, the U.K. based charity began sending medicine kits to Zambia in cases of Coca-Cola. Rohit Ramchandani, ColaLife’s principal investigator, explained the organization’s philosophy: “Our model looks specifically at how we can partner with and leverage private sector distribution channels, these companies that are able to get their product out to that last mile in the most remote parts of the world.”
More recently, President Barack Obama’s Power Africa initiative received over $20 billion in private sector commitments, which will create millions of jobs, and fast-track the development of sub-Saharan Africa.
Andrew Herscowitz, USAID’s coordinator for both the Power Africa and Trade Africa initiatives, believes that governments will need to draw on the vast resources of the private domain in order to establish the expansive infrastructure needed to power the African continent. “Energy is one of the key constraints to economic growth in Africa, and only the private sector has the sufficient resources to build the necessary infrastructure,” he wrote.
Herscowitz also believes that the partnerships being forged within the Power Africa initiative are representative of a changing paradigm in the development world. “Our African partners are now looking less for the high-priced expert, who comes into a country to opine on what reforms a country may need to drive development,” he explained. “Rather, they want the deals themselves to drive the development.”
He went on to connect the role of private sector partners and government organizations: “The role that development institutions play in driving infrastructure development is being redefined, and the Power Africa partners are excited to be driving this new model for development.”
As policymakers continue to forge the post-2015 development agenda, it appears they will begin relying more heavily on the private sector’s diverse and valuable resources.
– Parker Carroll
Sources: The Brookings Institution, Businessweek, Devex 1, Devex 2
Photo: Wave Partnership
Education in Sierra Leone
Top Five Projects for GlobalGiving
GlobalGiving is a charity fundraising website that has helped nonprofits and social entrepreneurs organize donors and raise money to improve their communities.
Since 2002, GlobalGiving has raised over $164 million to support around 11,000 projects, fulfilling their mission to catalyze a global market for ideas, information and money that democratizes aid and philanthropy.
GlobalGiving allows people to choose where they want their money to go, enabling funds to support any creative idea that might never have been funded through traditional approaches.
Here are the most popular projects:
1. “Send 8 Children to High School – Kibera, Kenya”
This project will provide one year of scholarship support for eight children (three girls, five boys) from Kibera to attend secondary school. Scholarships will cover school fees and supplies. In a country where only half of school-age children are enrolled in secondary school – and rates are even lower in Kibera where the population lives on less than $2 per day and few secondary schools exist in the community – support will give children an opportunity to achieve a unique goal.
2. “Help Baltimore Youth Achieve Their Business Dreams”
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s students come alive when they have the chance to develop the mindset of an entrepreneur. NFTE Baltimore will use these funds to launch its program in a new classroom next year, bringing entrepreneurship education to 30 additional local youth in underserved communities.
3. “Christmas Gift – Donate For An Animal”
Even though the holidays are over, you can still make a donation to an orphaned wild animal on behalf of a loved one. With DAKTARI, you can choose the animal you want to spoil. This cherished animal will send you a personalized thank you photo, a certificate, and for more than $500 donated, a video.
4. “Provide New Clothes For Unfortunate Children”
This micro-project provides new dresses to underprivileged children. 40 abandoned orphan children between 5 to 15 years old can benefit from just two pairs of new dresses donated to them, helping them feel confident and more independent.
5. “Fund Vania’s Journey From A Shelter To Success”
Vania is extremely vulnerable to the pressures of trying to help raise her little sister who lives with her in a shelter. Vania also feels the pressures of knowing that her mother and brothers are living in Santa Cruz under difficult circumstances. There is no room or money to be part of her mother’s home. Next year, Vania will be homeless when she turns 18 because the shelter cannot house adults. Vania has a dream to live a better life for her and her family, but needs your help. This micro-project will help supply her living expenses.
In addition, each project states the issue at hand and how the project will help solve that issue with a potential long-term impact. Funding information is also included.
– Chelsee Yee
Sources: Global Giving, Fundraising UK
Photo: 3BL Media
Key Anti-Poverty Legislation to Look For in 2015
The dawn of 2015 not only means a new year, but also a new legislative session for the freshly initiated 114th Congress.
In this new legislative session, old anti-poverty bills that died in committee last year have a chance to be reintroduced, and other new foreign assistance bills are being introduced for the first time.
One newly reintroduced bill is H.R. 57: The Equal Rights and Access for the Women of South Sudan Act. The bill, introduced on Jan. 6 by Texas Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, promotes the belief that much more U.S. assistance is necessary in South Sudan, particularly with regards to women’s prosperity.
The bill aims to channel greater portions of U.S. relief assistance to local South Sudanese groups, particularly Sudanese women’s organizations, as well as increase women’s access to land, water, agricultural inputs, credit, and property, among other goals.
On Jan. 9, California Representative Barbara Lee introduced House Concurrent Resolution 6, which promotes the belief that the U.S. should annually dedicate at least one percent of GDP for nonmilitary assistance programs.
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the US currently spends approximately $31 billion, or 0.19 percent of GDP, on nonmilitary foreign assistance annually.
The concurrent resolution would require majority approval from both houses of Congress, but would not require approval from President Obama.
A handful of other anti-poverty bills either died in committee last year, or passed one house but failed to go past committee in the other.
One such bill was the Global Food Security Act of 2014, which authorized a new U.S. foreign assistance strategy to reduce global hunger and improve nutritional outcomes in developing countries. The bill passed the House last September but died in committee in the Senate.
The House Electrify Africa Act, which promoted greater access to electricity and renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa, saw a similar fate last year. The bill passed the House last May but never got past a committee vote in the Senate.
Nevertheless, it is not unusual for failed bills to be reintroduced and passed in a new session. The Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2014 promoted revisions to a 2005 act of the same name that provided greater access to clean water for over 2.5 billion people worldwide. The revised bill was first introduced in 2011, and was reintroduced every year thereafter until it was signed into law in December 2014.
– Katrina Beedy
Sources: Government Tracker 1, Government Tracker 2, Government Tracker 3, Government Tracker 4, Government Tracker 5, The Borgen Project, Slate, Water Aid, U.S. Congress
Photo: Digital
Alaffia’s Beauty Products Make Global Impact
A premium skin-care company called Alaffia empowers local people in Togo by handcrafting beauty products prepared from Certified Fair Trade shea butter. Better yet, all of the sales from Alaffia’s beauty products contribute to the livelihood of West African communities.
Alaffia offers creams, soaps, lotions and hair-care products made from the indigenous shea tree. Alaffia operates at a local level, employing women in need and enabling youth to stay in school to complete their educations.
This company is essential to West African women because they have difficulty obtaining employment since they are oftentimes not able to access education. Exclusion from the workforce leaves them vulnerable and often unable to support their families. Alaffia directly employs around 500 women in co-ops throughout Togo to cultivate shea by hand. These women are compensated with fair wages for their work and they bring unique knowledge and handcrafting skills to the job.
The company was founded by Togolese native Olowo-n’djo Tchala in 2004 after he realized the need to combat gender inequality and poverty. Alaffia was founded on Tchala’s belief that everyone deserves equality, empowerment and beauty.
Furthermore, Alaffia uses its profits to sponsor philanthropic projects in Togo. One such project is called “Bicycles for Education,” which provides disadvantaged students with bikes to get to and from school. So far, it has helped more than 6,300 students in Togo. Alaffia donates metal roofs, seats, and school supplies to rural schools through its “School Supplies and Repairs” project to create a functional learning environment for youth.
Alaffia has also provided over 3,200 pregnant women with pre- and post-natal care, and has funded the planting of 25,000 trees to combat climate change.
While philanthropy and environmental benefits certainly set Alaffia apart from other major beauty companies, Alaffia products are also made with unrefined ingredients and contain no synthetic fragrances or genetically modified organisms. They are vegan, gluten free and an ideal alternative line for those with sensitive skin.
These products help Africans profit from their natural resources and create sustainable goods that help our planet, empower local communities, and improve education for students.
Alaffia products can be purchased at natural and organic food stores such as Lassen’s and Whole Foods.
– Jenn Hartmann
Sources: Alaffia, Thurston Talk
Photo: Hello Beautiful
Seven Helpful Sites for Policy Jobs
So, you’ve got your education, you finally finished that internship during your undergrad, you have participated in a thousand mock interviews, and your resume has been polished at least 100 times. Now you just have to find that job you’ve been working toward your entire career. Here are seven websites to help you find policy jobs:
1. USAJOBS
USAJobs.gov is a helpful resource when it comes to finding a policy or federal job. According to USAJOBS, “The Pathways Programs offer clear paths to Federal internships for students from high school through post-graduate school and to careers for recent graduates, and provide meaningful training and career development opportunities for individuals who are at the beginning of their Federal service.” Programs include the Pathways Internship Program, Recent Graduates Program and the Presidential Management Fellows Program.
The site also has additional helpful resources that allow users to search federal occupations by college major, look through a comprehensive A-Z list of federal agencies, find an internship, or recent graduate job by a keyword, salary, pay grade, category, location, department or agency.
2. Going Global
Going Global is committed to providing “grassroots intelligence” through their team of in country researchers. They monitor and update the career information and resources that are delivered to users. GoinGlobal.com allows the user to easily find international jobs and policy jobs. Their website provides country specific career and employment information for 30 countries and its database search allows users to search by country, profession or topic.
3. International Organization Careers
According to International Organization Careers, “International Organization Careers is brought to you by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs (IO). IO is the U.S. government’s primary interlocutor with the United Nations and a host of other international agencies and organizations.”
IO Careers allows users to register for job alerts online, search international organization jobs database and filter the search by organizations, grades, professional fields, and locations, subscribe to jobs, assists students and young professionals, lists federal agencies, provides other employment possibilities.
4. Partnership for Public Service
According to their website, “The Partnership is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that believes good government starts with good people. By strengthening the civil service, and the systems that are supposed to support them, we help government serve the needs of all Americans.”
The Partnership goes above and beyond by actually getting involved and challenging policymakers and our government to have quality employees. Their website provides users with ample amounts of resources for programs and services for Federal Management, Federal HR, Political Appointees, Higher Education, Private Sector and Congress.
5. House of Representatives
The U.S. House of Representatives can be a great resource for those seeking policy jobs online. This website allows users to see how to apply for various positions within the House as well as employment positions with members and committees and positions with other House organizations. The site also provides information for new employees and information for former employees.
6. United States Senate
Like the House, the U.S. Senate holds various resources and information about employment and policy positions. According to senate.org, “The Placement Office assists Senators and Senate Committees with filling entry-level through professional staff vacancies by providing resumes of qualified candidates. The Office is nonpartisan and administered by the United States Senate Office of the Sergeant at Arms. Read the Placement Brochure and complete the required Applicant Referral Form to begin registration in the Resume Bank.”
The Senate Employment Bulletin is published as a service to Senate offices that choose to advertise staff vacancies. The listing is posted online and revised throughout the week.
7. State and Local Government on the Net
State employment websites include agencies that conduct studies, publish labor market statistics, and often enforce occupational safety regulations. These agencies process unemployment claims, administer workmen’s compensation programs, handle workplace discrimination complaints, and sometimes sponsor job fairs.
This site states that it is “The Official State, County, & City Government Website Locator.” All 50 states are listed on this page with various websites of departments, divisions, industries and employment opportunities, allowing users to skim through a variety of helpful links that correspond with the state of their choice.
– Eastin Shipman
Sources: USAJOBS, Going Global, International Organization Careers 1, International Organization Careers 2, Partnership for Public Service 1, Partnership for Public Service 2, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate 1, U.S. Senate 2, State and Local Government
Photo: Business Marketing Blog
How Falling Oil Prices Affect the Poor
Decreasing oil prices directly correlates with the price of food. Fuel transports food and with lowered oil prices, the cost of food is dropping. The price of fuel is important to the global market, because it dictates how imports and exports are priced.
The cost of petroleum determines the cost of agricultural products, like corn and wheat. The price of these crops includes the cost of transportation, chemicals and pesticides – all of which are made from petroleum.
Impoverished citizens will often spend over 50 percent of their budget on food. For instance, in Vietnam, parents will spend 65 percent of their budget on food for themselves and their families. With decreased prices in food, families living in developing countries will be able to purchase larger quantities.
While many living in developing countries are benefiting from the fall in oil prices, there is a population who is not benefiting from lowered oil prices. The fall in oil prices negatively affects independent farmers and crop growers.
These farmers do not use large amounts of pesticides or fuel to transport their goods. Therefore, the decreasing price in oil does not affect their cost in production and distribution. These farmers transport their food only a short distance. Disconnected from the global market, these small-holder farmers are at a disadvantage.
Overall, developing countries are benefiting from the decrease in oil prices, with the exception of small-holder farmers.
Lower oil prices can potentially benefit developing countries in another way, through investment. With lower oil prices, investment is possible because high oil importing countries have the opportunity to invest increased amounts into improving rural infrastructure and social services.
– Maxine Gordon
Sources: Yahoo, New York Times, Reuters
Photo: Inquisiter
The Future of Food Security
According to the World Bank, the world’s population is set to reach over 9 billion by 2050. With food security already a challenge, how will agriculture meet the food security needs of a much larger population?
According to Chris Brett, global head of sustainability at Olam International, food security success will depend on what he calls the ‘four A’s’—availability, accessibility, affordability and adequacy.
Availability, says Brett, will depend on smallholders’ access to land rights and financial support. Brett believes that policy-makers should look at ways to encourage lending, and increase the extent to which farmers legally own the lands that they cultivate.
As over 2 billion people depend on smallholder farms for their livelihoods, augmenting the smallholders’ ability to prosper could potentially go a long way to reduce poverty.
Banks, however, are unlikely to lend to farmers in disaster-prone areas. Farmers in such areas face the difficult choice between investing in safe but unprofitable crops, or riskier though potentially more lucrative alternatives.
According to a recent article by Gaby Ramm and Roland Steinmann, agriculture insurance presents a potential solution to the conundrum faced by farmers in risk-prone regions. Pilot study results suggest that insurance can indeed play a role in encouraging farmers to engage in more lucrative practices. In India, farmers with rainfall insurance displayed a tendency to gravitate toward cash crops, which—though vulnerable to rainfall deficits—produce much greater returns.
Furthermore, insurance can also indirectly allow farmers access to more credit, by encouraging lenders to lend with more frequency and confidence. This, in turn, leads to further capital investments.
Smallholders can also benefit from cooperation with large-scale agriculture. According to Brett, cooperation between large-scale and small-scale agriculture can be mutually beneficial, and can increase yields through pre-financing and training in skills such as inter-cropping.
Brett also notes that, while Africa’s agricultural potential is enormous, investments in infrastructure will be necessary for that potential to be fully realized. It is estimated that Africa needs $55 million in agricultural investment to guarantee self-sufficiency.
– Parker Carroll
Sources: Poverty Action, The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2
Photo: WSJ