“On Being a Woman and a Diplomat” – Madeleine Albright
Highlight Quote: “From some people, I think they thought [women’s rights] was a soft issue. The bottom line is I decided women’s issues are the hardest issues, because they are the ones that have to do with life and death in so many aspects.”
Madeline Albright was the first woman to hold the post of Secretary of State. Both amusing and straightforward, she uses this Q&A session to address the need to place women’s rights in the States’ top priorities in foreign policy, as well as increase the role of women in the political sphere as a whole.
Albright’s draws from her vast experience to illustrate her points. She explains how women leaders are better at communicating across ideological barriers, from weapons debates with Finland to reconciling Hutu and Tutsi leaders after the Rwandan genocide. Finally, Albright speaks of women’s tendency to hinder their own progress by criticizing powerful women in the workplace.
“The Global Power Shift” – Paddy Ashdown
Highlight Quotes: “Suddenly and for the very first time, collective defense, the thing that has dominated us as the concept of securing our nations, is no longer enough. It used to be the case that if my tribe was more powerful than their tribe, I was safe; if my country was more powerful than their country, I was safe; my alliance, like NATO, was more powerful than their alliance, I was safe. It is no longer the case. The advent of the interconnectedness and of the weapons of mass destruction means that, increasingly, I share a destiny with my enemy.”
Ashdown has had a long and illustrious international career, serving in MI6, then as a member of Parliament and after as the Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 20 minutes, Ashdown delivers us more food for thought than we can chew on at once.
Ashdown discusses the global shift in power, a phenomenon we are witnessing as it becomes ever more globalized and shared. Unlike the past, where a single superpower has risen, Ashdown projects a globe with multiple powers. Thus, co-existing will depend less on dominance and more on cooperation.
He points out that the interconnectivity of the world has a far deeper effect than what we imagine. Our future, our safety, our resources increasingly depend on each other, and with the world evolving the way it is, the idea of a nation no longer being able to bully its way to dominance is a novel one. This is an idea that sounds encouraging, but will take much getting used to. For global powers, the implications of a world where willingness trumps will is going to take adjustment.
“Time to End the War in Afghanistan” – Rory Stewart
Highlight Quote: “Because the worst thing we have done in Afghanistan is this idea that failure is not an option. It makes failure invisible, inconceivable and inevitable. And if we can resist this crazy slogan, we shall discover – in Egypt, in Syria, in Libya, and anywhere else we go in the world – that if we can often do much less than we pretend, we can do much more than we fear.”
Rory Stewart, a British MP, offers a refreshingly honest talk about the reality of the war in Afghanistan. A war that was so well sold to the public – wrapping philanthropy, revenge, idealism, and power into one – has ended up being a bloody, costly disaster, leaving both America’s psyche and Afghanistan itself irreparably wounded. Stewart compares intervention in Afghanistan to intervention in other countries asks the question: why didn’t it work here?
In answering, Stewart says the unsayable – that America’s arrogance and self-interest ultimately undermined any possible chance it had of improving the situation of the Afghan population at the cost of the lives of American soldiers. Stewart focuses not on pumping money or destroying dictators, but working with those who fully understand and comprehend the complexities of foreign intervention, and can deal with the challenges and frustrations it may bring.
– Farahnaz Mohammed
Source: TED Paddy Ashdown, TED Madeline Albright, TED Rory Stewart
Source: The Self Employed
Peanuts and Feed the Future Empower Women in Zambia
One project by President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative is working to teach female peanut farmers how to double their yield of peanuts, and increase their product market by producing a variety of different peanut products, like peanut oil and peanut butter. The initiative is partnering with the Zambian Government Agricultural Research Institute to train the women to become certified to grow higher quality hybrid seed varieties. Selling these seeds will bring in a much higher profit than the seeds the women were originally producing.
In order to help the women create different peanut products, Feed the Future provided a grant to the Katete Women’s Development Association, an organization that empowers women to grow crops like peanuts, for peanut oil expeller, which will help the women enter into the market of peanut processing. The new presser will help the women’s work to remain sustainable even after their donors have left. As long as they have the expeller, they can work themselves to turn their peanuts into profitable peanut products.
Not only will the higher quality peanut crop and new processing technologies help the women increase their quality of life, but they will be working in a business usually reserved for men. In most other countries, men are primarily in charge of producing and marketing the product, giving them all of the opportunities for further success. Feed the Future’s work is giving women the same opportunities and breaking the social boundaries of agricultural work in Africa.
– Emma McKay
Sources: USAID, CIA World Factbook
Photo: Flickr
Famine for Political Ends
Tóibín begins his history of historical writing on the famine by stating “two things happened in its (the famine’s) aftermath. One, people blamed the English and the Ascendancy. Two, there began a great silence about the class division in Catholic Ireland.” What Tóibín describes is a hurting Ireland that could not afford to face the reality of the massive pain she had suffered. In the wake of famine, Ireland required a “nationalist fervor” to rise from the ashes. In 1854, the historian John Mitchel called the famine a “genocide”, insinuating that the British deliberately exterminated those who died in the tragedy. This extreme sentiment became milder in the 20th century but still survived in a veiled form. In the 1990s, Governor George Pataki of New York expressed the view that Great Britain purposely refrained from assisting the Irish during the famine. Views such as this serve politicians well because they incite feelings of nationalism in prospective voters.
The authors’ understanding of famine and its capacity as a political tool is outstanding. Over the last half-century or so, one can see a similar phenomenon taking place in Ethiopia, where political oppositions capitalize on government inefficiency in the face of famine. In 1973, the communist junta under rebel leader Mengistu Haile Mariam accused the reigning monarch of failing to deal with the problem, resulting in the overthrow of the government. After a war with Eritrea in the later 1990s, Ethiopia is once again reeling from economic impoverishment augmented by famine.
When there is famine, a political platform is raised that is conducive to a dangerous breed of nationalism. As the Irish famine illustrates, extreme situations of hunger cause people to question their government. This can be seen in the historiography of the Irish famine, which indicates a hatred toward the British monarchy that was so potent it survived into the late 20th century. These are only a few examples of how the tragedy of famine can be used as a political tool.
– Josh Forgét
Sources: The Irish Famine, BBC
Photo: Flickr
3 Foreign Policy TED Talks Worth Watching
“On Being a Woman and a Diplomat” – Madeleine Albright
Highlight Quote: “From some people, I think they thought [women’s rights] was a soft issue. The bottom line is I decided women’s issues are the hardest issues, because they are the ones that have to do with life and death in so many aspects.”
Madeline Albright was the first woman to hold the post of Secretary of State. Both amusing and straightforward, she uses this Q&A session to address the need to place women’s rights in the States’ top priorities in foreign policy, as well as increase the role of women in the political sphere as a whole.
Albright’s draws from her vast experience to illustrate her points. She explains how women leaders are better at communicating across ideological barriers, from weapons debates with Finland to reconciling Hutu and Tutsi leaders after the Rwandan genocide. Finally, Albright speaks of women’s tendency to hinder their own progress by criticizing powerful women in the workplace.
“The Global Power Shift” – Paddy Ashdown
Highlight Quotes: “Suddenly and for the very first time, collective defense, the thing that has dominated us as the concept of securing our nations, is no longer enough. It used to be the case that if my tribe was more powerful than their tribe, I was safe; if my country was more powerful than their country, I was safe; my alliance, like NATO, was more powerful than their alliance, I was safe. It is no longer the case. The advent of the interconnectedness and of the weapons of mass destruction means that, increasingly, I share a destiny with my enemy.”
Ashdown has had a long and illustrious international career, serving in MI6, then as a member of Parliament and after as the Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 20 minutes, Ashdown delivers us more food for thought than we can chew on at once.
Ashdown discusses the global shift in power, a phenomenon we are witnessing as it becomes ever more globalized and shared. Unlike the past, where a single superpower has risen, Ashdown projects a globe with multiple powers. Thus, co-existing will depend less on dominance and more on cooperation.
He points out that the interconnectivity of the world has a far deeper effect than what we imagine. Our future, our safety, our resources increasingly depend on each other, and with the world evolving the way it is, the idea of a nation no longer being able to bully its way to dominance is a novel one. This is an idea that sounds encouraging, but will take much getting used to. For global powers, the implications of a world where willingness trumps will is going to take adjustment.
“Time to End the War in Afghanistan” – Rory Stewart
Highlight Quote: “Because the worst thing we have done in Afghanistan is this idea that failure is not an option. It makes failure invisible, inconceivable and inevitable. And if we can resist this crazy slogan, we shall discover – in Egypt, in Syria, in Libya, and anywhere else we go in the world – that if we can often do much less than we pretend, we can do much more than we fear.”
Rory Stewart, a British MP, offers a refreshingly honest talk about the reality of the war in Afghanistan. A war that was so well sold to the public – wrapping philanthropy, revenge, idealism, and power into one – has ended up being a bloody, costly disaster, leaving both America’s psyche and Afghanistan itself irreparably wounded. Stewart compares intervention in Afghanistan to intervention in other countries asks the question: why didn’t it work here?
In answering, Stewart says the unsayable – that America’s arrogance and self-interest ultimately undermined any possible chance it had of improving the situation of the Afghan population at the cost of the lives of American soldiers. Stewart focuses not on pumping money or destroying dictators, but working with those who fully understand and comprehend the complexities of foreign intervention, and can deal with the challenges and frustrations it may bring.
– Farahnaz Mohammed
Source: TED Paddy Ashdown, TED Madeline Albright, TED Rory Stewart
Source: The Self Employed
6 Ways to Bring an End to World Hunger
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates nearly 870 million people are suffering from chronic malnourishment despite the world producing more than enough food to feed everyone. Nearly all of these people, 852 million, live in developing countries. What can be done to solve world hunger?
1. Prevent Land Grabbing: The ugly truth of the future food supply scarcity issue is that wealthy, land-poor countries, including those in the Gulf and South Korea, are obtaining tracts of land in developing countries to use as allotments. Many African countries, including Ethiopia, Sudan, and Madagascar, have already been targeted. A reported estimate totaling an area the size of Spain has been taken from these countries leaving many families unable to feed their children. The push to end land grabbing is the main campaigning focus of the Enough Food For Everyone IF campaign.
2. Reform and Regulate: Large amounts of investment funds have flooded into the commodities markets since the 2008 financial crisis. The automated trading systems, which exploit the tiniest of flaws in the market, encourage volatility. This makes it extremely difficult for traditional traders to keep prices stable and capable of hedging against spikes in the market. Though this was a topic much discussed in the G20 and G8, an international agreement to reform and regulate the commodities markets has not yet been reached.
3. Produce Less Biofuel: With the pressure to reduce carbon emission from fossil fuels, wealthy countries have been turning sugar, corn, and other crops into ethanol and biodiesel. Burning large amounts of food in our cars reduces the amount available to eat and results in much higher food prices. If that does not sound catastrophic enough, evidence shows that many biofuels actually release more greenhouse gasses than fossil fuels. More greenhouse gasses means hotter, drier seasons, dying crops, and even more hungry people.
4. Support Small Farms: Many African farmers are less productive today than US farmers were 100 years ago. There is an agreement between NGOs and governments that supporting small farmers is the smartest solution for future food security. With a combination of aid, education in better farming methods, and the introduction of better seeds and fertilizer, a green revolution could soon be within Africa’s reach.
5. Target Infant Nutrition: Many companies and wealthy nations are backing an African government-led plan to eliminate malnutrition, and large improvements have already been made. The solution is education on good feeding techniques and getting the proper nutrients to the mother and child at the beginning of pregnancy. This aid is key because malnutrition is responsible for an 11% decrease in GDP in affected areas.
6. Reduce Poverty: No surprise here; economic growth is the key to reducing hunger. More trade, financial liberalization, and open markets will aid in the flow of food. Successful poverty-reducing methods in China have led many economists to believe that hunger in the country will be eradicated by 2020. As for the rest of the world, the UN’s Millennium Development Goals aim to end extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. If each UN-member state does its part, these goals can be achieved.
– Scarlet Shelton
Sources: The Guardian, World Hunger
5 TED Talks in 5 Minutes
Asher Hassan’s Message of Peace from Afghanistan – Asher Hassan
In this short but potent TED talk, Asher Hassan manages to obliterate our image of the now ravaged Pakistan as a place of poverty, misery and Islamic fundamentalism to show a hopeful, resilient and entirely human face to the country. Through a series of striking photographs, showing vendors selling bags, a displaced internal refugee child, spools of brightly colored rainbow spools of thread. Hassan’s subjects are the individuals who get lost in Pakistan sold to us by the media, and the ones who are most affected by our action or inaction in their country.
Selling Condoms in the Congo – Amy Lockwood
Amy Lockwood needs four minutes and seventeen seconds to illustrate an all-too-important phenomenon that causes aid programs to fail: not targeting efforts towards the group, but focusing on the feelings on the donor. In the Congo, sex workers use very few of the free condoms that aid agencies provide but would use the generic, priced ones sold. Lockwood, as a marketing professional, asked herself why. Her talk offers a simple but powerful tweak in the way we approach aid that could make a world of difference.
Photos That Changed the World – Jonathan Klein
The man at the head of Getty Images, the industry’s largest and most quality bank of photography and imagery, gives a short talk on the power of photographs in provoking action. Using iconic images from history like the Hindenburg explosion, ‘Kissing the War Goodbye’ and mass graves of the Holocaust to today’s most controversial photographs, such as torture in Abu Ghraib, military war injuries and slaughtered gorillas lying crucified on bamboo poles, Klein illustrated how a picture can be worth more than a thousand words in an age full of discourse and short on action.
Escaping the Khmer Rouge – Sophal Ear
Not a big ideas talk, but a heartfelt personal story, Sophal Ear speaks of his escape from Cambodia during the country’s horrific political turmoil. Today, Ear leads research on post-conflict countries and assists in the development, reinforcing the fact that refugees are more than statistics, but brave, resilient lives worth saving.
How I Built a Windmill – William Kamkwamba
One of the most inspiring talks on TED, this talk is a Q&A session with William Kamkwamba, from a small village in Malawi. At 14, he saw how to build a windmill in a library book. In his words, “I tried it, and I made it.” Prompted along by TED speaker, William’s unassuming ingenuity in attempting to improve his village’s access to electricity and water is heartwarming and incredible.
– Farahnaz Mohammed
Sources: TED
HelpAge USA Fights for Elderly Rights
Though many aid organizations set their sights on helping young, vulnerable children, HelpAge USA recognizes that the elderly are often just as vulnerable as the youngest members of society. HelpAge USA, therefore, works with partnering organizations to spread awareness about elderly people’s roles and value in communities.
HelpAge USA is an affiliate of the broader HelpAge international movement that builds awareness of global aging issues around the world. As a branch of this successful parent group, HelpAge USA spreads awareness of elderly rights among U.S. audiences while simultaneously urging them to advocate for the empowerment of the elderly in the developing world.
At the infrastructural level, HelpAge USA has outlined specific goals for improving communities’’ ability to help its older members, such as enabling older men and women to have secure incomes, quality health care, and support in emergency situations.
In addition to building up infrastructure, HelpAge USA works directly with the elderly to build a global and local movements that teach older men and women how to stand up for themselves in the face of discrimination. This is an important tool for the young and old alike, especially in impoverished regions with lower access to widespread employment, resources, and education.
The most innovative part of HelpAge USA is that it involves older men and women in “program design, implementation, and review.” That is, HelpAge USA relies on the input of the elderly themselves to drive the movement’s goals and ambitions. What better way to empower and properly gauge the needs of a deprived group of citizens than to place them at the heart of the movement itself?
For all they have done for their neighbors and communities, HelpAge USA believes that society owes the elderly their share of healthcare, social services, and economic and physical security in return.
In the fight against global poverty and affronts to human rights standards, one cannot forget to fight for the rights of the older men and women that have contributed so much to their communities’ social, economic and cultural development during their lives.
– Alexandra Bruschi
Sources: HelpAge USA, Idealist
Photo: Flickr
Widows Rights Limited in Cameroon
Widows’ rights have been an issue for centuries, but, with the advent of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the cause for concern has grown exponentially.
In Cameroon, when a woman’s husband dies, all of his belongings go directly to his surviving family regardless, of whether he had children. This is because women and children are regarded as property and therefore cannot inherit it, this practice leaves many women struggling to raise children after having been stripped of assets that they feel are rightfully theirs. Furthermore, many are forced to take part in mourning rituals that can last years.
One woman, who is now an advocate for the program, states, “I would get up in the morning and sit with those who came to mourn with me. I could not go out, I could not attend church. It was like you were not your own person.” Joseph Nij, a retired police officer, also told of the hardships he saw some widows face. “They had widows isolated and barefoot,” he said. “Some of them were told not to wear clothes, and could only eat from a separate dish.”
Another woman was forced to urinate in front of a large crowd to prove she had no part in her husband’s death. Other injustices include forcing the widow to have sexual relations with her male in-laws, making her lie next to her husband’s corpse for up to three days, forcing her to remarry or prohibiting her from marrying again, and required displays of public nudity.
The rationale for such behavior is almost as shocking as the abuse itself. A report by Pingpoh Margaret Hongwe from the Cameroon Association of University Women (CAMAUW) reads, “Hardly is any death considered natural. Most deaths are attributed to witchcraft and the power of witchcraft is very often attributed to women. When a man dies, society quickly accuses the wife. The ill-treatment of the widow is considered a punishment, a test of fidelity and a cleansing exercise.”
In Cameroon, one young student is looking to turn things around. Sundze Mamah Natari, known as “Mallam,” is the president of the Muslim Students’ Association of Bamenda (MUSAB), and is working with the fons, or kings, of different regions within the country. He believes that because some of the younger fons have been university-educated, they may be able to approach this issue with an open mind. Noting that change will not happen overnight, Mallam adds, “Some of these traditions have lasted more than 500 years. This project is very sensitive.”
Fortunately, some are starting to pay attention to the issue. This year on June 23rd marked the first International Widows’ Day, which was started by the United Nations to raise awareness on the rights of widows around the world.
– Samantha Mauney
Sources: Mail & Guardian, Widows’ Rights, All Africa
Photo: Flickr
Brazil’s Development Success
Former Brazilian president Inácio Lula da Silva, during an international conference in Addis Ababa last week, claimed that hunger can be eliminated in African countries by 2025. However, he said, in order to do so subsistence agriculture must be abolished.
Lula’s claim is based on the success of his own country enjoyed through the Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) program. Under his eight-year presidency, the economy of Brazil averaged an annual growth rate of 5%, whilst simultaneously reducing poverty levels drastically with 20 million brought out of extreme poverty, and creating 20 million jobs. Small-scale farmers were given access to seed and credit, and 50 million people benefitted from a cash transfer scheme.
In order to replicate this success, Lula says that national policy will have to change to reflect the commitment to eliminating hunger and poverty. This means a change in the approach to support given to those in poverty. This support must be viewed as an investment rather than an expense. By giving subsistence farmers access to modern technology and machinery, and educating and encouraging them to produce, small-scale farming can be transformed to create excess crops for farmers to sell.
In speaking of the potential to emulate the Brazilian model, Lula targeted African leaders for designing good policies on paper but failing to implement them and truly improve the quality of life of their citizens. He said, “We failed to include the poor in our national budget. Any financial support to politicians and the rich in society is regarded as an investment yet when funds are geared towards the poor and the eradication of hunger, it is christened as spending.”
Lula’s remarks were made at a conference entitled “Toward African Renaissance: Renewed Partnership for a Unified Approach to End Hunger in Africa by 2025.” The conference concluded with a declaration, reaffirming government commitments and encouraging greater partnership between governments, the private sector, and civil society. Additionally, a commitment was renewed to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), an initiative that calls for African governments to commit 10% of their budget to invest in agriculture and increase agricultural productivity by 6%.
– David Wilson
Source: The Guardian, My Joy Online
Where Kids Are Lacking Nutrition
A deficiency in micronutrients, also called hidden hunger, accounts for approximately 7% of the disease burden and affects two billion people around the world. The lack of proper vitamins and minerals leaves a severe negative impact because it permanently affects people’s mental and physical capacity. Oftentimes people have food and are not affected by starvation, but they still do not get enough nutrients from the food they are eating.
The Hidden Hunger Index is a valuable tool because it shows where people, specifically young children who are still developing at a rapid pace, are lacking the nutrients needed to develop their bodies and minds properly as well as to develop a strong immune system to fight infectious and fatal diseases as they grow up.
According to the Hidden Hunger Index, 18 of the 20 countries with the highest rates of micronutrient deficiencies are in Africa, and Niger is number one with 47% of its children stunted, 42% anemic, and 67% with Vitamin A deficiency. However, because of the Hidden Hunger Index, experts not only know which areas are suffering the most, but also what they are suffering from, which is a big step in the right direction.
– Katie Brockman
Sources: SOS Children’s Villages, Scoop Independent News
Photo: Flickr
What Does USCAN Stand For?
Created in 1989, The U.S. Climate Action Network (abbreviated USCAN) is a network of organizations dedicated to fighting climate change. An affiliate of the global Climate Action Network (CAN), USCAN works to connect the multiple organizations working to spread awareness and tackle an issue that has reached critical levels of urgency.
USCAN has been present at all major environmental summits. It aided in developing the policy at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and again for the Kyoto protocol in 1997. Since 2007, it has worked to lobby support for environmentally friendly policies against a notoriously resistant government, both at home and internationally.
Currently, USCAN is focusing on supporting five key areas. The first is the Clean Air Act, which regulates emissions and controls the quality of air and the impact of industrial activity on the ozone layer. The second is monitoring the international agreements the United States makes in order to cooperate with international efforts in conservation. The third is raising awareness regarding tar sands, where the U.S. extracts oil through a process that causes huge trauma to the environment, with the destruction of habitat, water wastage and the release of toxins that lead to cancer and respiratory infections. They conduct continuous climate polls to keep a finger on the pulse of the nation’s interest in climate change and environmental issues.
Recently, they have also been involved in garnering support and spreading awareness of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, an extensive proposal outlining the steps the nation should take in order to balance economic progress with vital environmental conservation.
USCAN is part of a large group of organizations – 700 worldwide – working together to fight the rapid destruction of our environment. As an organization themselves, they have little sway but have collaborated to harness the power of several individuals and institutions to rally the support necessary to influence policymakers. As stated in their description, “Only by working together to build effective pressure on the policymakers at all levels of government will we win the strong actions required to confront the climate crisis.”
– Farahnaz Mohammed
Sources: USCAN, CAN, Climate Action Plan
Photo: Flickr