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civil society

20 November 2015

Posted on November 20, 2015 Leave a Comment

Moorhead and Clarke’s “Big NGOs prepared to move South but will it make a difference?” brings exciting news. It shows the growing move of big INGOs’ headquarters and operations to the Southern hemisphere. Oxfam, Amnesty International, ActionAid are relocating their global HQs. This shift accompanies changes in function: from advocating with governments in the “North” to change things worldwide, to encouraging “governments across the world to be answerable to their own people”. And from delivering services to supporting local citizens to advocate for change. I got very interested in the HQ part of the story. Oxfam global HQ are moving from Oxford to Nairobi, getting thinner, and spreading across different hubs (Addis, Bangkok, Washington, and Geneva). Last year, I advocated for the relocation of our headquarters to Asia, with no traction. But looking at the transformation underway in INGO-land, one wonders: is the very concept of headquarters completely outmoded in today’s world?   I found the Oxfam model consisting of a series of interconnected hubs with specific functions very appealing. Should the UN rethink its HQ design and location?

It is always good to have a look of the G-20 Leaders Communiqué. Given the timing, terrorism-related issues took over a big part of the agenda. Some highlights include a strong call to fight inequalities that bring “risks to social cohesion and the wellbeing of citizens, [have] negative economic impact and hinder our objective to lift growth”; an agreement to reduce youth unemployment by 15% by 2025 in G20 countries; and the endorsement of a package of measures to reduce tax evasion (blessed by finance ministers last month). It is also important to note the recognition by the G20 of the refugee crisis as a “global concern” with a call to “all states to contribute to responding to this crisis, and share in the burdens associated with it”: a big win for the Turkish host and the EU, most directly affected by the crisis. While terrorism and refugee matters brought members of the group together, climate change was more divisive. A weak reference to the 2°C target was the hard won gain of a late night debate where India and Saudi Arabia strongly opposed referring to any review mechanism: a signal that the upcoming Paris negotiations may be tough. The next G20 Leaders Summit will be held in Hangzhou in September 2016. As China takes over the G20 Presidency, we may want to consider possible entry points in the preparatory process, not least because G20 Leaders agreed to “develop an action plan in 2016 to further align [their] work with the 2030 Agenda”.

My interactive map of the week is from the Global Terrorism Index 2015 just released by the Institute of Economics and Peace. The main facts from the report: 32,658 people were killed by terrorist attacks in 2014, this is 80% more than in 2013. Only 0.6% of terrorist attacks occurred in countries without ongoing conflicts. 78% of attacks happened in just five countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Syria. And half of the 2014 attacks were perpetrated by Boko Haram and ISIS, with the former being the deadliest.

My quote this week is from Marshall McLuhan’s “The medium is the message” [1967]: “Our “Age of Anxiety” is, in great part, the result of trying to do today’s job with yesterday’s tools – with yesterday’s concepts”.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: civil society, G20, terrorism, workplace

28 August 2015

Posted on August 28, 2015 Leave a Comment

Sherwood’s “Human rights groups face global crackdown ‘not seen in a generation’” reports a shrinking civic space in a growing number of countries. Oxfam and Civicus also ring alarm bells and Amnesty International plans to launch a campaign to protect NGOs next year. 60 countries have passed laws to restrict NGOs’ activities over the past 3 years with India, China, Russia, Egypt, Uganda, and Cambodia being the most recent. The main forces being this trend: less aid and influence from the West, governments’ growing fear of uncontrollable uprisings, and proliferation of counter-terrorism measures.

The Economist‘s “Why the UN does not pay its interns” explains just that. It follows the buzz created by the story of David Hyde who interning with the UN in Geneva slept in a tent because he could not afford a rent with an unpaid internship. [It turns out that the story was entirely plotted to shed light on the disapproved UN rules…] I have interns in my team yearlong and believe that their work should be paid. As a first step, let’s align with the ILO and FAO who offer stipends to cover for interns’ living expenditures?

My graph this week is from Diamond’s “How we die in the US versus how people die abroad”. It compares causes of death in high-income and low-income countries: heart diseases, strokes and lower respiratory infections kill rich and poor. And life expectancy at birth averages 81 years for the rich versus 59 for the poor.

 

 

My quote of the week is from Putnam at the Aspen Ideas Festival where he talks about his latest (great) book Our Kids: “The costs to the whole society of a generation of 25 million poor kids in America are estimated at roughly, over their lifetime, 5 trillion dollars. […] The most important reason why it is in our interest to help those poor kids is that our economy will grow more rapidly if we make use of the talents that are currently not being used because these poor kids are not being put in a position to advance. […] We are moving towards an America where being affluent and being poor is inherited.” [13’24”]

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: civil society, health, poverty, workplace

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