There’s An App For Everything – Donations Made Easy

Posted on March 22, 2017 by Sofia Margareta Møller

Even though there’s a lot of dark images being presented in media about xenophobia, racism and even neo-nazism there seems to be a rising willingness to help. In several countries, including Sweden, the UK and the US there have been noticeable increases in donations from both companies and private donors. With every catastrophe given extra focus in media the willingness to donate has gotten bigger, with extra boosts around Christmas.

To attract more donors the charities have been working hard to facilitate the giving. Making  donating ‘fun and easy’ as described in an article in Huffington Post, seems to be an important catchphrase. Continue reading →

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#CSW61, join the discussion for women’s economic empowerment

Posted on March 21, 2017 by Hanna Fjellborg

The 61st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61) is taking place from 13 to 24 March 2017 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

The theme of this year’s event is women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work. On the UN Women website, you can take part of the latest updates and top stories from the event. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has asked men to be prepared to lose more positions to women as to ensure gender parity (Gender equality. 2017). Guterres argues that:

“Generally no one likes to lose positions they have long held, but the reality of gender parity is that many more will be in positions that today are occupied by men. But that’s a good thing.”

The event has indubitably suffered from the devastation of the budget proposal in Washington, D.C released four days in the event, specifying great cuts in fundings to the UN and speakers have also been drawing attention to the empty chairs at the event – a result of the travel ban (Zakaria, 2017). But for now, this let’s have a look at how CSW encourages you to take part of the session yourself by using social media.

With #CSW61, together with hashtags connected to all of the side events taking place, you can follow tweets from the event and discuss women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work with thousands of participants. You can also access the latest information on logistics, the official session and the side-events through @UN_CSW on Twitter and UN_CSW on Facebook, and even follow stories on unwomen Snapchat and Instagram. Continue reading →

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The Other Side of the Coin – Fake News and Scams

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Sofia Margareta Møller

http://www.inquisitr.com/3736285/fact-check-your-friends-fake-news-sites-battle-starts-with-us/

We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden – Sweden, who would believe this?

Donald Trump certainly managed to baffle Sweden on the 18th of February this year. The truth turned out to be that nothing really had happened the previous night and that it all came down to misinterpreted news about Swedish immigration policies from a questionable source, picked up by some random advisors and presented to Trump completely out of context. Last year’s American election campaigns clearly showed that the most uncertain quotes and non contextual news were picked up and twisted to suit its purpose and that sources and references are less important than a smashing headline. Groups on Facebook literally exploded with articles about the most random statements about both the candidates and the current state of America and the rest of the world.

The eternal question within development studies is what is to be considered development. Are all types of change development? Does development have to be connected to economic growth? Or is the prime purpose of development political? Is a negative development also considered development? I quite agree with the way Jan Nederveen Pieterse puts is it: What, under the circumstances, is the meaning of world development? Because of the combined changes of globalisation, informatisation and flexibilisation there is a new relevance to the notion that all societies are developing. This is not just an agreeable sounding cliché but a reality confirmed by transformations taking place everywhere, on macro as well as micro levels. The whole world is in transition. (2010:50). Continue reading →

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Girls, not Brides: A global agenda for ending child marriage.

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Hassan Abdi Madar

Ending child marriage is a global agenda in which many international partners are working through using various programs and tools to make a significant, positive change. “Girls Not Brides” is one of the initiatives to end child marriage and invest in girls. It is  “a global partnership of more than 700 civil society organisations from over 90 countries committed to ending child

The issue is global and it is not limited to particular culture or geographical area. In India, for example, communication skills are used to stop child marriage. Roshanara is a young girls of 15 and she would like to study but her parents proposed marriage because they said they wanted the money. It was a hard decision for a 15 year old child who does not have ability to raise her voice and anyone to contact for help. However, the interesting point is that Roshanara had learn communication skills from roomtoread, India, and was confident enough to convince her mother to cancel the marriage.

Ending child marriage is a global agenda in which many international partners are working through using various programs and tools to make a significant, positive change. “Girls Not Brides” is one of the initiatives to end child marriage and invest in girls. It is  “a global partnership of more than 700 civil society organisations from over 90 countries committed to ending child marriage and enabling girls to fulfil their potential.” Continue reading →

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#BeBoldForChange – to take action and inspire others

Posted on March 11, 2017 by Hanna Fjellborg

This week, people all over the world gathered in in the cyber world as well as in public spaces, for the International Women’s Day on the 8th of March, to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The theme of this year, #BeBoldForChange, aimed to encourage individuals and organizations to share what bold actions they have taken or are planning to take to help progress gender parity around the world. On the International Women’s Day webpage, the campaign wants people to “Social share your support with colleagues, friends and followers via one of these channels and encourage others to #BeBoldForChange and help accelerate gender parity within their own sphere of influence” (IWD 2017, 2017). The campaign has led to a diverse range of actions, from beauty campaigns (#BeBoldForChange! Check. 2017) to collections of stories about how women in agriculture can #BeBoldForChange (#BeBoldForChange – Gender Equity. 2017). When Michele Sileo, Partner & Chief Growth Officer at Eleven Inc. was asked how she was planning to be bold for change in 2017, she answered “We hope to inspire and activate others to ask the same question, share their pledges and take action,” (Eleven Celebrates, 2017). And this is what the theme is all about. Not only will this year’s theme raise awareness about gender parity but it also encourages to take (bold) actions and share them on social media to inspire others. Continue reading →

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The importance of online Networking through social media

Posted on March 10, 2017 by Hassan Abdi Madar

“Networking isn’t about how many people you have around your table, it’s about having the right people at your table and being able to classify your network is the most important” (Acumen, 2017).

The hard truth these days is that social media is crucial for the survival of every person in this world and everybody including those in the remote rural areas depend on it one way or another. Social media has changed the world in its ability to connect instantly with friends, family, and strangers alike and has transformed the way our relationships are shaped in all aspects of our life (Kevin Lewis, 2014) and it is worth mentioning that the beauty of social media is that social networking is borderless, opens opportunities for everybody to share and have unlimited access to information and moreover everyone is equal on the social network as no hierarchies are in place (Bill, 2010). Marketing your business, conveying your messages to your target audiences, getting employment opportunities and making simple personal relationships from local to global levels all depend on how well you are connected. This could be done through the many online networking tools, each being appropriate for particular area. The Major Social Networking Tools include the following, among others: Blogging, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube.
We can take facebook as an example of one of the largest flexible social media for networking from simple chatting with your friends to creating pages and groups, using for causes and for news feeds. People, for example join Facebook to share information about themselves or as public relation tools to promote their organizations, mostly in an informal way compared to LinkedIn, which is more professional. The marvel of social media is that it naturally connects people who have similar interests around the world. You can easily reach your friends, and your friends’ friends and search former classmates and childhood friends. Continue reading →

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Migrant Workers and Mobile Phones

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Sofia Margareta Møller

Sunday on Orchard Road, migrant workers spending their day off together

Some time ago a post was circulating Facebook saying something like ‘Imagine if someone from the 50’s showed up today and we picked up our iPhones and said that -Look, we have the most amazing thing. It can fit in our pocket, we can access almost any library and newspaper with it, we can look at the world from above and even see specific buildings, we can call each other when we’re out and about and instead of writing letters, we can send instant messages with it. It’s great and we mainly use it to look at other people’s cats and dinners!’   New media has definitely changed the world and especially the way we communicate, not only on a macro, but mainly on a micro level. Though it might not be completely as first anticipated, we connect and communicate in a completely new way. Continue reading →

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HOW NEW MEDIA CHANGED POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS: NEW MEDIA INTERSECTION IN BARACK OBAMA CAMPAIGNs

Posted on March 7, 2017 by Joshua Ndip Ako

https://s3.amazonaws.com/wpd-assets/bsd-agency/2016/08/Obama08_laptop.jpg

New media has brought with it an unprecedented capacity to merge our human society and activities in a single box as compared to the past. Cyperskeptics, dispute this fact because they believe the internet offers no real chance of altering traditional politics, arguing that it will only serve to reinforce the established political communication patterns, transferring the traditional offline communication habits to the online platform (Bucy and Gregson 2001 , p. 357).

But the reality put forth by techno-optimists, Coleman (2001, p. 118), is that the internet is having a transformative effect on participation by giving access to previously inaccessible information, developing spaces for unmediated public deliberation and changing the way representatives perform. This is evident in the tremendous impact new media has had in influencing young people whose participation in politics previously has been marginal because internet has become so central to their lives (Zhao 2006 ), and has become a major source of news and information, which has seen increased presence of youth online (Madden & Hitlin, 2006 ). Continue reading →

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New Media Activism and Feminism in Zimbabwe

Posted on March 7, 2017 by Hanna Fjellborg

Just like new media activism has contributed to a change in the discussion about equality in the global North, its impact on societies where these issues seem to be ignored by the society, media and policy-makers may be even bigger. Internet can give people the possibility to have a voice and create communities, which as a combination can help renegotiate identities in a structured social system (Mitra, 2001, p. 30). In Zimbabwe. Internet has given a voice to both women and their situation as well as to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual and intersexual and Queer (LGBTIQ) citizens. The dominant homophobic patriarchal culture in the country has made it nearly impossible for the people to discuss human rights for marginalized groups. New media is offering alternative space of information, debate and discussion (Nhamo, Sithandazile, 2016 & Mpofu, 2016). Continue reading →

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The toxicity in the feminist movement and new media

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Hanna Fjellborg

https://thisismoscatolife.com/2017/01/24/why-the-historic-womens-march-was-controversial-for-most-black-women/

The Women’s March on Washington on January 21, 2017 aimed to unite women for “the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families – recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country” (Mission & Vision, 2017). In the blogpost “I’ll pass on “Unity” and the Women’s March” , Barbara Sostaita is taking distance from the event on the grounds that white women first need to demonstrate a promise. A promise, for which she even requires a contract, that white women will (in summary) put their bodies in the line for WOC and “commit to the lifelong struggle against hatred and oppression in all its forms” (2017). Continue reading →

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