Hi Doug,
Excellent points. I have worked with Avaaz in the past and have been
a recipient of grants from them. In addition, I co-founded a
successful Avaaz-incubated and supported NGO as well.
Your points are right on the money. Organizations like Avaaz
inevitably run these campaigns as a way to build membership, solicit
additional donations, and re-insert and position themselves in
critical issues. As a recipient of funding from one of these
campaigns the research that went into why I should receive the money
and what I did with it was extremely shoddy - they are in a rush to
disburse funds which enables them to run another campaign saying that
"your donations have helped do X, help us do more by donating Y" while
keeping healthy margins for themselves.
I highly doubt that either Malala or her family have been asked if
they wish to be used in this way. Further, these petitions can
actually cause more problems for the family down the road.
The points you raise are precisely why I left the sector for academia.
It is important to not let an instinct to help override our
consideration for who is mediating our help, to what end, and for whom.
Cameran
--
Ph.D. student
Department of Geography
University of California, Los Angeles
Quoting Doug Hill <[log in to unmask]>:
> Hi everyone,
> While I thoroughly endorse increasing the enrollment of girls in
> school, I think that the sentiment of this post that suggests "All
> we need is for the Pakistani government to get behind a big national
> roll out of stipends" is simplifying a fairly complex situation. Not
> least, this post suggests that Zardari has the capacity to implement
> and enforce these kinds of changes. I am not suggesting that
> boarding schools and hostels wouldn't help. Of course they would.
> But surely this is over-stating the capacity of the Pakistani state
> to implement change in Swat and elsewhere?
>
> Moreover, is it really credible to suggest that 'signatures on a
> petition will really help him [Brown] get the media swell we need to
> persuade Zardari'?...
>
> So, if I understand this correctly, all that is needed is for Brown
> to have a chat to Zardari, then Zardari will roll out the stipends
> (minus his usual 10 per cent commission presumably) and then all
> will change? Perhaps the liberal media in Pakistan presumably hadn't
> previously grasped the idea that female education was important? Is
> this the first time that donors have tried to emphasise the
> importance of female education in the tribal areas? There is a
> large and significant civil society in Pakistan that would like to
> increase female education and they face considerable difficulties-
> its not just about Brown waltzing in and handing over wads of cash...
>
> By all means, let us be outraged by the shooting of Malala. Lets
> endorse action that is hopeful about the possibility of change.
> However, surely the critical spirit that this forum is supposed to
> be engendering would also suggest we should actually look at the
> ground level realities of how the tribal areas of Pakistan operate
> and the issues that these engender? Perhaps part of that is
> recognising that campaigns such as this sometimes simplify complex
> issues in order to get widespread support.
>
> best wishes
> Doug
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Hillary Shaw" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2012 4:34:08 AM
> Subject: Re: Days for Malala's hope - petition in support of female
> education in Pakistan
>
>
> Thank you Ricken, one of the best postings here for 2012
>
>
>
> Dr Hillary Shaw
> Food and Supply Chain Management Department
> Harper Adams University College
> Newport
> Shropshire
> TF10 8NB
> www.fooddeserts.org
> Gyneria, a country where discrimmination is acceptable,
> In education, jobs, pay status, and more;
> Gyneria, the land of women.
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Avril Maddrell <[log in to unmask]>
> To: CRIT-GEOG-FORUM <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:16
> Subject: FW: Days for Malala's hope - petition in support of female
> education in Pakistan
>
>
>
>
>
> From: Ricken Patel - Avaaz.org [ [log in to unmask] ]
> Sent: 29 October 2012 22:00
> To: Avril Maddrell
> Subject: Days for Malala's hope
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Malala's a 14 year old force of nature, shot in the head by the
> Taliban for campaigning for girls' education. But she's alive, and
> so is her dream of education for all girls in Pakistan. Let's help
> her realize it - a UN envoy will deliver our petition to Pakistani
> President Zardari in a few days for an expert-backed plan to get
> girls into school:
>
>
> Sign the petitionHey Avaazers - so if you haven't heard, Malala is
> this amazing, insanely brave, 14 year old girl who's been
> campaigning for girls' education in Pakistan, and blogging for the
> BBC. The Taliban drove up to her school two weeks ago and shot her
> in the head , with two of her friends. She's still alive, thank god.
>
> We're probably all thinking the same thing -- how do we honour this
> incredible girl? Her dream was for all girls in Pakistan to attend
> school -- let's help her achieve it.
>
> There's actually a pretty good expert plan for how to do that. UK's
> former PM Gordon Brown is the new UN Envoy for Education, and is
> meeting Pakistani President Zardari in a few days. He says a million
> signatures on a petition will really help him get the media swell we
> need to persuade Zardari. So let's do it, and have a pretty amazing
> present ready for Malala when she gets out of hospital! Sign and
> forward this email to get us to a million!
>
> http://www.avaaz.org/en/malalas_hope/?blHvpbb&v=19033
>
> Malala blogged for the BBC about life under the Taliban - the
> terror, the intimidation, and the demolition of girls' schools.
> Girls' education is constitutionally required in Pakistan, but only
> 29% of them make it to the 4th grade -- which is crazy since study
> after study shows that girls' education is a massive game-changer
> for development, poverty, public health and much more. One study
> suggested that if only half of girls finished school, Pakistan's
> economy would grow 6% faster every year! That just sounds like smart
> economics for a desperately poor country.
>
> Getting girls to school is a complex challenge (sometimes parents
> don't want them there), but experts have developed a program of
> stipends for families and other measures like school-building and
> teacher training that is really working, now that the Taliban have
> been cleared out of many areas. All we need is for the Pakistani
> government to get behind a big national roll out of stipends.
> Zardari has been hugely supportive of Malala, and Brown says that he
> is open to this idea, so a big public push might be just what we
> need to get a big win here! Sign below and forward this to friends:
>
> http://www.avaaz.org/en/malalas_hope/?blHvpbb&v=19033
>
> There's such a powerful lesson in this campaign. That one brave girl
> can stand up to thugs, and inspire the world. Let's finish the
> lesson, and show that the world, inspired, can help this awesome
> girl win.
>
> Such a pleasure to do these kinds of campaigns with you all,
>
> Ricken, Emma, Maria Paz, Alaphia, Meredith, Pedro and the whole Avaaz team
>
> SOURCES
>
> Pakistan girl shot over activism in Swat Valley, claims Taliban (The
> Guardian):
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/09/pakistan-girl-shot-activism-swat-taliban
>
> Malala Yousafzai: Pakistan bullet surgery ‘successful’ (BBC):
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19893309
>
> Pakistan: The schoolgirl the Taliban tried to kill (The Daily Beast):
> http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/09/pakistan-the-schoolgirl-the-taliban-tried-to-kill.html
>
> Pakistan rebuilds its education network after Taliban are driven out
> of Swat (The Guardian):
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/jun/26/pakistan-education-swat-valley-taliban
>
> Lack of education is adversely affecting girls (Pakistan Today):
> http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/04/28/comment/editors-mail/lack-of-education-is-adversely-affecting-girls/
>
> Why Gender Equality in Basic Education in Pakistan? (UNESCO):
> http://unesco.org.pk/education/documents/publications/Why%20Gender%20Equality%20in%20Basic%20Education%20in%20Pakistan.pdf
>
>
>
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>
>
>
>
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> --
> Dr Douglas Hill
> Senior Lecturer in Development Studies
> Department of Geography- Te Ihowhenua
> University of Otago
> Poverty, Inequality and Development Research Cluster
>
> --
> Dr Douglas Hill
> Senior Lecturer in Development Studies
> Department of Geography- Te Ihowhenua
> University of Otago
> Poverty, Inequality and Development Research Cluster
>
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