Useful critiques of Avaaz etc. in this thread, but the issues remain; individuals can judge whether helpful to sign and/or take forward in other ways. Other suggestions?

Best wishes,
Avril

________________________________________
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Doug Hill [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 31 October 2012 02:24
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Days for Malala's hope - petition in support of female education in Pakistan

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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--
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