Tag Archives: Community development

Self-reliance in community development projects: a mirage or an oasis?

Posted in: Aid Effectiveness, Community Development, Ethics in development | November 29, 2012 at 7:00 am , by Jessica Carter

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Britain’s recent decision to cut all aid to India by 2015 raises the question: how should we measure when a community no longer needs outside help? Is self-reliance a goal or a mirage? Jessica Carter takes a look at what self-reliance means in community development....

Why development workers should read children’s books

Posted in: Community Development, Disability, Reflection | September 27, 2012 at 6:00 am , by Weh Yeoh

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Working in development is often about the transfer of knowledge from one to another. But what if the process of unlearning - relinquishing knowledge that you have gained - could help you along the way? Through reading children's books, Weh Yeoh argues that development workers can realise the power of...

Literacy in Development: the flaws with using literacy rates to inform development policy (part 3)

Posted in: Education | April 4, 2012 at 1:00 pm , by Alex Grey

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In her third post on literacy and development, Alex Grey examines some of the issues associated with using literacy rates as a measurement to inform development policy, and shows how problematic approaches to monitoring literacy can lead to problems on the ground....

What David Foster Wallace taught me about development

Posted in: Reflection | May 5, 2011 at 11:59 pm , by Weh Yeoh

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What can a writer of fiction teach us about development? In this post, Weh Yeoh explores one of the central themes of the much admired David Foster Wallace's life, and sees many benefits of adopting a similar perspective as a worker in the field of development....

Lessons learnt from an internship in India

Posted in: Reflection | March 4, 2011 at 1:00 am , by Weh Yeoh

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Late last year, Weh Yeoh travelled to Delhi, India, to work with groups of refugees from Burma, Afghanistan and Somalia. It was arranged as part of an internship with his Masters program. Needless to say, the experience was overwhelming and many lessons were learnt. In this piece, Weh details, in...

Ambassador’s Reception

Posted in: Politics | February 24, 2011 at 10:48 pm , by Stuart Meney

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Do international ambassadors add any value to advocacy and development practice? Or are their stars out-shining the issues? Stu reflects on the recent visit of Monique Coleman, star of High School Musical and UN Youth Ambassdor, to a Football United project in Granville, Sydney. In this post, he examines...

Alternative approaches to nano-innovation and global health equity

Posted in: Technology | December 10, 2010 at 5:25 pm , by Donnie Maclurcan

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Today is World Human Rights Day, a day to celebrate the universal rights afforded to all and a day to remember the widespread inequalities that still exist. Recent advances in nano-innovation signal the potential for big impacts on addressing inequalities in global health from this very, very, very small technology....

Politics, the arts, and nature

Posted in: Politics | September 8, 2010 at 8:37 pm , by Janet Newbury

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Guest contributor Janet Newbury considers how to retain hope in the midst of despairing political realities. Drawing from artistic endeavours and encounters with nature, she reconceptualises political engagement in order to extend beyond the current state of affairs towards more constructive possibilities....

Waging war on development

Posted in: Alternatives in development | July 5, 2010 at 8:00 am , by Brendan Rigby

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In this feature, Brendan Rigby suggests that a systemic weakness of the international community is a lack of co-ordination in approaches to development. Current approaches are modelled after traditional military campaigns, which are outdated and ineffective. New approaches to development need to be modeled on approaches which are inclusive of,...

A gendered look a disaster response and recovery: post-tsunami Aceh, Indonesia

Posted in: Gender, Humanitarian Relief & Post-Conflict | June 7, 2010 at 8:00 am , by Ross Wortham

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Ross Wortham is graduate of the Masters of Social Development program at UNSW and Steering Committee member. In this essay, Ross takes a pluralist feminist approach to examining the post-disaster relief and reconstruction efforts in Aceh, Indonesia. His critical reflection reveals that these efforts did not sufficiently include or focus...

Haiti: where relief meets imperialism

Posted in: Humanitarian Relief & Post-Conflict | May 28, 2010 at 8:09 am , by Weh Yeoh

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The Haiti Earthquake of 22nd of January, 2010 left the country in a state of complete devastation. It has been estimated that the total cost of damage could be between $US7.2 billion and $US13.2 billion. Haiti is a country that, even before the earthquake, was already struggling with extreme poverty,...