Insight / Women's Rights
February 8, 2019
By paulf
Who really benefits from Ivanka Trump’s initiatives for women’s empowerment? Yesterday the Trump Administration officially launched the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative. Led by Ivanka Trump, this program will include moving funds already allocated to the U.S. Agency for International Development (yup, that’s right, no new money) towards partnerships…
Insight / Right to Food and Agriculture
February 6, 2019
By paulf
Trump’s pick for World Bank lead, David Malpass, continues a trend of nominating cronies to agencies they seek to destroy. To say that my relationship to this 73-year-old financial institution has been bumpy might be an understatement. And it looks like it won’t be getting smoother any time soon. Today,…
Insight / Right to Food and Agriculture
Co-authored by Yolette Etienne, ActionAid Haiti Country Director It has been more than 200 years since Haiti was formed by the world’s most successful slave rebellion – a revolt that liberated a country from colonial powers and abolished slavery. Since that time, wealthy and powerful nations and their institutions – including…
Insight / Women's Rights
On Friday, July 13, Donald Trump is meeting with his counterpart in the United Kingdom, Theresa May. While Trump and May are looking to reinforce their alliance through this encounter, many people in the UK are stepping up to disrupt it in support of women’s rights. My Body Is Mine Inspired by women…
Insight / Emergency Response
The Rohingya women who fled their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State have the answer. The real question is whether the world will listen to their vision for their future, or simply stand idly by as these people who have survived decades of persecution are once again put in harm’s way.…
Insight / Emergency Response / Women's Rights
January 19, 2018
By paulf
Tomorrow, people will be back on the National Mall for the 2018 Women’s March. This year, I won’t be there. Instead, I’m in the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh, where ActionAid is supporting Rohingya women and their communities as they rebuild their lives, having fled what the United Nations…
Insight
September 21, 2017
By paulf
“You can crush the flowers, but you cannot stop the Spring.” – Pablo Neruda You know you are making progress when the backlash comes at you. On Wednesday night it came in the form of a police raid of our office in Kampala, Uganda. When I got word that the…
Insight / Women's Rights
A few evenings ago, I was catching up with a senior USAID official who has worked with the agency over the course of several administrations. She expressed a lot of appreciation and support for ActionAid and our model of development, human rights defense and work towards global justice. She also…
Insight / Emergency Response
Even Pentagon officials are raising their eyebrows at their Commander-in-Chief’s budget proposals. In particular they aren’t fully on board with the proposed expansion of US military presence in Africa at the expense of diplomacy and humanitarian assistance. This move will pave the way for more costly conflicts on the continent,…
Insight / Emergency Response
“For the time that we are here, we will build this country. When we go home we will rebuild our own civilization.” – Isra, Syrian refugee, Lebanon When crisis hits, international humanitarian organizations respond – bringing in food aid and other material support. This first response is important, but it…
