Browsing articles from "May, 2010"
Middle East
May 21, 2010
Barak
2 Comments

Where do the Taliban vacation?

Apparently the beach.

Africa
May 19, 2010
Barak
No Comments

Homeward bound

At the airport. DUR-JNB-AMS-IAD (that is, Durban-Johannesburg-Amsterdam-Washington, DC). I hope that stupid volcano in Iceland takes a rest for the next few days. This has been a great trip and I am really going to miss Orlean. I also hope that the program we put together – a documentary on life in Chatsworth from the perspective of the community’s youth – helps to engage kids to do something other than hang around street corners waiting for something to happen (i.e., start using drugs).

Africa
May 19, 2010
Barak
No Comments

Freedom of association in Malawi

I’ve been to Malawi. It’s a really poor country. Really poor. Given the myriad of problems the country faces, I think the government has better things to do than throw people in jail – for 14 years(!) – for consensual sexual acts between adults.

Africa
May 18, 2010
Barak
2 Comments

A worthwhile trip

I am in Durban, South Africa to write a report on how research can help make NGOs more effective for International IDEA. The NGO I chose to examine is the Westcliff Flats Residents Association (WCFA) in Chatsworth, a poor suburb of Durban. The head of the organization, Orlean Naidoo, is an amazing woman and is also not real keen on outsiders mucking around her organization (there is a big problem in South Africa with outsiders using social movements to advance their own agendas). For this reason, I worked really hard to get Orlean’s trust – but was never quite sure I had earned it. Needless to say I was more than a little nervous when I gave my final presentation. Not only did she like it, but she agreed to be one of the co-authors of the report and we have already begun work on some of the report’s recommendations (engage youth to keep them off drugs). This is one of the best compliments I have received in a long time. This was a worthwhile trip.

Middle East
May 18, 2010
Barak
No Comments

Not a smart move by Israel

Dumb, dumb, move. Israel likes to boast about being the only democracy in the Middle East. Problem is you have to act like a democracy to be a democracy…and democracies allow things like freedom of speech and association. Banning Chomsky from going to the West Bank was also stupid from a PR perspective. Not only is it undemocratic, it is only going to make Israel’s battered image worse.

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Founded in 2004, Democracy and Society is a biannual print journal published by the Center for Democracy and Civil Society at Georgetown University. The D&S Blog provides web-only content, including special reports and investigative series, on issues relating to democracy and development.

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