The Future is Calling - Lift off

Newspapers are full with columnists, politicians, academics and policy makers and their opinion on the future of development cooperation. But so far a real debate has not yet begun. Hivos and The Broker have joined forces and would like to invite you to share your views on the matter. The Broker explains:

Thick Problems

It is a rapidly changing world and everywhere we are dealing with problems related to growth, equity, sustainabilty and justice, think of the financial crises, distribution of wealth, climate change. These problems seem to be getting thicker. Thicker because they are complex, politicized and unpredictable. Solutions, however, are thin. Michael Edwards, independent writer and activist tells more.

Small, competitive and resilient - How small-scale producers contribute to food security

Food insecurity threatens almost one billion people, especially in rural areas in developing countries, where four out of five people go hungry every day. Scientists estimate that the world’s population will grow to 9.1 billion by 2050. Since natural resources are already dangerously degraded, fossil fuels are becoming scarce, and climate change has become an impending reality, this poses a serious challenge. To nourish the growing population and meet the challenges of climate change, it is n...

Small, competitive and resilient - How small-scale producers contribute to food security

Food insecurity threatens almost one billion people, especially in rural areas in developing countries, where four out of five people go hungry every day. Scientists estimate that the world’s population will grow to 9.1 billion by 2050. Since natural resources are already dangerously degraded, fossil fuels are becoming scarce, and climate change has become an impending reality, this poses a serious challenge. To nourish the growing population and meet the challenges of climate change, it is n...

Civic Driven change:Bringing Politics back in

Politics is central to development discourse, yet remains peripheral.  And, over some twenty years, a civil society narrative has not fulfilled  its potential to ‘bring politics back in’. Reasons can be found in  conceptual confusion, in selectivity in donor thinking and policies  towards civil society and in the growth-driven political economy of  NGO-ism.

December 16: Arab Spring and Gender: Opportunities and Obstacles

On Friday December 16, the ANVK (the Arab - Dutch Women's Circle) will organise the conference: Arab Spring and Gender: Opportunities and Obstacles.The conference aims to pay attention to the political, social and economical situation of women in different Arab countries after the Arab spring. It also aims at analyzing the role which Western countries and especially the European Union can play to enhance the position of Arab women.

"Civil society organisations and parliaments often lack the capacity to make a meaningful contribution to development processes"

This is one of the conclusions following the new cross-country report by Alliance2015. Alliance2015  has launched an advocacy tool kit in preparation for the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea taking place from November 29 tot December 1, 2011.The kit contains five Country Briefs covering the issue of Democratic Ownership in Cambodia (where the kit has been launched on June 3rd), Mozambique, Tanzania, Ghana and Nicaragua, plus the...

KP policy paper on the ‘Dignity Revolutions’ recommended by BNR News Radio as a reading material

At a programme of the Dutch radio channel BNR News Radio on Wednesday 23 November, the latest policy paper of KP Civil Society in West Asia entitled Regional Perspectives on the 'Dignity Revolutions': How Middle Eastern Activists Perceive Popular Protest was recommended as a reading material. This policy paper provides the perspectives of political and social actors who are the foot soldiers of the ‘Dignity Revolutions’. Please click the link of the programme below (in Dutch).  

BlueCoat: US technology surveilling Syrian citizens online

In the context of repression in the Middle East and North Africa,  surveillance technology has played a key role in providing authoritarian  regimes with the tools necessary to track citizens online. Among these  companies, BlueCoat has proved to be the most efficient in helping the Syrian regime control every movement of Syrians on the Internet.

Archetypes of Revolution

Upload your image of what best characterizes your protest movement! Archetypes of Revolution is a user-generated visualization of worldwide  protest movements and revolutions. Their interactive world map displays all images per continent. Next to the website the images are also displayed in an  interactive installation currently located at the Cast Lead #2 exhibition in Brussels, until November 28.