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.

Limitations of a 'purist' approach to human rights

Rebecca Adamson’s critique in the June issue of Alliance of the traditional philanthropic paradigm (‘one gives, the other receives’) and the concomitant lack of agency on the part of the recipient may be relevant beyond the field of support to indigenous peoples. Cultural values and traditional mechanisms for decision-making play a role in matters of conflict and justice in many local communities, whether indigenous or not.

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.

Citizen action and the perverse confluence of opposing agendas

Are people organizing against injustice in ways that differ fundamentally from those of recent decades? And, today's uprisings and mobilizations compared to their predecessors, do you find more continuity than difference? These and other question on contemporary citizen action and the Occupy movement are addressed by Lisa Veneklasen in her highly interesting article on opendemocracy.net. Here you will find a short introduction of her article.

Regional Perspectives on the ‘Dignity Revolutions

This policy paper provides unique perspectives from Middle Eastern  activists who are part of popular protests across the region. The  recommendations are based on their perspectives and addressed to the EU  at large European Commission, the Dutch government and Non-Governmental  Organisations in order for them to best support the democratic  transitions in the region.

From Facebook revolution to surveillance technology

In the beginning of 2011 the Arab Spring took the world by surprise. Around the world people were confronted and inspired by millions of brave citizens who stood up, ousted two dictators and demanded democratic reforms. (Inter) nationally technology like Twitter and Facebook have been praised for these web 2.0 revolutions. While the Facebook revolution discourse has been much debated, the flip side to the technology coin has been ignored.

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.

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 necessary that the unused potential of small-scale producers – who already today provide an impressive 70 percent of the world’s food – is unleashed.

Policy Brief Gender Mainstreaming 2.0

This policy brief aims to deepen our understanding and provide new insights in order to bring gender mainstreaming to the next level. Synthesis papers and cases studies have been produced in four policy areas to learn more about the ways in which GM has been implemented. These range from violence against women to micro-finance, and from value chain development to the aid architecture. In this policy brief we present the experiences in these specific policy domains, share our key insights on gender mainstreaming and translate them into practical recommendations.

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