With less humanitarian aid flowing to Afghanistan, women continue to have fewer work options than men, eat less, and must consider desperate measures such as selling their daughters into marriage to be able to afford basic needs.
White saviour fundraising isn’t just paternalistic and racist. It can condition donors to believe that humanitarian issues in the Global South are unsolvable. Fundraising campaigns that promote solidarity can be just as effective as traditional ads, if not more so.
The colonial legacy of global aid is difficult to uproot from the sector’s current practices, operations, and hiring. Without serious reflection by Global North operations, these colonial practices will only continue to manifest themselves during humanitarian crises.
Global development and humanitarian aid are major priorities for the Canadian government, with $400 million in new funding aimed at improving COVID-19 vaccination in poor countries. However, the virus comes amid other major problems in the Global South. Hunger, climate change, and violence are still major issues in countries Canada routinely supports with aid.
We’re fast-approaching the last decade of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and scientific reports show us just how critical the need to take action for people and the planet is. At 2019 UNLEASH: A Global Innovation Lab for the SDGs, 1000 youth from 162 countries gathered in Shenzhen, China to accelerate innovative solutions to global problems.
