Major crises like climate disasters and pandemics are, and will continue to, increase in frequency. The good news, though, is that organizations responding to these crises and their aftershocks can use learnings from this pandemic to prepare for the next emergency.
Canadian, international and Afghan women’s rights organizations have spent the last few decades fighting tirelessly for women’s education, work, and safety. Their work — and their partnerships with one another — are significantly threatened under the Taliban.
Global inequality is at a high, and so, therefore, is the relevance of humanitarian aid and global development work. But many argue this work has a colonial power imbalance that perpetuates the very inequity it aims to dissolve.
If passed, Bill S-222 could undo a decades-old rule that Canadian charities say prevents them from building fair, equal partnerships with grassroots organizations, rather than hierarchical and colonial relationships.
Newcomers are having a hard time finding community in Canada, because of COVID-19 shutdowns and the xenophobia it’s brought. If they can’t fully participate in life here in Canada, not only does it negatively impact their wellbeing, but all Canadians miss out on the ways newcomers make our communities better.
Humanitarian aid and international development organizations are beginning to have important conversations about race, class, and other markers of privilege. But while international development used to be a predominantly white field, the tides are changing, and the historic realities of white development workers are no longer the norm. Racialized development workers deserve support and training that understand their experiences.
