710 likes | 723 Views
Join Jenny Vaughan on a global journey to explore barriers to a full life faced by people and communities. Discover how you can effect change, even from home, by influencing global decision-making. Learn how to make a difference beyond borders.
E N D
I’m Jenny Vaughan This is me. This is a presentation about campaigning.
A while ago I returned from my ICS placement in Malawi, and I wondered, as I’m sure you all are… How can I effect change now I’m back?
I’m going to take you on a little journey all around the world…
Think of a person you met and helped out while you were overseas. It can be anyone.
Think of a person you met and helped out while you were overseas. Got one?
Think of a person you met and helped out while you were overseas. Got one? OK.
Think of a person you met and helped out while you were overseas. Got one? OK. I want to think about the barriers to a full life that person faces.
Think of a person you met and helped out while you were overseas. Got one? OK. I want to think about the barriers to a full life that person faces. And how to overcome them.
Think of a person you met and helped out while you were overseas. Got one? OK. I’m going to go through an exercise with you. I want to think about the barriers to a full life that person faces. And how to overcome them. You have some experience of this already.
Ready? LET’S GO!
This is my friend Isobel’s community during a food and nutrition workshop we ran while on placement. Together, they live in a rural village in Malawi.
This is my friend Isobel. Isobel is a wife, a mother and a farmer. Isobel and her community live in a rural village in Malawi. This workshop is one of many Progressio and partner organisation Arise and Shine International ran to build capacity and improve health and wellbeing in the village.
I worked with Isobel and her friends to come up with a vision of how they’d like their village to look. What they presented back to us was overwhelming.
“By 2018 we want to have: self reliance, food security, good education, enough livestock, good modes of transportation, safe drinking water and be practising family planning and conserving natural resources”
What struck me the most was that this community did not need telling, they did not need prompting. They knew exactly what they needed to lead fuller lives and their vision was rich and clear.
What are the immediate barriers to overcoming poverty that Isobel (and your person) faces? What stops Isobel and her community from living their vision?
All these things are very local and immediate. YOU (may) have been helping out with them.
So you helped this person out. GREAT! But now you’re at home, you can’t do this any more.
So you helped this person out. GREAT! But now you’re at home, you can’t do this any more. You probably noticed this and want to keep helping.
So you helped this person out. GREAT! But now you’re at home, you can’t do this any more. You probably noticed this and want to keep helping. But how?
We need to keep thinking, but a bit harder. Let’s go back to that list.
What do you notice about these things? Isobel can’t do anything about them.
She lives in the wrong place and doesn’t have access to the decision making platforms
She lives in the wrong place and doesn’t have access to the decision making platforms – these decisions get made in
She lives in the wrong place and doesn’t have access to the decision making platforms – these decisions get made in - London (Parliament, DFID, stock market, corporations)
She lives in the wrong place – these decisions get made in - London (Parliament, DFID, stock market corporations) - New York (UN)/ Washington (World Bank, IMF, World Trade Organisation)
He lives in the wrong place – these decisions get made in - London (Parliament, DFID, stock market corporations) - New York (UN)/ Washington (World Bank, IMF, World Trade Organisation) - Brussels (EU)
Or Isobel just doesn’t know about them. She has little power to effect change in global power houses.
But guess what? Someone who lives in the UK (and therefore the EU), and knows about the multilalteral, intergovernmental and surpranational institutions (UN, World Bank, IMF) can have an influence, even if Isobel can’t.
YOU can do what your person and Isobel can’t do… yet. And with the privilege of living in the UK and having found out about the reality of poverty and the necessity for international development comes the RESPONSIBILITY TO ACT.
I’m spreading the word that people in the UK are much more powerful then they imagine.