GDP - The Global Development Primer

In 1993 the Canadian Broadcast Corporation ran a brief clip about how something called "The Internet" was connecting millions to talk about sports scores, recipes, philosophy and gossip.  In the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, almost everyone depended upon the internet in order to get through it.  The deep dependency on cyber technology and connectivity raises security concerns.  As Mark Raymond shares with GDP, these concerns are far more concerning than the idea of sinister hackers and henchmen unleashing the next virus.

Mark Raymond (@MRaymondonIR) is the Wick Cary Assistant Professor of International Security and the Director of the Cyber Governance and Policy Center at the University of Oklahoma.

He is the author of Social Practices of Rule-Making in World Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019). His work appears in various academic journals including International Theory, the Journal of Global Security Studies, Strategic Studies Quarterly, The Cyber Defense Review, the UC Davis Law Review, and the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.

He was a Senior Advisor with the United States Cyberspace Solarium Commission, and has testified before the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development, and participated in the Internet Governance Forum.

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During the COIVID-19 pandemic, it is telling to see who is faring well, and who is suffering greatly.  Like most matters in health, social justice, structural violence and colonial legacies matter enormously in determining health outcomes.  For over 30 years, Partners In Health has put social justice at the forefront of health, arguing that good health can be a reality for all regardless of wealth.  National Director of PIH in Canada, Mark Brender, offers some thoughts about Social Justice matters in times of a pandemic, and for global health more broadly. 

Mark Brender is National Director of Partners In Health Canada, a global health NGO striving to make health care a human right for all people. Starting from a one-room clinic in Haiti more than 30 years ago, Partners In Health serves millions of patients annually across 11 countries, working to deliver high quality health care, address the root causes of illness, train service providers, advance research, and advocate for global policy change. Mark opened the PIH Canada office in 2011 and is passionate about raising awareness and funds for this effort. He previously held leadership positions with national and international charitable organizations.

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In July 2020 Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a funding commitment of $900 Million to the WE Charity to administer bursaries for students who volunteered a certain number of hours.  Critics immediately called out the lack fo transparency around this deal, and other charities were outraged that they were not approached and that all of the eggs went into the WE Charity basket.   

But beyond the finances, there are deeper issues to discuss about the WE Charity and the ME to WE experience, how it shapes images of International Development, and the ways it emotionally connects students to broader issues of global development and inequality.  And Addy Strickland joins GDP to discuss these issues.

Addy Strickland is a fourth year honours student at St. Francis Xavier University studying Development and English. Within her degree, she is researching the roles that art and story play in building and bettering community. Outside the classroom, Addy is also a student journalist, photographer, poet, and activist.

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The social determinants of health are complicated, interconnected, and tremendously important for measuring and shaping health outcomes for everyone.  Researchers talk a lot about how good housing, good food, and good air all lead towards better health.  But what about gender?  Germaine Tuyisenge explains why gender matters so much for the health and well-being of all - by sharing with us her research in Rwanda.  

Germaine Tuyisenge is a Ph.D. candidate in health geography at Simon Fraser University. She also holds an M.A. in health geography from Western University, Canada. Germaine is a also Fellow of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Scholarship (Kenya, 2015). Her research focuses on micro-level dynamics that facilitate women’s access to health services in resource-limited settings. Prior to undertaking graduate studies, Germaine worked with government and non-government institutions in Rwanda (her home country), Kenya, The Netherlands, and Canada. This work has focused on community health promotion, sexual and reproductive health, and women’s access to health services. Germaine is interested in building a research career dedicated to exploring the social determinants of health and using community-based practices to eliminate health inequities experienced by marginalized women.

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"Working with communities", "social entrepreneurship", "consulting with the UN" are all terms students in International Development have heard and use.  But how to get started?  In this episode Soudeh Jamshidian joins Dr. Bob to chat about how she has worked on various social entrepreneurship initiatives as well as with the United Nations, and founding her own organization "Peace Geeks"?  How to engage in global development through social entrepreneurship?  It's easy, according to Soudeh.  "Just get off your Donkey"....you'll see what she means.

Soudeh (B.Sc., M.Sc. in Natural Resources Engineering) is a social entrepreneur and environment expert, currently doing her PhD at the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. Soudeh’s professional life started at the age of 19 when she founded an environmental NGO called Daumoon in Iran, which continues to operate today. She has an extensive experience working on co-management and community development as well as policy making and awareness raising programs for environment management. She has worked as a project manager, designer and consultant for the United Nations Development Program’s Global Environment Facilities. She has also worked as a project manager and facilitator for various IUCN and IIED projects. Soudeh's experience has taken her to Iran, India, Afghanistan, Mali and Canada to collaborate with local communities, policy makers, international organizations and academics in various topics related to resource management. Soudeh's passion for working on development grew substantially after she worked as Environmental Education and Outreach Expert for the United Nations Environment Programme in Afghanistan in 2009-2010.  Soudeh is a co-founder of Peace Geeks and a moderator for Vancouver Peace Talks. She is also a member of the Board of both PeaceGeeks Society and PeaceGeeks International. Her PhD research is on multi-stakeholder processes and  various policies used for public participation in resource management in India, Iran and Afghanistan.

Urban gardening dates back to ancient times.  Community gardens are increasingly celebrated as a means to improve food security in urban settings, and especially for those experiencing economic hardship.   However, many homeless persons are mobiles, and gardens are not.  Kate Elliott joins us on GDP to share a story about making the gardens themselves mobile.  The Gro-Carts of Vancouver are changing geographies of food security, homelessness, and indeed, happiness and community.  You won't want to miss this episode.

Kate Elliott is an educator, researcher, and writer, Kate is interested in the ways humans and non-humans weave the fabric of community. Trained as a lexicographer, she turned from stories of words to stories of people, working as a community health researcher before receiving her B.Ed. in Ottawa. After two decades teaching at high schools in Ontario and British Columbia, Kate entered a Master’s program in Urban Studies. Interested in re-imagining urban spaces, Kate’s research has looked at shared use of urban green space, the invisible labour of those who contribute to the health of urban environments, and the possibility of strengthening urban communities through opportunities for shared learning. Kate completed her masters in Summer 2019 and is now a PhD student in an Interdisciplinary Program at SFU. Sin Since 2015, she has been involved in Gro-Carts, an award-winning community project to engage people without access to land in mobile gardening. In 2017, she coordinated Simon Fraser University’s 7th Rethinking the Region conference, which brought together local and provincial stakeholders to discuss urban inequality. Her most recent engagement project, Hands on Vancouver, collects the stories of ordinary humans whose hands help shape the communities in which they live.

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