Global Connections

Malala Yousafzai made it to TIME Magazine’s shortlist for Person of the Year, ultimately coming in today as the runner-up.
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Today the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) is excited to announce the national launch of “Aponjon”, a mobile health service that delivers stage-based, vital health information to new and expectant mothers via their mobile phones in Bangladesh.
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When you picture a United Nations conference, you probably don’t imagine 600 young people dancing in the aisles. But from the beginning, it was clear that the ICPD Global Youth Forum was not your typical conference. The forum – led by young people, for young people – brought together youth leaders, and representatives from civil society, the private-sector and government, from around the world to learn, deliberate, and make recommendations around five key issue areas: staying healthy, comprehensive education, employment, family and youth rights (including sexuality) and leadership.
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“So, now we can just walk into the office?” That’s what Rogath Lewis Mollel of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) said to me as we made our way into the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill. I responded with a surprised “yes.” Rogath was amazed with the amount of access he and the average U.S. citizen have to our elected officials in Washington, DC.
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If 2011 showed the desire and determination of citizens to have basic human rights in their societies, then 2012 demonstrated that there is no easy path toward obtaining these rights. Last year brought us the energy of the Arab Spring, with citizens in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Libya all pushing their governments to open up and make human rights and self-determination a priority. This year, with renewed tension in Egypt and a continuing humanitarian and political crisis in Syria, we’ve seen that the road to a society that prioritizes human rights can be long and hard.
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Just a few years ago, we all witnessed the birth of a new day that changed the way people think about holiday shopping: Cyber Monday. Today I am writing about something I think can be an even bigger game changer, #GivingTuesday.
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