Social Media are Tools Not a Campaign but here are 10 that can help make a Campaign

Sphere: Related Content

DigiActive.org has a new video on 10 Tactics you can use in getting support for your favorite cause say the Millennium Development Goals for example. (OK not so new, its been sitting in my drafts for ages but anyway)

Tactical Technology Collective is the premiere international training organization for rights activists interested in using information and digital technology to create positive change. They have recently released a film that beautifully presents 10 key tactics in info-activism. The tactics are:

1. Mobilise People
2. Witness and Record
3. Visualise Your Message
4. Amplify Personal Stories
5. Just Add Humour
6. Investigate and Expose
7. How to Use Complex Data
8. Use Collective Intelligence
9. Let People Ask the Questions
10. Manage Your Contacts

10 tactics for turning information into action (Trailer) from Tactical Technology Collective on Vimeo.

The film has a dedicated site, http://www.informationactivism.org, where you can check out a local screening (or host your own), and help Tactical Tech promote the film. It’s just what activists need: clear, timely, and concise information that can be easily put into action.

The dedicated site also has individual videos for each of the 10 methods. What is becoming more obvious to me is that one individual, especially one not engaged full time in this arena needs to collaborate with others.

Related articles by Zemanta

• A Wiki State of Mind (impact.webershandwick.com)
• Obama for America's Lessons on Technology for Social Change (worldchanging.com)
• Michael Slaby - learning from Obama for America (ethanzuckerman.com)
• Crop Trashing and Social Movement Theory (averypublicsociologist.blogspot.com)

Changing the world through the union of small voices in pray and meditation

Sphere: Related Content

Tomorrow is another Bloggers Unite event. Writing on the World Wide Web is still to a large extent similar to putting a message in a bottle and throwing it into the ocean. Actually, it is better because I have discovered that the Internet is far more connected than I had surmised and if you send something off, somebody is very likely to see it. Bloggers Unite provides a forum where those with small bottles can join with those with far bigger bottles for their messages.

Why am I going on about messages and bottles? Because the Blogger Unite event tomorrow is

Global Peace Meditation and Prayer Day

A Call to unite our hearts as one in prayer and meditation for timely transformations."World Shift Day will launch a 24 hour meditation and prayer marathon to encircle the globe starting with the Mt. Fuji event where over ten thousand people will gather in a ceremony for peace and the awakening of all humanity.

I was thinking again why I do this even though it obviously has little affect for my own basically solitary efforts. Especially when I have admitted in the past that while I do work to hopefully make the world better, I am not that social (seen as kind, friendly enough but not that social though I am currently trying to network with others).

I have written before of "small voices", a concept I find appealing particularly in light of achieving democratic involvement on the web (can everyone in an online democratic exchange have top ranking?)

What came to me yesterday is that these efforts are seeking influence and change for the better without seeking power. All the small voices that share that ocean with me and seek to provide some knowledge or insights into making the world a better place often do so without seeking personal benefit or gain. Seen in this light my efforts can only make sense only as part of a larger whole, that all these small voices together are slowly evolving and changing the World Wide Web and through it the world.

The same can be said of the Global Peace Meditation and Prayer Day. This is a hopeful assumption which some will say has no empirical basis. I would argue that the very effort of being hopeful will have influence and that the potential positive leverage makes the "cost/benefit" ratio extremely inviting in regards to participation.

The has a mission statement that sounds in line with the efforts found online with Bloggers Unite and other World Wide Web efforts to change the world for the better:

Mission Statement
Creating higher consciousness for 2012 and beyond Generating critical mass for Timely Transformations on planet Earth Claim your power to Change the World Change it in time Change it for the better May Peace Prevail On Earth Our mission To foster and promote: An Inner evolution of consciousness New thinking New values New visions of the world Igniting Timely Transformations Through Global Peace Meditation and Prayer Day events Simultaneous global participation Reports on the impact of collective intentions, meditations and prayers Mobilizing a critical mass of elevated consciousness A World Shift from BAU – Business as Usual ( Read More) to TT – Timely Transformation (Read More)

This does not mean that I believe that the world can be changed from prayer or meditation alone, any more than I believe that I can be saved with people merely standing up or well intentioned but meager slacktivist efforts like writing a blog. I see it not as creating a cause of change but a condition for change and the more of us who participate the greater the chances for change.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Guided Grace Meditation, May 9 (dragonintuitive.com)
• Susan Smalley, Ph.D.: There's a Different Way to 'Meditate' For Everyone (huffingtonpost.com)
• Catalogue04 09 10 (slideshare.net)
• When You Can't Meditate (medicineformindbodyspirit.wordpress.com)
• Bloggers Unite for a Cause (lighteningonline.com)

A Coalition of Advocates (and me) Supporting the Presidential Study Directive on U.S. Global Development Policy

Sphere: Related Content

ONE is joining forces with the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN)—including:

• Bread for the World
• Women Thrive Worldwide
• Mercy Corps
• Center for American Progress
• Oxfam America
• Publish What You Fund
• RESULTS
• Save the Children
• American Jewish World Service
• CARE
• Americans for Informed Democracy and
• International Women's Health Coalition

They are combining efforts across the Aid Advocacy community to help elevate the call for development and foreign assistance reform for President Obama and his key advisors through the Presidential Study Directive on U.S. Global Development Policy.

Tom Hart, Director of Government Relations at ONE.org advised in an email:

Right now, President Obama and his senior advisors, led by National Security Advisor James Jones and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers, are preparing a Presidential Study Directive that will shape the future of U.S. efforts to alleviate poverty, fight disease, and create economic opportunity for the world's poorest people.

The petition they want us to sign, with my two cents added, reads:

Please create a U.S. global development strategy giving development a strong voice in foreign policy decisions and coordinating efforts to alleviate global poverty, fight disease, and create economic opportunity.

This would be the strongest message that you could send to the rest of world supporting the vision you put forth when accepting your Nobel Peace Prize. It would also be one of the most significant actions the United States could take in supporting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals especially to end poverty.

MFAN will deliver the petition to key White House contacts on December 18. They are looking to get 25,000 signature and so far they have 23,989 with 3,999 from California. So this time I am getting this out about a week early giving anyone who reads this an opportunity to add their voice so that they reach their goal.

Help Free Aung San Suu Kyi - Late Better Than Never - Small Better Than None

Sphere: Related Content

In my last post I wrote about not participating in the Amnesty International letter writing campaign and provided some excuses for not doing so. The undone and unsent posts remained in my drafts and one in particular gnawed at me.

Amnesty International had reminded me that the military rulers of Myanmar have jailed thousands in their efforts to crush all dissent – including prisoner of conscience and Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. But the pressure on Myanmar's leaders is building, and Suu Kyi's release is not only possible today, but could happen very soon.

The more letters we send, the better chance we have at setting Aung San Suu Kyi free.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been a source of inspiration for both this blog and for My Pathways to New Paradigms, which helped define this journey. There have been times when I have been skeptical of these efforts but this time I am putting those thoughts aside.

So even if it is the end of the campaign and its is only one letter, I fulfilled a pledge to write a letter on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi: Yes, I will write a letter!

Senior General Than Shwe
Chairman State Peace and Development Council c/o Ministry of Defense Naypyitaw UNION OF MYANMAR (Burma)

Dear Senior General:

I am deeply concerned that Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced in August 2009 to 18 months of house arrest after already spending 14 of the past 20 years under detention or restriction because of her work to protect human rights in Myanmar. She is one of more than 2,100 political prisoners detained in Myanmar, including student leaders Htay Kywe, Mie Mie, and Zaw Htet Ko Ko, Buddhist monk U Gambira, and political activist U Win Htein.

The sentencing of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months of detention is an affront to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which your government is obliged to uphold as a member of the United Nations.

Our President Obama urged Myanmar's Prime Minister, Thein Sein, to release democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners in Myanmar when he met with the leaders of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

I urge you to demonstrate Myanmar’s commitment to human rights by ordering the immediate and unconditional release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all other prisoners of conscience in Myanmar.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

Sincerely,

Brian Dowling

copy to: U Myint Lwin Minister-Counselor,
Charge d’Affaires Ad
Interim Embassy of the Union of Myanmar
2300 S Street NW Washington, DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 332 4351 Email: info@mewashingtondc.com

It is a very minor effort in this year's Amnesty International Global Write-a-thon which has as this year's goal 10,000 activists sending 250,000 letters compared to last year's of 7,000 people in the U.S. who wrote 200,000 letters in support. Still, it will add one more straw to the junta's back. Even though the effort seems meager and last minute, I keep in mind what else Amnesty International reminded me about.

P.S. – We've seen prisoners freed and lives spared when letters flood into government offices! Just last year, Ma Khin Khin Leh, a school teacher in Myanmar and Hana Abdi, a women's rights advocate in Iran, were both released from prison after Write-a-thon letters overwhelmed their respective government offices.

Related Posts:

1. Two requests - One to help one woman, the other to help millions, both help us all
2. Aung San Suu Kyi Support gets thanks but not results
3. Once Again Help Free Aung San Suu Kyi
4. Avaaz asks Help Free Aung San Suu Kyi
5. Revisiting The Past Creating the Future
6. Refugees Across the Globe - A Millennium Problem
7. Open Architecture Network - Making a difference with the Web and Triangular Scale
8. Even In A Digital World It Takes Real Heart To Make Change
9. A Paradigm Shift in Seeing the Potential of Paradigm Shifts

Sphere: Related Content

Upcoming Stand Up Events

Here is more on what is happening around the world re-blogged from an United Nations Millennium Campaign email.

With less than 40 days left until "Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now" in 2009, the excitement and energy behind this global anti-poverty movement is building rapidly. From Uganda to Canada and Poland to Nepal, people all over the world are sharing their stories and creativity with us, telling us about the incredible events that they have planned for "Stand Up" this year.

World leaders will hear the "Stand Up" pledge echoing from the highest point in the world when anti-poverty campaigners climb to the top of Mount Everest. Some incredible people in Nepal are planning this high-profile mobilization. In neighboring India, there are plans to host a creative writing competition around "Stand Up" for young people in Patna. A short boat ride across the Indian Ocean in Uganda, there are plans to host 5,000 students at a public debate about the MDGs -- along with a music concert with gospel singers and prominent speakers at an event for over 15,000 people. Continents away in Edmonton, Canada, a very enthusiastic group of college students are coordinating a campus-wide initiative wrapping hundreds of trees in white 'Make Poverty History' bands and with their University President delivering the "Stand Up" pledge. A member of the Canadian parliament will speak at the event on behalf of the Canadian Government. Down south in sunny California, 1,200 people are ready to parade onto a soccer field where they intend to form a large peace sign with their bodies prior to 'Standing Up'. This will be followed by a number of youngsters staging a Kite Fair (based on the book The Kite Runner) to raise funds for impoverished students in Afghanistan and in support of women entrepreneurs in Guatemala. In Europe, an MDG lecture series at colleges will lead up to two prominent Polish musicians taking the stage in Warsaw to anchor a large "Stand Up" event.

Stand Up events and actions are coming to us from all over the world in all shapes, colors and sizes. Share your ideas and plans with us. Let us know how you are doing your part to call out to politicians and ask them to bring an end to extreme poverty. Find out more on www.standagainstpoverty.org.

Update on UN Millennium Campaign Newsletter - STAND UP special

Sphere: Related Content

I am reblogging some of the latest information from the United Nations Millennium Campaign.

Last year, more than 116 million people - nearly two percent of the people on earth - participated in "Stand Up and Take Action" at events around the globe to demand that world leaders keep their promises to end poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. The MDGs are a set of 8 goals to eradicate extreme poverty and its root causes that 189 world leaders pledged to achieve in the year 2000.

After breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest mobilization of human beings in recorded history last year, we plan to make "Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now" bigger and better than ever before this year. Nearly 2% of the world's population stood with us in 2008, and with your continued help and support we can grow that figure.

Today we are launching a brand new and very exciting "Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now" song and video.

Two requests - One to help one woman, the other to help millions, both help us all

Sphere: Related Content

The primary focus of this blog are the Millennium Development Goals and actions that are being taken to see them realized. Those actions include those both direct and indirect as well as those both online and 0n-the-ground. As I often do with blog posts, I am taking multiple perspectives with this issue to help develop a more global understanding.

One particular action that is being promoted by this blog is the Stand Up and Take Action event on 16 through 18 October 2009. This year there is also a focus on women's issues.

This year, Stand Up will once again provide an energetic, high impact platform for people to raise the profile of MDG- related issues relevant to their region, country or community. However, this year Stand Up will begin on October 16th, World Food Day, and on this one day the focus on food security and on hunger will be greater. As always, the policy demands will be determined at the national and local levels by participants. But in recognition of the fact that many of the MDGs directly linked to the status of women are not doing well, campaigners are encouraged to give this year’s Stand Up a clear focus on holding governments accountable for improving the status of women and their rights.

Despite some of my own recent doubts about online activism expressed in this blog and My Pathways to New Paradigms, I am again blogging about online actions. This time by Amnesty International USA, one in support again of Aung San Suu Kyi and the other in support of the International Violence Against Women Act. The words below are summarized from the Amnesty emails. As is my usual practice, I have added a few more links. I have also added two badges to the top of the right hand column. The irony of having Amnesty provide the post cards in light of the recent articles on slacktivism is not lost on me.

Leaders across the globe have issued statements condemning the verdict in pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's sham trial. Tell them it's time to match words with action.

Time is running out. Vietnam will replace Thailand as chair of ASEAN at the end of next month. Critics have raised concerns that ASEAN's new human rights body will be toothless under Vietnam's leadership. We must ramp up our calls on Thailand to show leadership on human rights in Myanmar in order for it to make a difference in the remaining weeks of its chairmanship.

That's why we're calling on ASEAN to convene a meeting of the top brass in foreign affairs from all 10 member nations to come up with concrete measures to finally address the growing human rights crisis in Myanmar.

We're turning up the heat ourselves by calling on supporters to send 10,000 postcards – instead of emails – to the Thai government, which currently chairs ASEAN. (Don't worry – we'll send the postcard for you, so you don't have to buy postage, lick stamps or find a mailbox.)

Act now. Help us send 10,000 postcards to the Thai government by September 1^st to urge them to call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and thousands of other political prisoners in Myanmar.

Thank you for standing with us –
Jim, Nancy, Anil, Ulana and the rest of the Myanmar rapid response team

The United States could be doing more to combat rape in conflict, high rates of domestic violence around the world, human trafficking, and other forms of violence against women. President Obama and Vice President Biden championed I-VAWA as Senators. So we know that their support is there. They have been working with Senators Kerry and Lugar, who have promised to lead I-VAWA through the Senate.

• Young girls are being sold into unwanted marriages to pay their fathers' debts.
• Their sisters are raped by rebel bands as a tool of war.
• And their mothers are beaten by husbands in retribution for daring to seek basic education

But the comprehensive legislation that would make fighting violence against women a priority for US foreign policy and give the State Department Office for Global Women's Issues the force of law is still missing.

Help add 5,000 signatures to the petition urging President Obama and Vice President Biden to actively support the re-introduction and passage of I-VAWA this fall.

The Obama Administration has already taken historic measures this year to raise the issue of violence against women by:

• Creating a State Department Office for Global Women's Issues
• Appointing a White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, and
• Creating the White House Council on Women and Girls

But the bottom line is I-VAWA has still not been reintroduced.

Sign our petition and share it with someone who supports women's human rights.

In Solidarity,

Betsy Wright Hawkings
Deputy Executive Director, Research & Policy
Amnesty International USA

Aung San Suu Kyi Support gets thanks but not results

Sphere: Related Content I have written both on the seemingly vast potential of Web 2.0 to help us in our efforts in bettering the world and my own status as a slacktivist, recognizing that while this blog hopefully has some minimal impact it is certainly not at the level of resources and programs featured in this blog.

There is one cause, unfortunately, for which the promise of the web has not been realized and that slacktivist efforts and those far more in earnest have fallen short. That is the effort calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. It was through my first blog My Pathways to New Paradigms that I started learning more about Burma (now Myanmar under the current oppressive regime). This blog has also posted on the topic.

It continues to be an inspiring, but tragic story. It provided in part the inspiration to create this blog, and more importantly to see the world from a different perspective.

Avaaz asks help Free Aung San Suu Kyi

It is not the first time we have been called to help out, and I do not mean in anyway that we should not, but past actions have fallen short by a large margin. This even with the fact that the United Nations has condemned the actions of the government as illegal and activist organizations around the globe spoke up in protest. I understand the geo-political reasons for this, but that understanding is pointless here.

Avaaz was responsible for one such action. Back in March when I wrote the post they were at 143,838 participants supporting the Burmese. Now they are at 406,865. Their goal, because of the importance of the number 8 in Asian societies, is 888,888. Now I am not blaming Avaaz or anybody else or even myself. There doesn't seem to be any action that one could take to change this situation except keep pushing our leaders to push their leaders. Just realizing that there is no magic solution even on the Web.

Despite my current pessimism, I am providing this link so that more voices can be add to the call for freedom for Aung San Suu Kyi. http://bit.ly/16gzG9. This particular action is being put forward by Amnesty International USA.

Myanmar's military junta extended Nobel Peace laureate and pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's imprisonment by 18 months today after finding her guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest.

Critics of Myanmar's military regime condemned the outcome of the 3-month sham trial, calling it a pretext to keep Suu Kyi out of the running during next year's presidential elections.

The junta commuted Suu Kyi's sentence from three years hard labor in prison to an 18-month extension to her house arrest in the hopes that the international community will view the reduced sentence as an act of leniency.

But Suu Kyi should have never been imprisoned in the first place.

Suu Kyi's deplorable imprisonment has been denounced by everyone from heads of state worldwide to nine of Suu Kyi's fellow Nobel laureates. Join the court of world opinion in condemning Daw Ang San Suu Kyi's sham trial. Tell the leader of Myanmar's military junta that Suu Kyi shouldn't serve another minute of her sentence.

We know that the odds of success may seem stacked against us any time we appeal to authoritarian rulers. But the recent release of two U.S. journalists from North Korea is proof that even totalitarian regimes cave to relentless international pressure.

The fact that Myanmar's government reduced Suu Kyi's sentence is also a sign that the military regime is susceptible to the world community's criticisms.

We've proven time after time that even military dictatorships and other repressive regimes are no match for Amnesty's millions-strong global movement. Just last year, Ma Khin Khin Leh, another prisoner of conscience in Myanmar, obtained her release after Amnesty activists sent tens of thousands of letters to Myanmar's leaders on her behalf.

Join us today in calling for Daw Ang San Suu Kyi's immediate release. Go to: http://bit.ly/16gzG9

Taking a Step Beyond - Personal efforts in meeting the Millennium Development Goals

Sphere: Related Content In past posts, I have been self-depreciating (which doesn't mean that it is not true) about being a slacktivist. Even this small effort has sometimes become more difficult with other issues rising in my life. Truth is that we can always find people in our lives who are doing something more and can use that to help keep ourselves on the journey. So I wanted to connect with some of the good work that I have run across while on this pathway.

I have been wanting to do a blog post on what some of my Orkut and Facebook friends were getting involved in. It has been something on the backburner for a while. This pathway has introduced me to some rather interesting people. I did one with this blog on SAHASH INDIA NGO Society sometime ago.

One early connection was with Dr. Shushil Choubey of Bangalore, Karnataka, India who also has his own blog LIFE - Science Civilization.

Another friend Debashree Mukherjee works with TakingITGlobal - Inspire. Inform. Involve.

• "TIG is an inspiration to other organizations - it leads by example with its dynamism and commitment to constantly exploring and implementing innovative ways of doing business, proving that it is possible for an organization to be successful and truly socially responsible, and by showcasing the passionate dedication and brilliance of young people who are, often thanklessly, making this world a better place for all of us."

  Diigo tags: global, takingitglobal, activism, collaboration, youth, education, web2.0
  

This journey has also introduced me to SUSANTA BISWAS documentary maker both on Orkut and Facebook. This is his home page SUSANTA BISWAS - homepage.

He recently introduced me to Jeanne Ratzloff on Facebook who works with PeopleWeaver.com.

• PeopleWeaver.com - Kyangwali Women's MicroCredit Business Loans

  We provide economic assistance to the women living at the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Uganda. The intent of this assistance is to help the community escape extreme poverty. Current assistance projects include:
  

  • MicroCredit for Individuals
  • Community Grain Mill Purchase
  • Basket Making for Export

  Diigo tags: peopleweaver, kyangwali, microcredit, social-entrepreneurship

So there are people all over trying to make the world a bit better. My interest in focusing on these efforts is that they are the efforts of individuals, perhaps through organizations, but it is their individual effort that makes the story. The efforts are a bit more than your run-of-the-mill slacktivist even by well-meaning people who keep blogs and wiki's. Helps to keep perspective when dealing with this crazy world. I recently revisited a TED Talk that made this point about the importance of the individual's efforts as opposed to the networks.

New MDG blog links and resources from Millennium Promise

Sphere: Related Content I recently had the following exchange with Nicholas Chang of Millennium Promise.

Hi Brian,

I found your blog the other day after it was including in my google alert. I love what you are doing spreading the word about the MDGs! I work for Millennium Promise as the Social Media Specialist, and we are the NGO partner organization founded by Raymond Chambers and Jeffrey Sachs that works to achieve the MDGs with the UNDP and the Earth Institute. I was wondering if you could add us as links in your blog? For example, can you add a link to our blog under your "Millennium Bloggers" section and a link to our website in your "Supporting Millennium Development Goals In the Trenches" section? And can you add our facebook fan page to your facebook links section? We also have a twitter and myspace account that are all very new re-launches.

Well, if you can do this, I would appreciate it greatly. Great job on your blogging, and hope to hear from you. Please become a fan of Millennium Promise on facebook when you get a chance! Here are the links to the blog and social media profiles that I was talking about earlier:

Blog
http://blogs.millenniumpromise.org/

Website
http://www.millenniumpromise.org/

Facebook fan page
http://www.facebook.com/MillenniumPromise

twitter
http://twitter.com/EndOfPoverty

myspace
http://www.myspace.com/millenniumpromise


Nicholas Chang
Millennium Promise
432 Park Avenue South, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10016
(917) 771-3147
nicholas.chang@millenniumpromise.org
http://www.millenniumpromise.org/

Follow us on twitter, facebook, and myspace!

http://twitter.com/EndOfPoverty
http://www.facebook.com/MillenniumPromise
http://www.myspace.com/millenniumpromise
----------

My response

Hi Nicholas,

First off thanks for visiting my blog and your kind words. Your blog is now under the "Millennium Bloggers" section your webpage is under "Supporting Millennium Development Goals In the Trenches" section and your facebook fan page has been added to the facebook links section of my blog.

I also have a wiki from PBworks Milestones For A New Millennium and have added these resources there as well.

One section that may be of particular interest is Jeffery Sachs and the Millennium Villages

It is only suppose to be a simple explanation, but if one is going to explain the Millennium Development Goals then it seems necessary.

Thanks again for the encouragement and the chance to help.

Brian Dowling
BrianDRPM

From Hardware to Collaborative Philosophy "Whatever it takes"

Sphere: Related Content

Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore's had a post which has been sitting in my draft box for some time. It was on a comparison of Scale vs. Diffusion. His focus was about how to "scale" social sector innovation, and whether "diffusion" might be a more useful idea.

He followed up with another post on Understanding Scale. There is a great deal of interesting insights in the comments sections of both posts. This brings this blogging effort full circle returning to concept of "Creative Destruction" in my first blog which lead me along the path to where I find myself today. Also touches upon "Disruptive Innovation" from earlier in this blog. The concept of in-bound marketing is now taking root in empowering people.

The response to the post demonstrated a nerve was hit and that many social entrepreneurs are thinking hard about how to reevaluate the notion of "scale." It has taken me some time to get my head around it and I will be coming back to these concepts. In very simplistic terms, scaling is bricks and diffusion is water. Use both and you can turn grain into bread. Here is a quick bullet list, more at the original posts.

• Comment Theme #1 - Finally, "Scale" Isn't Sacrosanct:
• Comment Theme #2 - Affirmation of Local Context: Diffusion necessarily gives local context a stronger hand in adapting an innovation to meet a particular and discreet set of needs.
• Comment Theme #3 - Mind Shift, Not Resource Increase: Foundations still had a potentially vital role fostering the ecosystems in which innovation could diffuse across networks, and that a mindset shift was more important than any sort of resource increase.
• Comment Theme #4 - Institutional Scale Still Matters: A final point was that the "diffusion" mindset doesn't entirely supplant our notion of scale as much as supplements it.
  

What I also found interesting was the examples provided. They demonstrate a pathway from hardware technology create to solve a specific problem to organizational adoption to collaborative strategies. Paul Farmer's work has been featured in this blog and earlier in my first blog.

• FrontlineSMS: A free, large scale text messaging solution for NGOs and non-profit organizations

  FrontlineSMS is free open source software that turns a laptop and a mobile phone into a central communications hub.
  

  • A lack of communication can be a major barrier for grassroots non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in developing countries. FrontlineSMS is the first text messaging system created exclusively with this problem in mind.

    FrontlineSMS leverages computers and mobile phones already available to most NGOs enabling instantaneous two-way communication on a large scale.
    

• jopsa.org - Projects and perspectives on global health

  The FrontlineSMS in action

  • From the start of our projects to the finish, it’s people who determine what FrontlineSMS:Medic does, when we do it, and why. The tech tools we use exist to serve patients, community health workers, and healthcare professionals – not the other way around.
    

    We strongly believe that projects should start when clinics ‘pull’ them to a site, as opposed to having projects ‘pushed’ onto healthcare providers..

• FrontlineSMS:Medic | Text Messages Save Lives

  Implementing the Millennium Development Goals health objectives in the developing world will require new technologies arising from disruptive innovation. Finding new uses for technologies we take for granted.
  

  • How powerful is a light-weight tool in the right hands? During a six month pilot in Malawi, our partner doubled the number of people being treated for Tuberculosis.

  • Driven by local ownership and appropriate technology.

    In the developing world, lack of infrastructure prevents health workers from delivering efficient healthcare to rural areas. As health workers travel from clinics to reach isolated patients, they are often as disconnected from central clinics as the patients they are trying to serve. The mission of FrontlineSMS:Medic is to advance healthcare networks in the developing world by building and distributing innovative, appropriate mobile technologies.

• Partners In Health Vision - Whatever it takes

  The PIH model of care – partnering with poor communities to combat disease and poverty
  
  For the first time, substantial funding is available to treat infectious diseases in impoverished settings. Funding alone, though, won’t be enough. For this massive investment to make a real impact on the twin epidemics of poverty and disease, a comprehensive and community-based approach is key.

  • The PIH Vision: Whatever it takes
  • At its root, our mission is both medical and moral. It is based on solidarity, rather than charity alone.
    
  • Whatever it takes. Just as we would do if a member of our own family—or we ourselves—were ill.

Diigo tags: frontlinesms, mobile, global health vision, mdgs jopsa.org, jopsa, sms, activism, development,

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Distributive Leadership Obama Style

Sphere: Related Content

Last year I found this article at Harvard Business Publishing Obama and the Rise of Asymmetrical Competition, by Umair Haque, and while the idea fitted better with the election, I still like the ideas behind it. It is not an easy path to follow, but it is arguably the most scalable form of organizing and implementation of community change that we know. Umair Haque's perspective is business oriented.

Yes, startups have always challenged incumbents. So what makes asymmetrical competition different? First, rarely before new and lateral entrants been able to upset incumbents so decisively – to actually put them out of commission. Second, rarely have they been able to dominate entire industries with such speed. Third, almost never before have so many revolutionaries threatened so many incumbents across a broad sweep of industries. Fourth, in asymmetrical contests, yesterday’s sources of advantage become today’s sources of disadvantage.

More recently MITWorld provided a more indepth review of the Obama model of distributive leadership. Marshall Ganz's perspective is both political and community oriented. He makes the point that this type of leadership cannot be done from a Facebook account.

• Distributed Leadership in the Obama Campaign | MIT World

  The Obama campaign owes its victory not to a single charismatic candidate, but to the efforts of a disciplined and motivated organization whose roots go back to landmark movements of the 1960s. Marshall Ganz, who cut his teeth on civil rights work and with Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers, describes how the principles and practices he learned around organizing and leadership played out in the most recent presidential election.

  Diiog tags: obama, leadership, community, collaboration

  • Ganz’s take, after years with progressive movements, is that leadership involves “taking responsibility to enable others to achieve purpose in the face of uncertainty.”
    
  
  
  • This kind of “civic capital” is precisely what the Obama campaign cultivated and invested in, says Ganz. Thousands of people acquired the skills and practiced “the arts of leadership necessary to self govern in democracy.”
    

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

SAHASH INDIA NGO Society

Sphere: Related Content

One of the things that I have been wanting to do with this blog, besides finding the time to write it, was to highlight some of the organizations I have run across that are working on the Millennium Development Goals. The United Nations or the Millennium Campaign don't have to worry about being promoted. It is also important to keep in mind that a vast amount of work will be done regionally by small change-agent organizations that most people in the world will never hear about. The Web can make a small change in that. One medium of connection for this blog is the Orkut group End POVERTY / Fim POBREZA. There I connected with SAHASH INDIA NGO:

Hi Sir,
We just started this NGO 3 year ago with youth and are doing well & trying to achieve the MDG's with some legal requirements to work out. As soon as our legal status is completed, we hope we can do better for our society with your suggestions.

What I found fascinating is that a fledgling non-profit can leverage its self on the global stage through Web 2.0 tools. Whether it can do so at great enough scale is the question. Is there a Asian or Indian dgCommunities, ICCO or ComPart through which they could be working for greater collaboration? There does seem to be at least two sites, though neither are Asian or Indian in origin. The first is LinkNGO. They have a demonstration site. Here is the SAHASH (About Us - Welcome)site. The other is at WiserEarth. Here is their link for WiserEarth page Organization: Society for Animal Health Agriculture Science and Humanity - WiserEarth. They both provide important information about Sahash India NGO. They are also fellow Bloggers at SAHASH INDIA NGO.

I know that such levels of collaborative web programs have been created in India through my other blog Creating Economic Opportunity At All Levels. In my view though it is the European organizations such as EUFORIC Europe's Forum On International Cooperation that have the most to teach us about Web 2.0 collaboration. This is where the web could make a substantial difference in making the world a better place.

The work of Sahash India NGO will be at a regional level, but if it is not supported at a national level and we do not support groups like it at a global level, then the viability of reaching the 2015 Millennium Development Goals is highly questionable. It certainly can't be done by only outsiders to the region where the problems exist. It is not simply a matter of getting the G20 to agree, commit and live up to that commitment. A tremendous amount of management and resource organization must occur from the halls of the United Nations and other global organizations to the on-the-ground providers.

Update on the G20: Not Too Exciting, But It Could Have Been Worse

Sphere: Related Content

I am one of millions watching, blogging over the last few posts, and waiting to see what the G20 would do in London. Thousands of mile away, I have made some slacktivist endeavors to encourage change on a multinational, billions dollar budget, global stage. Hopefully those other fellow millions put together helped make a difference. The EndPoverty2015 campaign, which was one of the impetuses for this blog, provided the following background leading up to the economic summit.

UN MILLENNIUM CAMPAIGN URGES WORLD LEADERS TO PRIORITIZE SOLUTIONS FOR THE POOR AT G-20 MEETING

As world leaders meet in London on 2 April to discuss plans to address the current economic crisis, the Millennium Campaign and our civil society partners are calling on the G20 leaders to prioritise solutions for the poor. The economic crisis threatens to push more than 50 million more people into poverty and reverse achievements made on the Millennium Development Goals.

This crisis, manufactured in rich countries cannot be used as an excuse for rich countries to renege on their aid commitments to poor countries, which are already bearing the brunt of the financial crisis. Read our four policy demands and check out additional background information.

Anita Sharma on G20 Summit in London
Click here and visit the U.N. EndPoverty2015 G20 onlinespecial

Change.org provided an update of the proceedings from Change.org Weekly March 30 - April 5:

The world's heads of state gathered in London at the G20 summit this week to talk about what to do about the economic crisis. Our own Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Kleinman was there too as a credentialed blogger, reporting on the meetings, food options, and the treatment of the media (hint: it could be better).

After discussing the state of the planet, the world leaders basically promised to do what they'd already set out to do before: reaffirm foreign aid spending pledges, outline new funding for "social protection," and echo their commitment to address climate change. Not too exciting.

Web 2.0 and Social Impact from the Ground Up and from the Server Out

Sphere: Related Content

The focus of Development Gateway Foundation's dgCommunities (previous post) is providing web-based tools to make aid and development efforts more effective by increasing access to critical information, building local capacity and bringing partners together for positive change. Somewhat like computer geeks looking for some do-gooders to help. They are in the field, having just opened as opened a new office in Dakar, Senegal, but work more it seems on upgrading aid management systems or improving user interface.

The ICCO Alliance and its many partners or sponsors, including EUFORIC, seem to focus their efforts more towards on the ground efforts in aid relief than dgCommunities. They are also though seeking to extent their reach and effectiveness by using Web 2.0. tools, so do-gooders looking for help from the computer geeks. From the Web 2.0 perspective this would be the Integration of Collaborative Information Systems in Web 2.0 (pdf), but from the field operatives perspective looking to communicate and collaborate with other aid organizations it is ComPart.

Their system is impressive and should be a model for other collaborative progressive efforts on the Internet. While dgCommunities is out of Washington D.C., I have thought for a while that the Europeans were better at using the Internet for social action at the grassroots level than we are in the States. While we may have more people on Facebook signing up for the latest cause, Europe including Great Britain seem better at using Web 2.0 for socially beneficial impact.

The ICCO is now using these tools to create better connections with aid efforts going on in the southern hemisphere of our planet ComPart Learning Blog: ComPart South 2009 workshop

In 2007, ICCO started a project (with support from Euforic) working with Knowledge and Learning Networks. The project aims to contribute to ICCO Alliance capacity building, learning networks, and knowledge.

The basis for the ComPart system is ComPart Flowers. This 30 minute presentation found on blip.tv provides a more extensive look at what makes up the ComPart Flowers system:

Some of the tools used are blogs, social tagging and wikis. One outcome of these efforts is the web2share wiki.

This wiki introduces some 'building blocks' - tools and applications - for open information, knowledge sharing and communication in development. It builds on the efforts of ICCO, Euforic and their partners. It supports further investments in these tools and approaches.

The ICCO Alliance/ComPart folks are not having any trouble finding the computer geek types to help them including the founder of PBWiki, David Weekly.

David Weekly in the ComPart Learning Blog Post: Wiki, wiki, wiki, meet David Weekly.., explains his interest to listen to experiences of wiki users from Nepal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chile and Costa Rica during his participation in the ComPart support workshop in the Netherlands. He also explains how PBwiki continues to try to make wikis easier to use and how valuable it has been to meet some major daily users of the PBwiki platform.

Other tools include social-tagging on sites like Delicious of favorites like Everyone's bookmarks for "Happy Capacity Building".

How to promote a learning culture in an organization with huge workloads and pressure for the young staff? Start from scratch, from their needs and wishes, and help them crystallize their own ideas.

Most of what is featured here came from the ComPart toolbar, which I downloaded but can't now find a live link. I should disclose that I am not part of any of these organizations. I am just impressed and believe that even looking from the outside in that there is a great deal to learn.

diigo tags: compart, pbwiki, collaboration, web2share, wiki, web2.0, euforic, delicious, capacity, ICCO, euforic

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Insights From dgCommunities

Sphere: Related Content

Some recent explorations through the dgCommunities sites revealed some interesting insights into the topics that this blog has been pondering lately. One line of thought has been the immensity of the challenge facing the effort to implement the Millennium Development Goals. More so now that the world is facing a financial crisis. Raising the question as what are NGO's or change-agent organizations doing in light of this?

NGOs Pare Down in Face of Financial Crisis

Some of the biggest development and humanitarian NGOs are laying off staff or revising programmes for 2009 as their income streams flatten because of the global financial crisis. Fundraising experts of three of the world's top NGOs - Oxfam GB, Save the Children UK and World Vision USA - said programme growth will slow in 2009 as a result of the squeeze.

There are other actions that can be taken that don't depend as much upon a large flow of financing to fund massive projects. Providing knowledge for empowerment or broad based solidarity is a form of action for which the Internet is especially suited. This blog is being defined, along with countless others, as a "small voice" blog. A description well suited for sites with minimal resources but a wealth of good metta. This blog and my other have been exploring the tools available on the web to reach others through social media, but there is also a wisdom in the use of those tools. Kasem Ali wrote about this January 8, 2009. I have summarized to a substantial degree below as a set of quick notes to be learned and applied, and his original article should be read.

A Triumph of Trust: Five Principles of Nonprofit Social Media Strategy

Nonprofits are getting a grip on the fact that their stakeholder have the tools to reach as many people as they do and that there are powerful opportunities to be pursued as a result. Broadly speaking, this is seen as the challenge of social media. Too many organizations are treating their vocal stakeholders as either journalists with whom they must be careful, or as followers to whom they must market. Drawing from my experience in treating journalists as human beings, this article describes five principles of social media strategy that chart a better way.

(1) Don't Take It Personally: Assume that most of the time, most people will have little interest in what you have to say.

(2) Tell the Truth: Don't lie. Don't sanitize. Don't obfuscate. Sound like a real person.


(3) Make Their Job Easy: Study what people write and share. Figure out what else they need when they're considering your stuff and give it to them.

(4) Be a Useful Source: Look at what they write, discover their current sources and what is useful about them. Determine what kind of information makes them look good, and give them that.

(5) Prioritize Your Efforts: Invest more in those for whom your strategies are working and for whom your resources are useful, even if they have smaller audiences.

This level of established trust can become a basis for the sustainable development of grassroots empowerment. The Millennium Development Goals will not work as long as the model for overcoming poverty is donor in control and recipient in compliance. A level of grassroots empowerment must be established. The grassroots empowerment must also be nurtured into viable social and economic systems, but it has to be grown internally by the community itself. The Mercy Corps is one organization taking on this type of work.

Mercy Corps - Be the Change

Mercy Corps focuses on working in countries in transition, where communities are struggling to recover from political or economic collapse, conflict or natural disaster. Experience has identified community-led and market-driven programs as the critical factor in helping communities sustainably rebuild and recover. Key to this approach is enabling communities to mobilize successfully for action.

Sustainability Field Study: Understanding What Promotes Lasting Change at the Community Level

This report reviews the research and contributes meaningful data to the longer term impact of community mobilization program.

SUSTAINABILITY FIELD STUDY
Understanding What Promotes
Lasting Change at the Community Level
December 2007
Preface

The results of this study confirm the design hypothesis: that a carefully managed process of community mobilization can both increase the sustainability of community development investments and contribute to shifting outlooks and behaviors of communities to be more open and self-sufficient in decision-making and problem-solving. When programs work collaboratively with well-intentioned but under-resourced local government representatives, prospects for sustainability become greater. To increase sustainability, development programs must seek out committed government representatives and invest in their capacity alongside informal community leaders, building an understanding of transparent, accountable and participative processes for engaging communities in their own development. Additionally, programs should reach out to youth to help expand their opportunities for income generation and foster tolerance and community commitment.

SUSTAINABILITY FIELD STUDY
Understanding What Promotes
Lasting Change at the Community Level
December 2007
IX. CONCLUSION

FAO not Schwartz part 3 - A World Tragedy Too Long

Sphere: Related Content

This post is the third on the work of the FAO and the challenges that they are addressing - hunger and malnutrition. The questions are raised by everyday people who see the tragedy of the affliction and the immorality of inadequate response from the developed world.

The images are cut from the heart: men and women depleted, the frazzle clothes, their bodies reduced to skin and bone. Even more painful is watching the children deformed by malnutrition, left to die in the dust.

Watch this video - the words are in Portuguese but the pictures are universal.

963 million people hungry, says FAO reports the Monitor Online News , According to the Guardian Newspaper Nearly a billion people worldwide are starving, UN agency warns, and Food prices add 40 million people to ranks of malnournished.

The problem of hunger is most acute in Africa were people are starving. Malnutrition is more widespread and actually affects more children in Asia according to World Hunger Notes.

According to the most recent estimate that Hunger Notes could find, malnutrition, as measured by stunting, affects 32.5 percent of children in developing countries--one of three(de Onis 2000). Geographically, more than 70 percent of nourished children live in Asia, 26 percent in Africa and 4 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Africa though has multiple afflictions that combined together present a daunting challenge. People speak of an African Scourge, but scourge in Africa has many faces.

• Incontinence African Scourge; Lack of Medical Care Turns Girls into pariahs.
• Confronting Africa's scourge: AIDS
• Short draws attention to Africa's scourge of river blindness
• Central Africa: Scourge of Africa examined Genocide

Near the top of the list, the affliction of hunger and malnutrition seems to strike again and again.

• 14 Million at Risk of Starvation in Africa August 2008
• Starvation in Southern Africa October 2005
• Africa: millions threatened with starvation September, 2002
• Africa Death by Starvation - TIME January 1990

Sudan is dying of hunger again. The question is why, why anywhere?

World Hunger Notes provides some insights into the problems, a few of which are summarized below.

• The world produces enough food to feed everyone. The principal problem is that many people in the world do not have sufficient land to grow, or income to purchase, enough food.
• Poverty is the principal cause of hunger. The causes of poverty include poor people's lack of resources, an extremely unequal income distribution in the world and within specific countries, conflict, and hunger itself, an estimated 982 million poor people in developing countries who live on $1 a day or less (World Bank, Understanding Poverty, Chen 2004).
  
• Conflict as a cause of hunger and poverty. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)reports that as of December 2006, there were at least 22.7 million displaced, including 9.9 million refugees and 12.8 million internally displaced persons (UNHCR 2007).
• Hunger is also a cause of poverty. By causing poor health, low levels of energy, and even mental impairment, hunger can lead to even greater poverty by reducing people's ability to work and learn.
  

Two resources featured in this blog can also help to provide some understanding. Both are under Millennium Bloggers with Minds of Their Own below this post. Anup Shah writes about, World Hunger and Poverty, at GlobalIssues.org, Last updated: Sunday, July 06, 2008. Rav Casley Gera provides an informative chart in African history in ten seconds: New and improved! in his blog African Development for the Completely Bloody Ignorant posted under Useful sources. The recently discovered, The Profits of Famine: Southern Africa's Long Decade of Hunger is an older article from back in 2002, but it still provides some good insights into how we were brought to the present circumstances.

It is hoped though that the article will become even more out of date as people continue to endeavor to change the world for the better. As many of the stories in the TED Talks Africa, The Next Chapter tell us, Africa has unrealized potential and does not wish to be seen as either the charity case for the world or as the stepping stone for the world. One of my past posts Accession of African Activists. A DIY approach to the MDGs has a number of videos taken from the series.

Another worthwhile site, Goal One: Eradicate Hunger and Extreme Poverty.

It is still possible to continue making the needed changes to create a better world.

Related Posts -

FAO not Schwartz part 2- Opposing Pathways to Ending World Hunger and Malnutrition

FAO not Schwartz part 1 - Global Plan of Action Addresses a Global Challenge Hunger

The U.S. Election and Science and Hope

Sphere: Related Content

The next event of major importance to the United States, and arguably to the world, is the American Presidential Election. My political leanings put me squarely in the Barack Obama camp and have from the beginning of the primaries. The question for us in the States is how will President Obama govern? Here is one possible paradigm.

Lynn Sweet Predicts the Senate Outcome if Obama Wins
Sweet recognizes Obama's allies in the Senate as a strength, but also asserts Obama goes by the numbers and may initially cater to Republican Senators.

The question for this blog is how does that relate to the Millennium Development Goals? The answer is significantly. The inquiry though goes beyond specific political choices to understanding how this affects our world and our ability to make beneficial changes in it. One important pathway for change has been science and one favorite source has been Scientific American. They recently had a special issue on the American Election. I am providing links that they sent me below.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAGAZINE

In-Depth Report: Science and the U.S. Election

• The Big To-Do List--Scientific Challenges Facing the Next President
• Science Questions for Would-Be Presidents
• Will the Networked Generation Rock the Vote--Or Wreck It?

According to Avaaz, this election will change the globe -- it's as simple as that!It will determine if we see a timed end to the war in Iraq, whether America joins the global community in tackling climate change,how much the nation invests in renewable energy and whether America redoubles its commitment to fighting global poverty.

If you want to see if your views generally match the views espoused by this weblog take the U.S. Presidential Choice Quiz Now.

Other posts:
Barack Obama on Millennium Development Goals
Barack Obama and the Millennium Development Goals featuring a look at the impact of the American elections on Global Health asking "What would Barack do?" from Open Budgets Blog.

Reaping from Yesterday's Efforts Planting for the Future

Sphere: Related Content

Both Blog Action Day - Poverty and Stand Up Take Action are now in the past. You can see the results of the Blog Action Day here. Stand Up Take Action will be holding their press conference tomorrow to talk about the results. I already provided input to both the folks at Blog Action Day about an idea for next year's Blog Action Day and my views to the Orkut group I belong to supporting EndPoverty2015.

I had two basic messages to the Orkut group. One was to send in what they had done as stories, pictures or links. This is actually a bit self-serving because I get so many useful and interesting resources this way. The other was to register online as having Stood Up Against Poverty Online if they couldn't make it to an actual event.

The idea of pushing Universal Education as a means of promoting the Millennium Development Goals has been running around my head for awhile. I did see one local event at a near by Long Beach magnet school on Understanding Global Poverty, then I realized that it was 6th to 8th graders. Now I am very happy that they are studying global issues, but it wasn't something I would want to attend unless I still had my own eighth grader. So I participated online with the the Australian Council for International Development Make Poverty History Campaign.

Looking over some of the other posts at Blog Action Day I found Lucy Barrow's EduBlog post on Blog Action Day - What does the world think about poverty? | ICT and TLC. I did not know what an ICT trainer was until now. Lucy's post lead me to a more interesting resources such as Edublogger, and the polling site Ask 500 People. The pertinent question was “Do you believe it is possible to make poverty history?” That led me back to to Make Poverty History.

Another new and interesting find was Blog Action Day posts by "association" bloggers courtesy of Lisa Junker via Acronym by on 10/17/08. I have to admit that I am not familiar with the use of the term Association as a profession, but it seems like they do great work and that there is a great deal to learn from them. The Bamboo Project seems to have a good deal to offer.

I particularly liked the insight from Kristin Clarke the day after October 15th “Blog Action Day”.

Can one day’s worth of blog posts fundamentally shift public discourse on a major social issue? All I can say is that issues definitely won’t be addressed if no one is talking about them.