Afghanistan

Buy Local With SMS: Connecting Suppliers with Humanitarian Operations in East Timor and Afghanistan

East Timor is studded with international organizations that are focusing on the country’s reconstruction and development. East Timor’s two-decade-long independence struggle against Indonesia  resulted in the country’s independence in 1999.  However, after that independence referendum, Indonesian militias destroyed 80% of the infrastructure from which the country is still recovering today.

Thousand of international aid workers move to the country every year but one must wonder how much they consume locally. It is not uncommon when visiting a foreigner’s house in Dili to find furniture made by big international chains, or a refrigerator full of food from Australia, Argentina and the US. Meanwhile, 49% of the Timorese citizens live on 80 cents a day.  It is possible to connect the markets – supply and demand – better?  Are there technologies, such as SMS, that can be used to connect local producers with this market?

Press Banned on Reporting Violence, and a Citizen Reporting Tool for Afghan Elections

Af the Afghani elections are coming up this week, there are a projects focusing on the election and citizen media coverage that we like to note.

First, as Taliban has intensified violence and has threatened to disrupt the elections and "kill those who vote," the Afghani government has called for reporters to avoid coverage of violence  so that Afghanis aren't scared away from polling stations. Meanwhile, associations such as the Independent Journalist Association of Afghanistan have refused to take the order and has promised to continue reporting. The ban on reporting is phrased as a "request" in English, and as "strictly forbidden" in Dari (good synopsis of ban and violence here).

Afghani Journalists Gear up for Elections

As Afghanistan's second democratic elections nears on August 20th, journalists are gearing up for fair and accurate reporting. The NGO Nai and the media development organization Internews have trained journalists and civil society workers over the past few months in fair and accurate reporting. Training includes, according to Internews, "active learning practices, the understanding of regulatory information on all aspects of the elections, and the importance of fair reportage."

Is Conflict Good for Mobile Investment? A New Study Argues It May Be.

A new study from the University of Manchester argues that conflict is benefitial to mobile infrastructure investments.  These investments have long thought to be dependent on 'pillars' like security and stability, finance and infrastructure, workers and labour markets, and the regulatory framework and tax. "Overarching all of these, the view is that good, stable governance forms the crucial basis for investment," write Agnieszka Konkel and Richard Heeks from the University of Manchester in the UK.