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Can filmmaking help achieve development goals?

Blair Glencorse of the Accountability Lab discusses the importance of community-driven development and how filmmaking can engage people in accountability goals. Many organizations and development professionals have found that reaching initial benchmarks is sometimes easier than sustaining them. However, with clear goals, development progress can be sustained in the long-run. According to Blair Glencorse of the Accountability Lab, setting goals that are context-specific is critical. The Accountability Lab, he says, meets “people where they are, not where we want them to be,” and takes into consideration the varying levels of literacy, numeracy, and other practical skills of their clients when designing a program. [...]

2015-04-15T00:00:00+00:0015th April 2015|

Fighting Corruption by Localizing Aid

This article was originally published by "The Hill." By Gregory Adams  America is the most generous country in the world.  We do this for a lot of reasons.  Helping other countries helps strengthen our own security, and our own prosperity.  But most importantly, America gives aid to fight poverty because it is the right thing to do.But Americans often ask ourselves, "is any of this aid making a difference?" How do we make sure our aid gets to the people who need it?  How do we make sure it leads to real change? How do we make sure it's not [...]

2015-03-30T00:00:00+00:0030th March 2015|

How I became Nepal’s first-ever ‘Integrity Idol’

By; Gyan Mani Nepal. This blog post was originally published on Oxfam America's The Politics of Poverty blog. A district education officer in rural Nepal sets a course for school reforms (and becomes a national celebrity along the way!) Nepal’s first Integrity Idol Awards were given in January 2014 to shine a spotlight on honest and industrious civil servants in a country where government officials are often associated with corruption and incompetence. Gyan Mani Nepal was chosen among five finalists from over 300 nominees. Their profiles were aired on national TV and posted on social media for people to vote via [...]

2015-03-23T00:00:00+00:0023rd March 2015|

When reliable information is gold: Demanding the truth during the Ebola epidemic

This post was originally published by Oxfam America. By Jennifer Lentfer Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, YouTube, blogs...are you overwhelmed by the massive amount of information coming at you? What if this highly-valued, curated information-sharing platform was in the middle of your town or city? Near one of the busiest intersections? What if it was written not on a screen, but on a blackboard? If you live in Monrovia, Liberia, it is. The Daily Talk is a convenient way that 5,000 people on average each day use to consume their news—more people than those that read Liberia’s most popular website.. During [...]

2015-03-23T00:00:00+00:0023rd March 2015|

Ebola and the power of film: How my students and I saved lives by making movies

By: Divine Anderson, as told to Julia Belluz. This article was originally published by Vox. Divine Anderson runs Liberia's first and only film school, the Liberia Film Institute. The 37-year-old started making movies in 1996 and has stuck to the medium because he thinks it's the best way to reach his fellow Liberians, many of whom can't read. When the Ebola outbreak was peaking last fall, he turned his attention to creating public-health awareness films that he spread through a mobile cinema — essentially a motorcycle retrofitted with a cart that carried him, his students, and a TV. We talked [...]

2015-03-10T00:00:00+00:0010th March 2015|

How to Reward an Honest Official

This article was originally published by Share America. By Stephen Kaufman Gyan Mani Nepal isn’t your normal reality TV star. He doesn’t sing like American Idol winner Caleb Johnson or dance like Ricky Ubeda, a winner of So You Think You Can Dance. Yet the district education officer from rural Nepal beat more than 300 competitors on January 11 to become his country’s “Integrity Idol,” a celebrity created by a talent show spotlighting “honest government officials.” The contest was launched by the Nepalese chapter of Accountability Lab, a nonprofit that works to promote government accountability. Anne Sophie Ranjbar, a director of [...]

2015-01-27T00:00:00+00:0027th January 2015|

Social Enterprise Greenhouse announces 2015 accelerator class

This post was originally published by Providence Business News. By Lori Stabile Social Enterprise Greenhouse has announced its 2015 accelerator class, which features 16 social entrepreneurs from across the country participating in a 12-week program in partnership with Brown University. SEG, a nonprofit focused on job creation, is holding its accelerator launch on Jan. 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Founders League, 95 Chestnut St. Now in its fifth year, SEG’s portfolio of more than 150 social enterprises have created more than 750 jobs; they have increased access to healthy food, health care, job training, education and financial [...]

2015-01-14T00:00:00+00:0014th January 2015|

Nepal bureaucrat clinches ‘Integrity Idol’ crown

By: AFP. This article was originally published by The Nation newspaper. Nepalese civil servant Gyan Mani Nepal doesn’t sing, dance or perform magic tricks - but all eyes were on the bespectacled bureaucrat on Sunday when he became the country’s first Integrity Idol. The online contest, which eschewed the glitz of popular television talent shows, saw nearly 10,000 people cast their votes via text message and Facebook in a bid to encourage honesty in the corruption-ridden Himalayan nation. An education official in eastern Panchthar district, Nepal won praise for his efforts to increase teacher attendance and boost student pass rates [...]

2015-01-12T00:00:00+00:0012th January 2015|

Nepal picks education official Gyan Mani Nepal as first Integrity Idol

This article was originally published by South China Morning Post. By Bibek Bhandari Nepal has chosen its first Integrity Idol. Gyan Mani Nepal, an education officer in the eastern district of Panchthar, won the title for his commitment towards educational reforms in the region. In a country where government officials are often associated with corruption and incompetence, this contest aims to shine a spotlight on honest and industrious civil servants. Of the 303 nominations from 33 of the 75 districts, the five finalists included a health worker, two teachers, an education officer and two workers devoted to fight maternal and [...]

2015-01-12T00:00:00+00:0012th January 2015|

Panchthar DEO awarded with ‘Integrity Idol’

This article was originally published by the Kathmandu Post.   Panchthar District Education Officer Gyan Mani Nepal has been awarded with Nepal’s first ‘Integrity Idol’ on Sunday. Accountability Lab, established with the purpose of promoting accountability and transparency, awarded officer Nepal for his contribution to hold local teachers accountable to their responsibilities for improving the quality of education in the district. Chief Secretary Lilamani Poudel awarded Nepal with certificate amid a function in Kathmandu.  Poudel was picked among four other finalists selected from more than 300 civil servants in the country. Social worker Leela Bhattarai, Prem Bahadur Khadka, principal of [...]

2015-01-12T00:00:00+00:0012th January 2015|
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