Archive News
Canadian Youth Leaders Drive Social Change as they join Coady’s Graduate Network
As the Pathy Foundation Fellowship participants and supporting staff adjust to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, they were swift to see opportunity in creating a participatory digital platform for the revamped Debrief Week. The week was capped with a virtual graduation ceremony as Julia, Jessica, Salome, Giovanni, Stewart, Maggie, Hanan, Lauren, and Nicola join more than 7000 graduates from 122 countries as part of Coady’s graduate network.
Message from Anthony Scoggins, Director Education Programs
The world continues to struggle with the Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic. As I write these words, many countries are now slowly re-opening after extended periods of lockdown, but the number of active cases continues to grow with new ‘hot spots’ emerging around...
Eight Minutes, Forty-six Seconds
Coady Institute Executive Director Gord Cunningham shares how we have a responsibility to take part in the dialogue on racism in our society.
Indigenous Women’s Gathering at Coady Institute (StFX) Earns National Recognition
The Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education has recognized St. Francis Xavier University and Coady International Institute for the Indigenous Women in Community Leadership (IWCL) Alumni Gathering. The event was awarded gold in the Prix d’Excellence category of Best Indigenous Relations Initiative.
Governance Snapshots: Adaptations, Innovations and Practitioner Learning in a Time of COVID-19
For many graduates of Coady International Institute, the pandemic and the measures put in place in response have led to adaptive and innovative ways to continue to work with citizens and communities. A small group among these graduates – from Nepal, Ethiopia, Kenya, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Ghana – come together to share how they are coping as governance practitioners working through the pandemic.
Alumni Voice – COVID-19: Rights Awareness through Virtual and Media Engagement (Nigeria)
One of the challenges in Nigeria’s democratic governance process is the lack of depth of public knowledge on reformed criminal justice laws in Nigeria. Due to government policies banning public gatherings and the need for physical distancing, PWAN has had to re-strategize by converting all its awareness programs to radio-based programs.
Alumni Voice – Citizen’s Pulse: A National Survey on COVID-19 (Nepal)
After one week of lockdown in Nepal, Sharecast took the initiative to launch a nationwide survey in order to understand citizens’ knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) regarding COVID-19. The findings are being used by frontline responders, and to design messages and choose channels for advocacy-related work.
Alumni Voice – COVID-19: Rethinking Emergency Preparedness and Response (Cameroon)
The COVID-19 outbreak coincided with three critical situations in Cameroon: an ongoing internal war, the rumoured death of the president, and a questionable reconstruction program for homeless war victims whereas the military and armed groups are still fighting. Having faced six consecutive years of intense political crises and now adding a health crisis, I am concerned about Cameroon’s emergency management strategy.
Alumni Voice – Advocating for Women’s Inclusion in COVID-19 Response (Ghana)
As a national women’s rights network, NETRIGHT has issued two statements calling on the government to ensure COVID-19 interventions are responsive to the needs of the poor, including homeless women and the vulnerable in society. Also, NETRIGHT mobilised funds among women groups which has been donated to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) in Ghana to support its efforts in reaching out to vulnerable and homeless women and children.
Alumni Voice – Engaging Community in Response to COVID-19 (Ethiopia)
Generally, in Ethiopia the side effects of COVID-19 have been more serious than the health-related challenges caused by the virus itself. This encompasses political, economic, socio-cultural, and psycho-social harms as well as legal disruptions caused by the virus.
Alumni Voice – Channels for Children’s and Youth’s Voice in Mombasa’s COVID-19 Response (Kenya)
In Mombasa, Kenya, organizations have decided to work together to address various children’s issues in the advent of COVID-19. The Mombasa County Child Rights Network (MCRN) is composed of organizations working for and with children. As a network we are focusing on child protection as a major governance issue, and are enabling children to participate, speak out, and create messages on COVID-19 to the world.
Alumni Voice – Land Rights Advocacy in COVID-19 Response (Nepal)
The Community Self-Reliance Centre (CSRC) has been facilitating land and agrarian issues in Nepal and working with landless and smallholder peasants since 1994. CSRC published an article on the effects of COVID-19 on agriculture and on landless and smallholder groups.
Alumni Voice – Social Enterprise Shifts to PPE Production amidst Lockdown (India)
At the local level many civic hospitals in Gohdra, India are only able to supply doctors and surgeons with PPE. Saheli fills the gap here, providing masks to nurses, cleaning staff, and other essential workers in these hospitals.
Alumni Voice – Coronavirus Pandemic and Employment: Protecting Women’s Right to Work (Ghana)
With women’s employment mostly at the bottom of the supply chain and informal sectors characterized by precariousness and lower wages, the COVID-19 pandemic is not gender-neutral. It, therefore, demands gender-sensitive responses and interventions by various actors.
Pathy Foundation Fellowship Welcomes Partnership with Bishop’s University
Graduating students from Bishop’s University will now be eligible for the community leadership program along with those from the original four partner universities. The fellowship includes up to $40,000 in community project support.
Alumni Voice – Mapping the Mosaic of Community Assets During and After COVID-19 (South Africa)
Humans are hard-wired to focus on threats and problems. It’s an evolutionary survival mechanism that has served us well for thousands of years. When faced with a crisis, we usually react in one of three ways – fight, flight, or freeze. When faced with the unprecedented and existential threat of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s unsurprising that our threat-response mechanisms have gone into overdrive.
Stories of Community Resilience and Entrepreneurship during Global Pandemic
An expert in Inclusive Economies has begun sharing experiences of the Global South during the Covid-19 pandemic in a series of essays entitled Stories of Community Resilience and Entrepreneurship. Written by Coady Institute’s Yogesh Ghore, the essays examine innovative solutions being developed by Coady graduates, partners, and others in the Global South. Ghore has worked internationally supporting economic development in South and Southeast Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean.
Op-ed: 20 Million Face Masks
As the world responds to the Covid-19 pandemic, a pressing and immediate issue is the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the front-line health workers who are working to save the lives of others. Facemasks are an essential part of the PPE. The answer is coming from an unusual and unexpected place: poor women, most of whom are living in the rural economy, and probably never heard of such masks before.
Op-ed: What’s in Your Basket?
The current pandemic has caused significant disruptions in the supply chain of food across the world. The stories of community innovation in times of crisis, as highlighted here present an opportunity to look at the role of citizens in shaping their own development beyond the current crisis.
Alumni Voice – The Impact of Covid-19 on Development (Zimbabwe)
(Opinion) The pandemic has destroyed economies. No country will remain unscathed. It has disrupted education and development work and has certainly exposed poor public health systems across the globe. Read more…