Coalition of conscience
CAN WE BE BOTHERED?
Hola, como estas?
Javier and Bruno, two of our colleagues from the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's Latin American services joined our morning meeting today. We discussed Darfur, after the news that the UN is sending 26,000 peacekeepers there. But Bruno and Javier say no one in Latin America cares much about Darfur. Are they right?
So on that note, when Britain's prime minister Gordon Brown says he wants to create a to tackle poverty and issues like Darfur, can he succeed? Do you think the mood in your country is changing to one of greater responsibility and awareness? Or is this a touchy-feely way of making us think something's being done, when really, we can't be bothered?
Meanwhile, Glenna Gordon in Uganda suggests we should 'Stop Trying to Save Africa'. She points to by Nigerian-American novelist Uzodinma Iweala in the Washington Post.
Iweala says it's great to help... but not in the spirit of cultural superiority. He's angry at the ad campaigns showing "portraits of primarily white, Western celebrities with painted 'tribal markings' on their faces above "I AM AFRICAN" in bold letters. This is the West's new image of itself: a sexy, politically active generation whose preferred means of spreading the word are magazine spreads with celebrities pictured in the foreground, forlorn Africans in the back. Never mind that the stars sent to bring succor to the natives often are, willingly, as emaciated as those they want to help."
We're aiming to put together our own 'coalition of conscience'-- who should we include? Who in your country has a strong moral compass and has led the fight to greater equality and justice? Does the world care more... or are we doomed to remain in a permanent state of global apathy?
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