World Bank Young Professionals Program (YPP) for Young Talent 2019

Application Timeline: 31st July, 2018 (midnight EST).

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: member countries of the World Bank Group

Eligible Field of Study: The Program is designed for  such as economics, finance, education, public health, social sciences, engineering, urban planning, agriculture, natural resources and others.

About the Award: For more than 50 years, the World Bank’s Young Professionals Program has been the preeminent program preparing global development leaders.

Placed directly with their respective hiring teams, Young Professionals are expected to make significant contributions towards the unit’s work program while they gain a broad overview of the WBG’s policies and work. As part of their two-year program and in line with their hiring units’ business needs and Young Professionals interests, they are expected to undertake a ‘stretch/exposure assignment’ where they will gain valuable on-the-job experience.

Type: Internships/Jobs

Eligibility: The following are the minimum requirements to be eligible for the Young Professionals Program:

• Citizenship of a member country of the World Bank Group
• Be born on or after October 1, 1986
• A PhD or Master’s degree and relevant work experience
• Fluency in English
• Full proficiency in one or more of the WBG’s working languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish is desired but not required
• Specialization in a field relevant to the WBG Technical/Operations such as economics, finance, education, public health, social sciences, engineering, urban planning, agriculture, natural resources, and others
• At least three years of relevant professional experience related to development or continued academic study at the doctoral level

Additional Qualifications: To be competitive for the limited number of positions, a combination of the following credentials is highly desirable:

• Display a commitment and passion for international development
• Possess outstanding academic credentials
• Exhibit excellent client engagement and team leadership skills
• Have international development country experience

Selection Criteria: Candidates will be assessed based on three main competencies:

• Client Orientation: Commitment to Clients, Results Orientation, Integrity and Ethics
• Professional Experience: Technical Expertise (Depth & Breadth), Strategic Perspective, Problem Analysis
• Team Leadership: Teamwork, Listening and Communication, Innovation, Negotiation

Number of Awardees: Forty (40)

Value of Programme: Young Professionals spend 24 months of Five years in a structured development program, and enjoy a ‘stretch/exposure assignment’ where they will gain valuable on-the-job experience.
Compensation and Benefits

Salary: As an entry-level professional in the WBG, Young Professionals are offered an internationally competitive salary, based on their education and professional experience.


Health, Life, Accident, and Other Insurance Programs: Young Professionals and their families (including declared domestic partners) may choose from three comprehensive medical/dental benefit plans. The WBG also provides basic life and accident insurance to all staff at no cost, and staff can elect optional life and accident insurance plans. The WBG provides disability and workers’ compensation coverage to staff at no cost.


Pension Plan: The WBG sponsors a comprehensive pension plan for eligible staff. Upon separation from the WBG, either a lump sum or a pension will become payable to the staff based on eligibility.


Relocation Benefits: These benefits are only applicable to staff who are not residents of the greater Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area at the time of appointment.


Relocation Travel: The World Bank will bear the cost of one-way transportation of staff and immediate dependent family from the staff member’s residence.


Relocation Shipment: You may choose to have the World Bank handle your shipping arrangements or you may elect the Optional Shipment Grant.


Relocation Grant: A one-time grant is included in the first paycheck to cover the cost of relocation.


Mobility Premium: A financial benefit is provided for a fixed period to cover expenses associated with being an expatriate staff member, based on family size and nationality. This benefit is not available for U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents who are based in Washington, DC.


Tax Allowance: U.S. staff receive an additional quarterly payment to cover the federal, state, and local income tax liabilities on their World Bank Group income. Expatriates and U.S. permanent residents do not incur U.S. income tax liability and are thus not eligible for this benefit.


Financial Assistance: The World Bank Group offers several financial assistance programs, including a two-year interest-free settling-in loan to those who relocate upon appointment.

Duration of Programme: Young Professionals are offered a 5-year term contract

How to Apply: Click here to apply

It is very important to go through the Application Process of the World Bank YPP in the Program Webpage (Link below) before applying.

Visit Program Webpage for details

Award Provider: World Bank Group

Biozentrum PhD Fellowships for International Young Scientists 2018 – Switzerland

Application Deadline: 20th June, 2018.

Eligible Countries: International

To Be Taken At (Country): University of Basel, Switzerland

About the Award: In contrast to many other PhD student programs that aim at a broad recruitment of many candidates, the “Biozentrum PhD Fellowships” are awarded on a competitive basis. As recipient of a fellowship, you have the unique chance to work in one or two different research groups of your choice, before deciding where to do your PhD. You will also receive a number of other incentives to foster your scientific excellence and career prospects.

Type: PhD, Fellowship

Eligibility: 

• You must either already hold or expect to soon receive a university degree that qualifies you for a PhD program at the University of Basel (MSc, Diploma, etc.).
• In exceptional cases, outstanding students with a BSc (eg. USA, Canada, Singapore) degree are also eligible to apply to the fellowships program; they, however, will have to pass additional courses at the Biozentrum after acceptance.
• If you have already enrolled at the Biozentrum or plan to start your PhD thesis before September 1, respectively March 1, of the same year as the open call, you are no longer eligible to apply.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: As a fellow, you have the unique opportunity to experience different research groups before deciding in which group to do your PhD. You are also offered a number of incentives to support your scientific growth. 
Currently, the following benefits are provided (annual changes may apply):

• a personal, annual allowance to attend meetings, acquire books or a computer
• an annual study trip to a city with ties to Siemens
• scientific meetings and networking opportunities with current students and alumni of the “Biozentrum PhD Fellowships” program
• a personal certificate of acceptance into the fellowship program
• support for the preparation of the personal CV and postdoctoral application by Biozentrum faculty members in the Program Committee
• financial support for travel to postdoctoral interviews at the end of the PhD thesis

Duration of Programme: You will get full financial support for your PhD thesis, typically 3 – 4 years including rotations.

How to Apply: Apply Here
Your application must include:

• electronic copies of the diploma/MSc degree with grades and transcripts as pdf files
• CV or scientific résumé (maximum one page, pdf format)
• names and contact information of 2 referees from your previous academic environment (usually faculty members). The referees will be contacted automatically and will be asked for an online evaluation as well as a reference letter.

You will get further information about the application procedure as soon as you have submitted your application.

Visit Programme Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Biozentrum

A Need For Reliable Micropension

Moin Qazi

India is home to one-fifth of the world’s population which includes a third of the world’s poor and one-eighth of the world’s elderly. Most of them spend their whole lives as informal workers and have no retirement security other than the hope that their children will care for them in their old age. This arrangement worked well as long as the joint family structure was the dominant characteristic of the Indian society. However, with new social norms eroding the family-based system of support, old-age care for low-income citizens has become a critical challenge. With underdeveloped annuity markets and poor financial literacy, these people face considerable challenges in planning their retirement security. Many elderly citizens are stuck with lives of never-ending work—a fate that may befall millions in coming decades.  We can s India ee a worrying preview for those who don’t have the pensions that previous generations of workers enjoyed.

India Is experiencing a demographic transition leading to lower fertility, increased life expectancy, and a consequent increase in the proportion of the elderly. Families are shrinking and transforming into nuclear units. Individualistic attitudes and rising aspirations with the accompanying changes in lifestyles are widening the generation gap. According to the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) of the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), 45 percent of elderly males and 75 percent of elderly females are currently fully dependent on others.

India’s ageing population is expected to grow at more than double the rate of the general population. A study released by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) predicts that India’s elderly population is expected to triple from 104 million in 2011 to 300 million in 2050, accounting for 18% of the total population. To put it in perspective, it says, India’s population of 60+ is already equal to the entire population of Mexico and Russia and by 2050 it will be close to the entire population of the United States. The population of seniors in the 80+ age group will itself be equal to the population of Belgium, Greece, or Cuba at 12 million persons.

With a breakdown of the joint family support in old age, rising life expectancy, negligible lifetime savings and pension exclusion, the elderly face the grim prospect of living in poverty after they are too old to work. Women are further disadvantaged due to lower incomes, a relatively higher life expectancy than men, frequent employment interruptions at younger working age and lower access to formal finance.

The main issues that characterise old age security are:

• Traditional systems of inter-generational care are either breaking down or are no longer perceived as reliable.
• Assets, especially land and property, are seen as the best way to guarantee old-age security but seem to be out of reach for many poor people.
• Poor people usually have a low estimate of and little experience with their capacity to use savings as a route to old-age security.

There is an immediate need for a reliable and convenient pension scheme.  A pension is a financial tool that is generally defined as a long-term voluntary savings plan by an individual during his working life to yield returns living post-retirement to enable her/him to maintain a decent standard of living.

For the poor and vulnerable, two types of pension could be provided. The first is a public or social pension, where the state raises the revenue and redistributes to the citizens when they reach a stipulated age, in order to guarantee them a dignified life. The second is a personal retirement savings plan. People save a small part of their income individually during their working life that is invested collectively to generate periodical returns. When people retire, their accumulated capital is paid out in monthly amounts. The first one has issues of viability. A possible solution could be a universal social pension with a fairly high retirement age so that expenditure is contained.

The daily wage workers live on a day-to-day basis and as a result, their immediate financial needs take priority over their future needs. They are not able to plan for their long-term future and as a result, they have to work through their entire life. At the national level, they are not covered under any pension suitable to them. Neither their own financial attitude nor any formal financial scheme or state’s safety nets enable them to secure their old age years.

Though informal sector workers may not “retire” in the formal sense like employees in the organised sector, they do need to prepare for the eventual reduction in earning capacity that will occur during old age, especially on account of ill health. Micro-pension, therefore, aims to provide an income stream to coincide with this decline in earning capacity.

Several studies have established that India has a very young and immature pension industry and a population that is not particularly keen to secure its retirement. A mere 7.4 percent of the total Indian population is covered under any form of pension plans, which is an alarming figure in itself. India spends 1.45 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on social protection, among the lowest in Asia, far lower than China, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and even Nepal.

The well-known micro-finance expert Stuart Rutherford succinctly sums up the dilemma of the poor when it comes to micro-pension: “Poor people understand the purpose and value of saving. They sense that there may be a savings route to old-age security, and grab opportunities when they come their way. But they are beset by many difficulties, both in their own circumstances and in the financial services available to them, so that in practice success remains the exception rather than the rule.”

The pension system of the country has to evolve quickly, or else the economy will be left in a dire state.  There are numerous government-supported micro-pension schemes but also several mounting challenges. The reluctance of people towards investing any part of their income over a large period of time, an absence of regular income for clients, poor infrastructure/connectivity and remotely spread clientele. The Indian government doesn’t seem to have much appetite for social protection programmes and its efforts in evolving a relevant pension model have been patchy.

Micro-pension has low-ticket, high-volume transactions which make it unviable. With a small corpus, high transaction costs and wafer-thin margins (or even losses), the viability of micro-pension is a big issue. Another challenge is getting the agents to sell the scheme, as commissions are small. Premature withdrawal and closure are also a serious problem.

For micro-pensions to succeed, a delicate balance between economic viability, generation of adequate returns and customised features for the participants is required. As the income flow of low-income communities is uncertain or volatile, they should be offered a degree of financial flexibility providing for low or no minimum contribution requirements in order to encourage membership.

However, contributions that are set too low or which are paid very unevenly may not provide sufficient income security. Experience with savings-based pension plans indicates that low-income groups prefer lower-value and frequent deposits rather than infrequent larger-value deposits. As there are competing demands on their resources, it is difficult for them to accumulate large amounts. In order to facilitate the making of frequent deposits, convenient door-to-door deposit collection has to be organised. Mobile phones have transformed the landscape in a revolutionary way and this may not be such a tall order.

An ideal micro-pension plan needs to address governance, design, administrative and efficiency issues to succeed and requires a multi-model implementation   in addition to a separate set of regulations on account of the complex nature of the Indian employment profile.

Austria closes mosques and deports imams

Markus Salzmann

The right-wing conservative government in Austria is closing seven mosques and deporting up to 60 Turkish imams. The measure is a fundamental attack on the freedom of religion and expression and serves to stir up anti-Islamic and xenophobic sentiments. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (Austrian Peoples Party, ÖVP), his deputy Heinz-Christian Strache (Austrian Freedom Party, FPÖ) as well as two other ministers announced the measures in person on Friday in Vienna at a press conference.

The government of Kurz’s right-wing conservative ÖVP and the far-right FPÖ justified the closure of the mosques with violations of Austria’s “Islam Act.” They do not want parallel societies and radicalizing tendencies in Austria, Kurz explained.

The government's action shows that it has now completely adopted the far-right programme of the FPÖ. Their reasoning is reminiscent of the propaganda used to persecute Jews and other minorities 80 years ago, following the “Anschluss” (annexation) of Austria to Nazi Germany.

The basis of the measures is the so-called Islam Act. The Muslim clerics are accused of violating the ban on foreign financing. The government is focusing on the “Turkish-Islamic Union for Cultural and Social Cooperation in Austria” (ATIB), an umbrella organization that represents over 60 Islamic associations in Austria with more than 100,000 members. It belongs to the Turkish religious authority Diyanet and thus stands under the control of the Turkish government. The supposed reason for the charge against the association is that it does not work towards “integration” and builds “parallel societies.”

The undemocratic nature of this accusation is shown by a comparison with the Catholic Church, which is dependent on a “foreign power” (the Vatican) to a much greater degree than is the case with ATIB with regard to Turkey. The same accusation could even be levelled against Jewish communities that have relations with the Israeli government.

With the imams, their families are also to be taken into custody. In two cases, it is already clear that imams are to be expelled and five others have been denied a residence permit. The authorities are currently examining 60 of the 260 imams in Austria. They could lose their residence permits and must then leave the country together with their relatives, affecting a total of 150 people.

Already in April, the Austrian government had announced an examination of the mosques, after children in a Viennese mosque had re-enacted the Battle of Gallipoli from the First World War. In this battle, which saw 350,000 dead and wounded, the Turkish army repulsed an invasion attempt by the Entente Powers. It is therefore still commemorated in Turkey as the “Day of the Fallen.”

The absurdity of the allegation against the mosque is illustrated by a glimpse at Australia and New Zealand, where the anniversary of the same battle is commemorated each year as ANZAC Day and even glorified in elementary schools. Both countries had suffered high losses as allies of the British invaders.

The Turkish government has sharply criticized the action against ATIB and spoke of a “crusade” against Muslims. The Muslim religious community IGGÖ also criticized the Austrian government and announced it was launching a legal action.

With the attacks on Muslims, the government’s right-wing course has reached a new stage. The government is making it clear that the closure of the mosques and the expulsion of the imams was just the beginning. Chancellor Kurz has threatened that there will be “zero tolerance,” and even mooted the dissolution of ATIB. Vice-Chancellor Strache (FPÖ) said, “We are just beginning.”

Kurz and Strache have been ruling since last December. The crackdown on Muslims is part of a systematic attack on refugees and migrants. During the election campaign last year, they demanded harsher immigration controls, the swift removal of rejected asylum seekers, and taking up the fight against radical Islam.

Kurz has recently announced that he will make the payment of social benefits dependent on language skills. “We have to create a system that has one goal in particular, to combat immigration into our social system,” he declared. Strache added, “If you immigrate to Austria, you cannot collect the full minimum income payment from the first day.”

In future, the full amount of the minimum income should only be paid to those who have obtained an Austrian school certificate or equivalent German language skills and can demonstrate they are participating in “integration services,” such as a course on so-called Austrian “values.” Kurz explained, “German becomes the key to access the full minimum income.” In this way, the attacks on migrants also serve to prepare social cuts for all.

The Austrian government, which will take over the presidency of the EU from July, is also endeavouring to further seal off the EU's external borders. If things go according to Kurz, the EU border agency Frontex should intervene more quickly and receive more staff and money.

The so-called Islam Act was introduced by Kurz in 2015, when he worked in the Ministry of the Interior, together with the Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) coalition partner. It is therefore hardly surprising that not only FPÖ-affiliated right-wing circles welcome the measures. Spiegel Online hailed the attack on Muslims as “a step against the enemies of democracy and freedom.”

SPÖ federal manager Max Lercher even tried to claim the attacks on Muslims for the Social Democrats. The SPÖ had reported “incidents” in the mosques to the then ÖVP-led Interior Ministry in October 2017, he said. According to Lercher, the closure of the mosques was “the first smart measure of this government.”

The party founded by the former Pabloite Peter Pilz is also completely on the FPÖ line. It regards the measure as a first step, however, it does not tackle the “problem of radicalization at its root,” according to Alma Zadic, a National Council member of the Pilz list. Peter Pilz had long demanded the dissolution of ATIB, but the then ÖVP Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Sobotka had not met this demand, complained Zadic.

Vera Thiess Fellowship for Women in Developing Countries 2018/2019

Application Deadline: 13th July 2018.

Eligible Countries: Developing Countries

To Be Taken At (Country): Sydney, Australia

About the Award: The International River Foundation’s Vera Thiess Fellowship for Women gives women from developing countries the opportunity to gain valuable work experience through the IRF and its partners, with the goal of advancing women’s participation in water and river management. This fellowship goes not only towards supporting the selected candidate, but towards continuing the important work of bridging the gap in women’s participation in river basin management.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: Applicants must:

• Be female
• Be a recent graduate or in the first five years of their career
• Have a demonstrated interest in sustainable river basin management
• Demonstrate their motivation, leadership and ability to undertake this fellowship
• Be able to travel internationally in 2018 and 2019
• Be willing to share their Fellowship finding with the IRF and broader international river community

Selection Criteria: Applications will be judged on:

• Demonstrated passion and commitment to sustainable river basin management
• Proactive utilisation of opportunities to advance river knowledge, management and restoration
• Achievements in river knowledge, management and restoration
• Academic achievement
• Demonstrated efforts to further women in river management
• Anticipated outcomes of the fellowship
• Ability to leverage additional financial and/or in-kind support

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: The recipient of the Vera Thiess Fellowship will be funded to attend the 21st International River symposium in Sydney, Australia (14-18 October 2018), where the fellowship will be formally awarded.
Other benefits for the fellow include:

• Strong personal and professional development through interaction with world-leading river basin management practitioners
• Experience in putting ideas into action in the workplace and on-ground
• The chance to provide personal insights while gaining further exposure in the river community, by writing articles for the IRF’s social media channels
• The opportunity to attend the International Riversymposium in 2018 and 2019
• Invited to participated in the IRF’s Diversity in Water networking event at IRS each year (and EWPP?)
• Access to the valuable IRF networks to build beneficial linkages in the global water sector

Duration of Programme: 14-18 October 2018

How to Apply: Apply Here

Visit Programme Webpage for Details

Awad Providers:  International River Foundation

Google Developers Launchpad Accelerator Africa for African Startups 2018

Application Deadline: 8th July 2018

Eligible Countries: Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote D’ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

About the Award: Launchpad regional accelerators are tailored specifically to their local markets, and provide access to the best of Google – its people, network, and advanced technologies – helping startups build great products. In addition to our accelerators, Launchpad regional initiatives include exclusive events, mentorship opportunities, and trainings. Keep an eye out for opportunities to participate in over 40 countries around the world.

Type: Entrepreneurship

Eligibility: applications are accepted from startups located in the countries listed above.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: As part of all Launchpad regional accelerators, startups receive:

• Equity-free support
• Access to Google engineers and intensive mentoring from 20+ teams
• Access to silicon valley experts and top local mentors
• PR training and global media opportunities
• Close partnership with Google for three months (new classes are accepted twice a year)

How to Apply: APPLY NOW

Visit Programme Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Google

Emerging River Professional Award for River Professionals 2018

Application Deadline: 10th July 2018.

Eligible Countries: International

To Be Taken At (Country): Sydney, Australia.

About the Award: The ERPA is open to all river professionals who have been working in their field for 5 years (excluding postgraduate studies) or less and who have demonstrated exceptional and measurable achievements in rivers, basins or river-dependent communities. Recognising the wide range of professionals that contribute to the future of our rivers, ERPA is open to professionals from all disciplines – whether scientists, policy makers or on-ground river managers. While teams are essential in all facets of river management, this award focuses on celebrating individual achievements, and rewarding hard work, dedication, innovation, and leadership. These qualities will ensure a bright future for rivers and basins globally.
Finalists will be selected through the evaluation of written submissions and oral presentations demonstrating leadership and project achievements (e.g. development of a new catchment management initiative, establishment of a new waterway group) or showcasing significant research as part of a Masters or PhD program.
ERPA finalists will be afforded the opportunity to attend the 21st International Riversymposium to be held in Sydney, Australia from 14-18 of October 2018 and present the outcomes of their work – giving a voice to our future water leaders. The winner will be announced at the Riverprize Gala Dinner on Tuesday, 16 October. If you feel that you have undertaken noteworthy work in this area, or you know someone who deserves recognition for his or her achievement, consider submitting an entry for this prestigious Award. If you nominate someone else, make sure they will meet the eligibility criteria to enter

Type: Award

Eligibility:

• Professionals from anywhere in the world who have been working in their field for 5 years or less, and:
• can demonstrate leadership and positive outcomes, or can showcase outstanding research in a river related field;
• are available to attend and present at the 21st International Riversymposium* if selected as a finalist;
  and
• have completed their work (or a phase of a larger project) within the 2017 calendar year (although work could have been commenced at an earlier date).

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: 

• ERPA finalists will be eligible for financial support (capped) to travel to and attend the 21st International Riversymposium in Sydney, Australia from 14-18 October.
• ERPA finalists will receive one free registration for the 21st International Riversymposium (valued at $1295)
• ERPA finalists will be recognised through the publication of project summaries on the International RiverFoundation.
• ERPA finalists will be promoted through the International RiverFoundation channels.
• The overall winner will receive a monetary prize (amount to be confirmed)
• The winner will feature in an article in the International RiverFoundation newsletter after the Riversymposium.

Duration of Programme: 14-18 October.

How to Apply: 

• Read the Entry Guidelines carefully to ensure the candidate’s eligibility.
• Complete the online Entry Form showcasing the candidate’s leadership and initiative in the river sector.
• Submit completed online entry form and associated documents by COB 10th of July 2018.

Visit Programme Webpage for Details

Award Providers: International River Foundation.

GLG Social Impact Fellowships for Individuals and Organisations Interested in Social Work 2018

Application Deadline: 30th June, 2018

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Fellows and organisations in Countries in Africa: South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda

To be taken at (country): Fellow’s Home country and USA

About the Award: The GLG Social Impact Fellowship leverages GLG’s learning platform to help top social entrepreneurs answer their organization’s critical strategic and operational questions, at no cost. Through the two-year Fellowship, ambitious and visionary nonprofit and social enterprise leaders learn in tailored interactions with experts across GLG’s membership and with each other.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: Fellows are leaders with strong records and visions for their organizations. They have great teams and do something innovative that’s likely to scale. They are personally committed to learning, excited to grow professionally, and articulate ambitions for their organizations’ growth which GLG is positioned to support.

Selection Criteria: Characteristics critical to the success of the Social Impact Fellowship programme which will be used as criteria for selection are:

• • CEOs/Founder that is committed to leading the organization during the fellowship.
  • S/he understands the value of GLG, can articulate use cases, and is open to a thought partner in GLG and its experts.
  • S/he is relentlessly seeking big impact through their organization, is curious and excited about learning, is open to feedback, and has developed a team and habits to allow for strategic thinking and pursuit of the next phase at the organization

• • • Eligible Organizations
      • Nonprofit organizations with minimum operating budget of $1M and maximum of $12M
      • Mission-driven for-profits with annual operating budget under $500,000
      • Hybrid organizations of comparable size
    • At an inflection point
      • Organizations that are a good fit for GLG’s Fellowship are no longer in early stages of development and leadership team members are ready to pursue ambitious growth plans. They have proven the concept of their impact and implemented their program in an initial (set of) site(s). When they come to GLG, they are looking to scale significantly, launch a new product based on the core principles of their initial model, or otherwise iterate on the impact they’ve established to date. Think of it as an organization’s move from 2.0 to 3.0.
    • Average 3-5 years in operation
    • Minimum 5 full-time staff
    • Established leadership team supporting key strategic planning and execution

Number of Awardees: Several

Value of Fellowship : Each year of the Fellowship begins with an in-person convening at GLG’s offices in New York City or Austin. At the convening, Fellows learn how to use the GLG platform, meet the people of GLG and each other. We work closely with Fellows to identify the top challenges facing their organizations and set learning objectives to meet those challenges.

Duration of Fellowship : Two years

How to Apply: Visit Fellowship page to apply

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details

Award Provider: Gerson Lehrman Group

Johnson & Johnson Management Development Institute (MDI) Scholarships for Health Care Organisations in African countries 2018

Application Deadlines:

• Application Deadline (MDI Eastern Africa, English) : 18th June 2018
• Application Deadline (MDI Western Africa, English) : 13th July 2018
• Application Deadline (MDI Southern Africa, English) : 15th June 2018

Eligible Countries: African countries

To be Taken at: 

• Eastern Africa: Amref Health Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.
• Western Africa: Lagos School of Business, Lagos, Nigeria.
• Southern Africa: Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

About the Award: The Management Development Institute (MDI) for Health Care Organisations is a one-week intensive program designed to enhance the leadership and management skills of program managers and leaders of sub-Saharan organisations, governmental and non-governmental, that are devoted to delivering health care services to underserved populations. The program has been designed to specifically assist African ministries of health in implementing their particular national health priorities.
The MDI program was designed by world-class management faculty from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and by leaders of Amref Health Africa. The MDI is delivered by outstanding faculty from: Amref Health Africa, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, University of Cape Town Graduate Business School, Institut Supérieur de Management (International School of Management, ISM), Nova School of Business and Economics.
The MDI is administered by the Global Business School Network and is funded by Johnson & Johnson, one of the most admired companies in the world today. In 2017 MDI will be taught in three languages: English, French and Portuguese.

Type: Training

Eligibility: 

• The MDI is designed for high-level managers of public sector, NGOs and other civil society institutions whose organizations are dedicated to improving healthcare for underserved populations.
• Interested candidates should apply as a team of 2-5 individuals from organisations who have related leadership responsibilities for implementing national healthcare programs and priorities in their organisation, country or region. This format increases the impact of the MDI and the program’s utility to support national health systems is enhanced.

Depending on the country and sector, candidates should have the following titles (or the equivalent):

• Director
• Project Manager
• Program Manager
• Executive Director
• Program Coordinator
• Public Health Coordinator
• Regional Coordinator
• Chief Medical Officer
• Chief Nurse
• Medical Superintendent
• Country Coordinator

Number of Awards: Thirty-six participants are selected for each of the trainings.

Value of Award: The cost of the MDI training program is USD $5,200 per participant. Johnson & Johnson awards full scholarships to all managers who are accepted to the course and have the greatest potential to positively impact the quantity and quality of services in their organisation. These scholarships cover the cost of tuition, training materials, accommodation and meals. Travel expenses, if required, will be borne by the participants.

Duration of Programmes: 

• Eastern Africa: 5-11 August 2018 Nairobi, Kenya
• Southern Africa: 2-8 September 2018 Cape Town, South Africa
• Western Africa (English): 12-18 August 2018 Lagos, Nigeria
• MDI for French-speaking countries (First training): 22-28 July 2018 Dakar, Senegal
• MDI for French-speaking countries (Second training): 11-18 November 2018 Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
• MDI for Portuguese-speaking countries : 26 August-1 September Maputo, Mozambique

How to Apply: For the eastern and western (English) MDI programs, please apply using the given links HERE

Visit Programme Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Johnson & Johnson

The Arab World and the Struggle Against Austerity

Julia Kassem

For five days, Jordanians took to the streets to protests measures by the government to increase taxes. Demonstrators also demanded access and improvements to city services, the lack of which compounds the high rate of unemployment to which Jordan’s population is subjected. In the largest protests the country has seen since 2011, Jordanians unseated prime minister Hani Mulki in a matter of days due to popular discontent with staggering austerity, issues with affordability, and poverty.

The protests launched after May 30, following the announcement of International Monetary Fund measures which included a new income-based tax draft law that also saw a sharp tax increase that aggravated the widely unemployed and underemployed country.

In 2016, the IMF put $723 million into the country to lower debt and enhance equitable growth, yet the inflows have only supported the country’s staggering debt austerity, toppling at 35 billion. Jordan joined five other Arab countries in August of 2016 approving IMF loans, with Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen also taking on the loans, austerity agreements with impacts detrimental to social programs, and especially antagonistic to populations already suffering from the devastation wrought by imperialist warfare, high unemployment, and rampant corruption.

Jordan joins its Arab neighbors in being beholden to the debt trap of finance capital, where capitalism and cronyism by governments and institutions prove themselves accountable to none other than international banks and the bankrollers that buy their way into reinforcing economic and political dominion over the countries and their self-determination.

All over the Arab world, nations continue to be destabilized by the effects of capitalism, where economic austerity helps fuel social and political instability. In Lebanon, the debt-to-GDP ratio is the highest in the middle east and third highest in the world at 148, a legacy of finance inflows that make their way into the pockets of bourgeois party elites and the 1992 post-war Taif agreement–a post civil war decree signed in Saudi Arabia that instituted sectarianism and reinforced the colonial French legacy of divide and conquer. As a result, Lebanon remains without decent infrastructure, yet is a favorite of the World Bank and European Union for its continuous acceptance of loans for unsuccessful public-private infrastructure ventures.

Egypt too is no stranger to austerity, with its own share of IMF loans triggering austerity squeezes, including slashing food and fuel subsidies amid stagnant pay and high poverty. Tunisia saw 1,000 young protesters get arrested in January after a month of protests against austerity and unemployment seven years after mass demonstrations toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. And the Ansarullah in Yemen cornered Hadi into exile in 2014 for his compliance in enforcing IMF-style austerity in impoverished Yemen, where such neoliberal policies had continued to rob citizens and extort any semblance of civil services from the people.

Arab and Muslim governments that don’t neatly comply with international banks are met with hostility. Though Syria was pressured to adopt neoliberal economic policies over the past few decades, financial policies which failed to assist its large agricultural sector struggling from the after-effects of a 5-year drought, Syria’s refusal to take on IMF loans and relative independence from foreign debt have made it the target of finance capitalist institutions and US-NATO aggression. In Libya, its state owned bank, nationalization of the economy and plans to implement a pan-African gold standard led to a violent NATO-led toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Between lavish Gulf and the impoverished nations in the Levant and North Africa, income inequality dominates the Middle East, representing the highest disparity seen in any region in the world. The top 10% holds over 61% of the region’s wealth, in comparison to the top tenth holding 47% of regional wealth in the US and Canada. And wealth inequality across Arab nations also replicates the class divides within their respective societies. As GCC nations rack up wealth, claiming nearly 50% of the regions income despite having only 15% of the Arab world’s population, an ascension of instability and unrest quells against reactionary regimes.

The increasingly apparent alliance between the GCC nations and Israel, Britain and the US’s longtime settler colonial outpost in the middle east, exemplify the steadfast commitment to reinforcement of economic and political hegemony. With relations openly warm between America’s two closest middle east allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia–also Britain’s original neo-colonies–their camaraderie over military aggression and genocide continues to be the source of austerity in the US and amongst the peoples and lands of Palestine and Yemen that are kept brutally impoverished and underdeveloped. Worldwide, austerity policies are inextricable from the war economy that is their main culprit.

In the throes of imperialism Western-backed monarchs were placed to guard artificially carved up states, ensuring that the tools of sectarianism and neocolonial governance would safeguard wealth. Today, this status quo is sustained, yet faces an unprecedented threat from masses that reject its murderous consensus on the sovereignty of working people worldwide. In the US, warmongering has witnessed the crumbling of its infrastructure abroad and institutions as it has worked to help tear down that other countries’. It is up to the working people across hemispheres to resist all economies that earn their living off the resignation of us all to death and destruction.

Elite Atrocities: Australia’s Special Forces in Afghanistan

Binoy Kampmark

“Further into the Afghanistan mission, after multiple deployments, soldiers began to refer to members going ‘up the Congo’.”

— Chris Masters, The Sydney Morning Herald, Jun 9, 2018

They operate with impunity in areas already deemed lawless by their civilising superiors.  Afghanistan, derided as a country of anarchic sensibilities, was never going to be a place for those abiding by armchair rules. Whether it was the Soviet army engaged in strafing operations indifferent to combatant and civilian, or those subsequent intruders of the Global War on Terror – the forces of the US-led International Security Assistance Force and associated allies – the complement of atrocities was only set to grow.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Curt, Fatou Bensouda, has had an eye on Afghanistan for some time for that very reason. In 2016, she claimed in a report that, “Members of US armed forces appear to have subjected at least 61 detained persons to torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity on the territory of Afghanistan between 1 May 2003 and 31 December 2014.”

The Central Intelligence Agency was not to be left out sulking on the side, with Bensouda suggesting that 27 detainees in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania and Lithuania had been subjected to “torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity and/or rape” between December 2002 and March 2008. A true smorgasbord of violence.

In November 2017, Bensouda concluded, after a seemingly interminable preliminary process, “that all legal criteria required under the Rome statute [of the ICC] to commence an investigation have been met”.  The investigation specifically into the conduct of forces in Afghanistan, she suggested, would cover the alleged perpetration of crimes against humanity including murder, targeting humanitarian workers, and summary executions.

Afghanistan has again become the site of interest for the maligned side of human nature, this time from the Australian angle.  The weekend began with Canberra in a tizz over allegations that Australia’s special forces have committed war crimes since commencing operations in 2001.

On Friday, Fairfax Media revealed certain contents of a report written by Defence Department consultant Dr Samantha Crompvoets in 2016 alleging the commission of such crimes suggesting a “complete lack of accountability”. It had been instigated at the behest of the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) examining “rumours… [of] possible breaches of the Laws of Armed Conflict by members of the ADF in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016”.

Various “unsanctioned and illegal” applications of “violence in operations” entailing a “disregard for human life and dignity” had purportedly taken place.  There were “allusions to behaviour and practices involving abuse of drugs and alcohol” peppered with instances of “domestic violence”.

The report by Crompvoets points to “problems deeply embedded in the culture” of the Special Operations Command.  The account of one interviewee is studded with suggestion though little detail.  “I know there were over the last 15 years some horrendous things.  Some just disgraceful things happened in Kabul… very bad news, or just inappropriate behaviour, but it was pretty much kept under wraps.”

A central theme emerges here: ignorance in central command and amongst the civilians at the helm.  Unvarnished, necessary, practised, Australia’s national security remains detached from an understanding of its elite, anointed arm which does its best to keep bloody in conditions of utmost secrecy.  Such ignorance extends to matters of “mentality” and the logistical makeup of the Special Air Service Regiment itself and the Commandos.

Chris Masters has tailed the culture of the SASR for some time, being himself “embedded” within the organisation in Afghanistan that yielded No Front Line: Australia’s Special Forces at war in Afghanistan.  “The long deployment to Afghanistan had worn at the character of some members, who were beginning to act as a law unto themselves.”  Such are the ugly disfigurements produced by small, endless wars.

Evidence would be planted on the dead to throw off beady-eyed investigators; detainees would be slaughtered in acts of “competitive killing” to prevent the endless questioning that awaited them back at base. By 2010, the butcher’s bill for Oruzgan province, euphemised by the term EKIA (enemies killed in action) had become so lengthy as to raise eyebrows back amongst the paper shufflers in Kabul.

The report has produced its own precipitate in the form of another inquiry, this time fronted by Australia’s judicial arm. A dozen or so men of the Special Air Service Regiment have been subject to lengthy periods of questioning by New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Paul Brereton.

Concern of this ugliness is tempered with well-seeded praise. “The SAS is in my electorate,” Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop took care to point out, “they are regarded as some of the finest men prepared to put their life on the line in conflict situations to defend us and our freedoms, they are one of the finest fighting forces in the world.”

The opposition minister for defence, Richard Marles, was similarly tiptoeing with a pseudo-psychologist’s hat, wanting a killing force that was doing its bit in accordance with decency. “Our soldiers, particularly our special forces, work in difficult and complex environments.  It’s important that we know, as a country, that they’re doing it in a professional and legal way.”

Elite forces trained to liquidate their opponents with ruthlessness do not suggest law book observers and the scrupulous reading of statutes.  Their very existence is owed to being unorthodox, to operate outside convention in contempt of local rules and the encumbrances of red tape.

The issue, as ever, is not their operational doctrine so much as the political masters who put them there, inspired by fatuous assessments of what the defence of freedom might look like.  The crimes will happen, but the mandate to do so will always come from high and farther afield, those tut tutting types back in the bureaucracy who insist that small wars in vaguely defined theatres are necessary for the national interest.

The War of Hunger That Afflicts the World’s Poor

Vijay Prashad

It is impossible to go anywhere in India without being confronted with the terrible enormity of hunger. One in two Indians goes to sleep at night without a full stomach.

At the outskirts of Delhi, which was once farmland, shacks house those who work across the city. They are the people who build houses and clean houses, who build goods and dispose of goods. A walk down the streets of the trans-Yamuna colonies reveals that despite the new buildings there, new hovels rise up. One set is built along a wall underneath the shadow of the Metro rail. The people there tell me that they were construction workers for the Metro. That is when they moved to this encampment. The Metro is now complete. They remain. They scratch out a living as domestic workers and construction workers.

It is early in the morning. Children eat bits of bread. Hunger shadows the eyes of the adults. The conversation goes to food. ‘Onions and potatoes are too expensive’, says one man. He is right. This is a reflection of rising petrol prices. That he mentioned onions and potatoes is of interest. These are luxuries here. Starch is the main food.

A few months ago, I spoke to people who had queued up outside a van. This van had a poster that read, ‘Balaji Kunba – a family against hunger’. Over the course of the past year, the Bisoya has been distributing food to the poor across the city. They are motivated by great moral feeling, but not by parochial religious considerations. The figure on the poster is Hanuman, whom they say is angry not at this religion or that, but at hunger. Hanuman, they say, ‘goes to the temple to eat a ladoo. He goes to the mosque to eat kheer’. Those who are hungry, the family says, do not understand religion.

War and Hunger

The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation’s quarterly report shows that the countries that require food assistance increased from 37 to 39. A combination of erratic rainfall and war has removed food from the homes of people. Harvests continue to decline in regions of the world wracked by conflict, places such as Iraq, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen as well as in parts of Central Africa. ‘Conflicts have choked agricultural activity’ in these regions, the FAO points out, ‘where access to food is further hindered by surging inflation’.

It is now estimated that in South Sudan, where the conflict seems endless, 7.1 million South Sudanese are hungry all day, each day. That is to say, two of every three people in South Sudan suffer from acute or crisis food insecurity. This is a direct result of the war.

Matters are as bad in Yemen, where the three-year war prosecuted by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has starved the population. By the end of this year, eighteen million Yemenis (out of a population of twenty-two million people) will starve. It is likely that the Saudi-Emirati coalition will seize the port city of Hodeida on the Red Sea, and most likely would use its control over the port to embargo supplies into the country. Seventy per cent of Yemen’s food, fifty per cent of its fuel and most of its medicines enters from this port. The siege of the country would be truly catastrophic for the country.

Waste and Property

Not far from the hovels in Delhi sits the Gazipur landfill. It is the size of a small mountain. Delhi’s trash goes there. As the hot summer wind moves westwards, it carries the rancid smells from the landfill. Last year, garbage from that little mountain fell and killed two people. It is a hazard in so many ways.

The landfill reminds us of the waste produced in our society – a fact noted by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity group . A stunning forty per cent of all food is lost or wasted. There is more than enough food produced on the planet for all the billions of its inhabitants. Yet, those who have no, or little, money cannot afford to feed themselves. Those without property are fated to starve. The food that cannot be bought is thrown away. The excess food that cannot be eaten by those who have the money is also thrown away. It is a rebuke to the capitalist system that people are forced to starve if they have no money and that the food that is available is thrown away because of economic inequality.

That smell from the landfill sends another important message. As the food decomposes in the landfill, it produces methane. Methane is far more lethal as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. One of the drivers of climate change is, therefore, the wasted food (as well as other organic matter).

War, Climate Change, Money – these are the engines of hunger. The terrible atrocity of the wars in South Sudan and Yemen should sharpen our gaze at the epidemic of hunger.

But there is a quiet war ongoing in places like India. Here, there are no bombs falling from the sky. Instead, there is another kind of bomb that finds itself bursting on every street, near every shack. This is an idea: the idea of private property. Those who have no private property struggle to eat. They huddle together in their shacks, not far from hotels and homes, from restaurants and markets.