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Should we take down Christopher Columbus’s statues?
With the ongoing protests surrounding equality for Black and colored people, around the world; the question of monuments (including statutes) has come up, rather forcefully. Should we continue celebrating Christopher Columbus, who treated the Native Americans cruelly? Should we celebrate his ‘discovery’ of the Americas as a great event or something that took away much […]
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How can public servants help promote equity and justice?
With the recent protests against the killing of George Floyd, the focus is back on a segment of the population that is at the heart of this issue: the public servant. The police force is part of the machinery that has been, is, and will be a part of our daily lives, whether we like […]
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Leveraging Higher Ed policy for digital access in times of COVID-19
Preface With the COVID-19 crisis dominating our consciousness and shutting down public life, including schools, universities, and other commercial activities, there is a fear that this may impact universities and institutions of higher education, adversely. In this context, there is growing recognition of the power of digital technologies in learning and many institutes of higher […]
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Removing bottlenecks to flow of remittances should be a top priority during COVID-19: Policy Brief
Summary With close to $500 billion of remittances flowing around the world, the phenomenon of remittances as a force for community development and individual empowerment cannot be ignored. Remittances impact the lives of almost a billion people, worldwide. While the flow of money during the best of times is constrained by various policy initiatives and […]
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Things You Need To Know About Public Leadership And the Role Of Communications Today
“Public leadership and the role of communications today,” Aniisu Verghese talks about his journey to becoming a communications expert and his take on how he thinks effective leaders should communicate. Views expressed in this blog are personal. 1. Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about yourself? Thank you for the opportunity to […]
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Giving in unprecedented times in the Middle East
Saif Khan Charities, nonprofit organizations, and businesses are providing financial aid, distributing medical supplies, and raising awareness in unprecedented times in the Middle East in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Outlined below are some important initiatives in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia The Saudi Food Bank “Eta’am,” the first of its kind […]
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Is healthcare a privilege or a birthright?
COVID-19 has altered the answer to that question forever, making a case that it is actually both. This pandemic has caused changes in just about every aspect of life. Through a government lens, it has pushed states to ask and define what is “essential”. There has also been a challenge identifying to what extent, the […]
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Coronavirus: How can we keep remittances flowing?
The World Bank is projecting the largest decline in remittances in history, due to COVID-19. On April 23, 2020, The World Bank hosted a webinar with Dr. Dilip Ratha, Chief Economist Remittances unit at the bank on how we could keep remittances flowing. Here is an abridged version of the webinar. Q: Can you give […]
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Maintaining National Cohesion During A Drawn-out Pandemic
The localized crisis causes distressing discord to a community. Widespread catastrophe creates agonizing chaos in any region. If not managed carefully, long-term chaos will knock the wind out of our sails and destroy national cohesion. Noble response to the novel COVID-19. Public administrators, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, medical staff, sanitation workers, long-haul truckers, local delivery […]
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Habits of the Heart featured in top 40 blogs on philanthropy
I am happy to announce that this blog, Habits of the Heart, which focuses on philanthropy and public policy is featured as one of the top 40 blogs on philanthropy on https://blog.feedspot.com/philanthropy_blogs/ While this is a privilege and honor, I would like to hear from you, the reader, what topics you’d like to read more […]