Opinion pieces

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Building shock proof communities in the age of recurrent crises

Thursday, November 21, 2019

It’s barely made the news in Australia, but a record 45 million people are facing severe food insecurity in Southern Africa over the next six months, with nine million people already experiencing ‘crisis’ or ‘emergency’ levels of food insecurity. Prolonged droughts, flooding, back-to-back cyclones and environmental degradation have devastated a region heavily dependent on smallholder agriculture. The situation has been exacerbated by conflict and prolonged economic challenges.

Opinion Pieces, Africa

When is a Halloween Costume More Than Just Child’s Play?

Friday, November 1, 2019

I have always thought that when it comes to dressing up for Halloween we should let kids be kids. Adults tend to ruin everything.

Opinion Pieces, Human trafficking, Poverty, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Middle East, Eastern Europe & Central Asia, Forced Marriage

World Vision Australia ambassador Samantha Harris on why she’s more than ‘just a model’

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

She’s been a successful model since she was just 11, but Samantha Harris says there’s much more to her than being a recognisable face.

Opinion Pieces, Asia and the Pacific, Aboriginal, Indigenous, International Day of the Girl Child, World Vision

The conflict we can't ignore

Monday, October 7, 2019

It was the shocking scene that jolted the world into caring once more about a forgotten war. Two months ago, a Syrian cameraman captured harrowing footage of a five-year-old girl, Riham, trying to rescue her baby sister from their bombed home in Idlib. Our hearts ached for the terrified father as he scrambled to his daughters’ aid, his face frozen in horror. We wept for little Riham as she reached for her sister dangling over the wreckage, her dress hooked on the debris. And our hearts broke when we learned that Riham, her mother and another sister later died, further driving up the statistics of a bloody battle that has claimed more than 400,000 lives.

Opinion Pieces, Middle East, Eastern Europe & Central Asia

Australia must do more to help children in the Pacific

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Children’s drawings often evoke a sense of joy and mirth – whether it’s a wonky stick-figure family with a spotty dog, or holiday fun under an oversized sun. But this week, a crudely-drawn sketch by a young boy filled me with sadness. The window into his life depicts his father looming menacingly over his mother with a knife, poised to strike as she cowers in fright.

Opinion Pieces, Asia and the Pacific

Why the world must know what is happening on the frontline of the Ebola epidemic

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

On the dusty brown streets of Beni, we are too scared to shake hands with anyone we meet. We don’t hug or kiss each other on the cheek. This is Ebola ground zero. Locals have even developed a new greeting ritual. Those who know each other well – and understand Ebola’s deadly threat – raise their arms and touch elbows. The virus is the stuff of nightmares. It has claimed more than 1700 lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo in one year. In Beni, at least 337 men, women and child have succumbed to the illness.

Opinion Pieces, Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ebola

Aid work must never be linked with defence

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

As an aid worker with an American accent, I’m used to being the target of security threats. In South Sudan in 2016, humanitarian staff were subjected to horrific violence and harassment, with Americans often singled out. There were mock executions of Americans at checkpoints. In an attack on a residential compound, an American was badly beaten and told: “Tell your Embassy how we treated you”.

Opinion Pieces, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, AUSAID, Conflict, Emergencies, South Sudan

Devastated families in reclaimed Mosul return to their communities

Sunday, July 21, 2019

July marks two years since Iraqi armed forces successfully re-took Mosul from Islamic State, following a nine-month long bloody battle.

Opinion Pieces, Middle East, Eastern Europe & Central Asia, Iraq

Ebola is back and containing the virus will be more difficult than last time

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Between 2013 and 2016, Ebola swept through West Africa, killing more than 11,000 people. Now, writes World Vision CEO, Claire Rogers, the virus is spreading in a war-zone, which means aid workers are facing a new set of challenges.

Opinion Pieces, Africa, Ebola

My Life-Changing Trip To Rwanda 25 Years After The Genocide

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

It’s been 25 years since the Hutu forces started their murderous campaign that ran from April 7 to July 4, 1994. Over the 100-day period, an estimated 800,000 to one million people were slaughtered.

Opinion Pieces, Africa