Category Archives: Personal Empowerment

As much of the world has entered into a bleak period of social confinement and dramatic economic decline, there has been an understandable urge to identify the upshot of this dark moment in global history. In particular, the desire to regard the pandemic as an opportunity to spark a kind of social, economic and political reset, reinstating a nostalgic vision of a simpler, more community-focused time.

In 1887, Friedrich Engels predicted that only a brutal war would provide the necessary chaos and economic disruption to precipitate a revolution. In 2020, these kinds of hopefully utilitarian aspirations for the pandemic are not confined to any one political tradition. In Western nations in particular, COVID-19 has been portrayed as the Great Leveller. Yet, it is difficult to afford this notion any credence beyond the superficial universal requirements of behavioural change.

The flagrant use of this term reveals much about the social challenges in Western liberal democracies, which pre-dated this pandemic. As our societies have become more diverse in every sense, and more empowered, the task of conjuring the imagined community that Benedict Anderson espoused has become more difficult. And with the arrival of pandemic, the public sphere itself is reconfigured to some degree, with millions tuning in to watch national broadcasts from leaders and their advisers, providing the backdrop of that most elusive quality of modern life: a shared reality.

A survey I published just before the crisis showed that the desire for a greater degree of national unity was one of the few consensus positions in European nations. The outsized salience of nostalgia in Western politics and its cultural resonance at least in part captures the absence of community-forging national tests over recent decades, and strengthens the potency of historical crises such as the Second World War. Leaders and citizens alike have been desperate to chart a course towards a rejuvenation of social ties, because the fragmentation of communities on the back of economic and technological change has made it more difficult to govern and embedded a persistent sense of insecurity.

Over recent years, new identities have emerged and assumed an astonishing degree of power and influence, with societies polarising around generational, socio-economic, educational, regional and gender lines. Over the past five years, policy-makers and researchers and have frequently discussed how an effective invocation of the community underpinning the nation could provide the key to softening some of these seemingly insurmountable barriers repairing the atomising effects of our late-stage capitalist, digital era lives.

There was a considerable desire amongst citizens, too, to believe in the crisis alchemy of social trust. At the outbreak of the crisis I appeared on Sky News discussing, amongst other things, the feverish stockpiling of toilet paper and penne pasta that had consumed the United Kingdom. It was suggested that this behaviour, disadvantaging the elderly and vulnerable, was completely out of character this is, after all, the land of the Blitz Spirit. When I made the point that the Blitz saw moments of great heroism and selflessness, but also precipitated astonishing spikes in the levels of violent, sexual and petty crime, I received a torrent of threats and abuse on social media and via email for having tarnished the legacy of this crucial period in the national consciousness.

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought out some of the best traits of the people of the United Kingdom, a nation that prides itself on its generosity; not least of all, the staggering number of applications to volunteer for the National Health Service. Yet, it cannot come as a surprise that stressful situations that inspire a degree of competition around access to scarce resources do not always lead to the highest expression of the immense capacities of human nature. Many other less visible and more troubling forms of destructive social behaviour, whether child abuse, domestic violence, or the tinder box compelled in council estates by confining large families in cramped, unsatisfactory accommodations have predictably flared, with devastating and lasting consequences for the victims.

As I discussed last week, there is nothing endemic in this crisis that naturally suggests that populism in the West will fall by the wayside in its aftermath even despite the rallying we have seen around the flag in many nations, and the renewed empowerment of our institutions. Similarly, any sense of national unity the pandemic inspires is vulnerable to erosion as we over-compensate for our confinement in the transition, and in the face of the acceleration of social conflict and competition seething beneath the surface of this collective test. At the heart of this pandemic is in fact a very unevenly experienced situation.

While it began as the globalists disease, striking down politicians and political staff, those attending international conferences, or partaking in skiing holidays in the Dolomites, the citizens who bear the brunt of hospitalisations, and indeed deaths, are those with underlying medical and health conditions. Conditions that often reflect deep structural inequalities including the higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking and respiratory illness affecting citizens from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Those in cities are especially vulnerable, with air pollution linked to a higher propensity for complications and even death. As are those with mental health conditions. In some nations, including the United States, socio-economic disparities are fused onto racial inequalities meaning citizens from BAME backgrounds are disproportionately likely to be hospitalised, and to pass away.

The trauma of another economic recession of this nature will be collectively shared, yet ultimately, the personal financial impacts of this pandemic will also be asymmetrical. While governments are offering unprecedented interventions to help shield workers and employers from the brunt of the disruption, as in the 2008-09 Financial Crisis, it will be the young who are most vulnerable to its immediate and long-term effects. As the Resolution Foundation noted, The Government is rightly socialising much of the costs of this crisis [] But these approaches create insider/outsider dynamics in which the young come off worst compensating people for the earnings they already had rather than the potential earnings they would otherwise have received. So too are many women, already disadvantaged in their career earnings by the structural inequalities of child-bearing, housework and family caring responsibilities, bearing the brunt of burden of this crisis to the working lives of parents.

The daily experience of this allegedly unifying crisis is also deeply subject to personal circumstance. While we all must undertake social distancing, limiting many of the pleasures of life and certainly the fall is greatest for those who are able to regularly partake in a vibrant social calendar, excursions to restaurants and the theatre, and overseas travel the environment in which we live through this lockdown varies tremendously. While abuse and violence are of course the extreme, though distressingly common, expressions of disadvantage, many citizens safe in their homes are also due to prohibitive housing costs living in small, dark flats with no outdoor spaces. Contrast this with the experience of those living in the countryside, or with large gardens, and the scale of the disparities of constraint and sacrifice become clear.

While images of middle-class runners sprinting buoyantly through parks in their Lululemon athletic gear feature heavily on the news, policy-makers are all too aware that every day that the lockdown continues, many other citizens are eating more, smoking more, drinking more, and experiencing a greater degree of mental strain than they would in their ordinary lives. The elderly have lost many of the activities and support services that maintain their quality of life. Children are forced to confront dark sides of the world previously unbeknownst to their innocent minds. Those who rely on medical support and interventions, including cancer patients, are treading water, and those with undiagnosed conditions may now only discover their illnesses at a dangerous moment in their spread.

The costs to society, and to the state, mount day by day forcing governments to balance choices about which groups of individuals, and which types of afflictions, are to be privileged.

Worryingly, many of the groups disproportionately affected in a negative manner by the economic, social and daily experiences of the crisis, are those most vulnerable to political disengagement. If there is an eventual backlash from this crisis and remembering that the lag on shaping political behaviour can be relatively long it could potentially deepen and embed disenfranchisement amongst certain social groups, or equally, create the conditions for a new wave of anti-establishment movements predicated on correcting injustices and inequalities revealed by the crisis. Depending on your personal politics, this second scenario may appear to be a positive option; however, simply from the perspective of governance and social cohesion, it would undoubtedly foretell more rocky years ahead.

I do not wish to appear to forecast only lasting doom and gloom from this crisis. Indeed, there are many ways in which it could indeed offer a pathway towards some profound social reckonings lighting a fire under burgeoning movements towards a recalculation of our relationship with nature, with work, and with one another. Amidst the obvious stresses, parents are given the chance of a modern lifetime to bond with their children. There will be tremendous opportunities for third sector organisations to have their work more visible and valued, and to build on the momentum of charitable and community acts compelled by the pandemics swift hand. It also feels inevitable to some extent that lower-paid workers (often described as unskilled) on the frontline of this crisis will be afforded a greater degree of respect, and that there will be increased public pressure to reduce the pernicious environmental impacts of industry and transport.

The pandemic has already compelled a surge in public sector innovation and an unprecedented degree of speed in policy responses, and enacted changes to the welfare state that will be difficult to reverse including the long-called-for adjustments to the payment level and access period of Universal Credit, the UK Governments flagship centralised welfare payment system. It is also difficult to imagine that the red lines of the first iteration of the UK Governments new immigration policy will remain as fixed, with thousands of desperately needed frontline NHS migrant workers having had their visas extended in the heat of the crisis.

Ultimately, governments will need to ask themselves why is it unacceptable for citizens to experience acute poverty or social deprivation during a pandemic, and acceptable at other times? Why must social media organisations intervene to combat conspiracy theories about the coronavirus, but are allowed wash their hands of the harmful proliferation of conspiracy theories that work daily to undermine social and political trust? Why is it outrageous for a woman to suffer at the hands of her partner during a lockdown, and somehow not worthy of our outrage on a normal day? Is it because the circumstances conjured by the pandemic are seen as so outside of reasonable individual agency? In asking ourselves these questions, we may well begin to expand our common societal understanding of what is beyond a persons control, and in doing so, find ourselves willing to look with fresh and frank eyes at some of the more enduring structural barriers that have persisted in plain sight.

Yet, it is nonetheless important to caution and particularly in light of the very human desire for this crisis to somehow, naturally lead us towards salvation that its harmful social effects will be profound and potentially long-lasting. And that governments will find themselves at the end of all of this, with a list of unresolved problems that pre-dated the crisis, as well as these more recent consequences of the pandemic itself.

While it is perfectly possible that leaders can rise to this tremendous challenge, we do not have ample evidence from the past five years which has brought up the bodies of many simmering tensions and conflicts and inequalities of their will and capacity to do so. Perhaps the trauma and jolt of this fast-moving, wide-reaching pandemic will provide the grist to the mill to support this in a manner that was not possible before its emergence. It is too early to say. All we can assert with certainty, is that no outcomes are inevitable.

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What does COVID-19 mean for the social fabric of our nations? - BFPG

Apr. 08 /CSRwire/ - Cisco Blogs | Corporate Social Responsibility

We know that the most vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected by the economic impacts of global crises, and continue to be impacted after a crisis is over. Those who are unemployed or underemployed. Small business owners. Women. The poor. People who are un/underbanked. At Cisco, we bring to bear all our available resources our funding, our technology, and our expertise to support nonprofit organizations that have technology-based solutions to connect the unconnected and help people become economically self-sufficient.

Ciscos model of investing in innovative organizations with early-stage, technology-based initiatives means that our nonprofit partners are already using technology to deliver many of their programs and services. This has enabled them to quickly pivot to deliver different types of services to address new and emerging needs, and also to rapidly accelerate their reach to meet increased needs of the individuals and communities they are serving.

These are some of nonprofits Cisco supports through our economic empowerment portfolio, and how they are responding to support people and communities in need right now:

Skills Training

Anudip:Provides technology skills training, professional development skills, mentoring, and employment opportunities to low-income and underserved populations (youth, women, people with disabilities) in India, delivered both face-to-face and online. Cisco has supportedAnudips work with cash grant investments, donations of WebEx and other Cisco technologies, and our expertise.How are they helping?Anudip has temporarily transitioned their services to 100 percent remote learning.

AnnieCannons:Provides technology skills training, professional development skills, mentoring, and employment opportunities to survivors of human trafficking in the Bay Area of California. We have supported AnnieCannons with cash grant investments, and donations of WebEx and other Cisco technologies.How are they helping?AnnieCannons has temporarily transitioned its online technology skills training to 100% remote learning. In addition, their staff have increased their outreach to human trafficking and domestic violence survivors who are particularly vulnerable during times of crises.

Upwardly Global (UpGlo):Provides training and support to skilled refugees and immigrants to eliminate barriers and help them integrate into the professional American workforce. Cisco has supported this work via an initial cash grant investment, and we are partnering to support virtual networking and mentoring opportunities with our employees.How are they helping?UpGlo is scaling its online skills training and job readiness resources, enhancing virtual coaching and volunteer services, and helping clients find immediate jobs in high demand areas like healthcare.

Financial Inclusion

Opportunity International (Opportunity):Provides financial products (regular and emergency loans, savings accounts, insurance) and services (capacity building for entrepreneurs, educators, farmers, and financial literacy training) to low income populations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. With Cisco support,Opportunitydesigned, implemented, and scaled mobile enabled financial products and services to more than 20 million people across Africa and Asia.How are they helping?Access to these types of financial products and services is critically important for vulnerable populations who now are unemployed or without a steady source of income.

Kiva:Expands financial access through its peer-to-peer lending platform that enables individuals to make interest-free loans to students and entrepreneurs globally. Small businesses are already being negatively impacted by the spread of COVID-19, including many members of the Kiva community.How are they helping?In the United States, Kiva isofferinglarger loans, flexible repayment schedules, and expanded eligibility. They are working to provide support to their partner financial institutions and individuals outside the United States.

Social Enterprise

Vispala:Started by the CEO of Anudip, Vispala uses 3D printing technology to print low cost prosthetic arms for underserved populations in India. Cisco provided early stage funding to help them develop and test their products, scale, and become a financially sustainable social enterprise.How are they helping?They have now pivoted their focus to 3D printing surgical masks for healthcare providers.

NESsT:NESsT develops sustainable social enterprises that solve critical social problems in emerging market economies, likePIXED, a Peruvian social enterprise that manufactures 3D-printed prosthetics.How are they helping?PIXEDhas shifted its manufacturing of prostheses into personal protective equipment (PPE) for physicians and hospitals in Peru. NESsT is working closely with PIXED management (and all of its portfolio companies) to create contingency plans that address short- and longer-term needs that must be addressed during an impending global recession.

To accelerate global problem solving, we need financially sustainable solutions that address different issues in different parts of the world. Thats why Cisco invests in early-stage solutions that leverage technology to create meaningful impact at scale.

Our nonprofit partners in economic empowerment are able to quickly adapt to the way they serve others in order to address the biggest challenges that we face. To learn more about these amazing nonprofits and how you can get involved, please visit oureconomic empowermentpage.

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How Cisco's Nonprofit Partners Are Pivoting and Innovating to Address Unexpected Needs - CSRwire.com

Even conspiracy theories need to be partly built on facts in order to be plausible enough to market.

It is impossible to convince any sane person with blatant nonsense, or pathological illusions that ignore solid developments, and actions and quotes by authorities with well-known experience in their fields. Indeed, this is exactly what we are witnessing in these exceptional times as Covid-19 sweeps the world, bringing down all barriers.

A few days ago, a friend of mine sent me a recorded interview with a controversial British personality self-regarded as a visionary crusader against forces of global hegemony. This interview almost appeared with two valuable contributions by Jacques Attali, the Algerian-born French economist, thinker and political adviser, and Yuval Noah Harari, the Israeli (of Lebanese origin) historian and professor.

I had followed the career of the British personality since his early days as footballer, and then as a prominent sports journalist. His next step, however, took him to a totally different career; as he became an anti-establishment activist, first becoming an environmentalist with The Greens, and later a campaigner against political and economic elites, which he doubts and ruthlessly demonizes, and feels that it is his mission to uncover and warn against its evil conspiracies!

In his interview, the British conspiracy theorist dismisses the Covid-19 virus, and sees it as a new chapter in the global 1% elites conspiracy designed to strengthen its world domination. This is done as he claims by destroying the current world economys institutions and rebuild them in a way that further serves their interests.

In his argument, in addition to the global companies, and Davos World Economic Forum, he includes the World Health Organization (WHO), among the leading co-conspirators!

Some of the data mentioned by the controversial gentleman is true; more so for any political and economic researcher or expert, who understands the dynamics of the market economy and the role of accumulation, concentration, monopoly and speculation in capitalism.

Furthermore, anybody who has been following the progress of technology through the centuries would know the impact of technologies, from the discovery of the gunpowder and paper, the invention of printing, and recently, the development of the computer, genetic engineering and artificial intelligence (AI).

What I mean to say is that with or without Covid-19 we have been marching towards a new world. The only thing this pandemic has done is merely accelerating this march, and negating all reservations against it.

This is where Harari hits his target. He acknowledges the historical importance of the world crisis we are all facing.

Humankind is now facing a global crisis, he says, adding, perhaps the biggest crisis of our generation. The decisions people and governments take in the next few weeks will probably shape the world for years to come. They will shape not just our healthcare systems but also our economy, politics and culture. We must act quickly and decisively. We should also take into account the long-term consequences of our actions. When choosing between alternatives, we should ask ourselves not only how to overcome the immediate threat, but also what kind of world we will inhabit once the storm passes. Yes, the storm will pass, humankind will survive, most of us will still be alive but we will live in a different world.

Harari goes on many short-term emergency measures will become a fixture of life. That is the nature of emergencies. They fast-forward historical processes. Decisions that in normal times could take years of deliberation are passed in a matter of hours. Immature and even dangerous technologies are pressed into service, because the risks of doing nothing are bigger. Entire countries serve as guinea-pigs in large-scale social experiments. What happens when everybody works from home and communicates only at a distance? What happens when entire schools and universities go online? In normal times, governments, businesses and educational boards would never agree to conduct such experiments. But these arent normal times. In this time of crisis, we face two particularly important choices. The first is between totalitarian surveillance and citizen empowerment. The second is between nationalist isolation and global solidarity.

The first choice therefore is between a Chinese model of totalitarian surveillance and the respect of human rights, including personal privacy; and the second is between isolationism and globalization.

Jacques Attali, who was the first head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 1991-1993, and a former adviser to ex-French President Francois Mitterrand, seems somehow to agree with Harari on more than one issue. He also believes that great historical disasters caused by various plagues led to profound changes in the political structures of nations, as well as the cultures embodied in those structures.

Talking of the bubonic plague (The Black Death) of the 14th century, which killed almost one third of Europes population, Attali says that among its most significant repercussions was the change in the position of the clergy. The clergy lost out influence to the benefit of the police, which became the only protector of the people after the churchs failure to protect them.

However, as Attali explains, this situation did not last long either; after the real power shifted from the authority of religion as represented by the Church to the authority of enforcement as represented by the police, it shifted again from the authority of enforcement to the authority of the state and the laws.

This point, in particular, will bring us back to ongoing argument about who would be the main beneficiary from the repercussions of Covid-19 in the Arab World. Is it the political and security, which has decisively taken the initiative in confronting the pandemic? Or is it some religious groups which are waiting until the worst passes, and then emerge to say Well, where were your science and scientists when God attempted to test our beliefs?

Indeed, contradicting theories and arguments about our lives and futures mushroom here and there, as the world, as a whole finds itself fighting against time.

From one side there are voices insisting that the top priority now must be saving lives, as saving the economies can wait, especially, that they are built on lending and debts, and can be rebuilt after recessions. From the opposite direction, many voices argue that life and death are existential facts, and the world must never sacrifice its economic well-being for the many to save the lives of the few.

Personally, I am - without hesitation - with the first opinion.

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Covid-19 and the Conspiracy Theorists | Asharq AL-awsat - Asharq Al-awsat English

Since she started telecommuting a few weeks ago, she has faced more verbal and physical abuse from her husband, who has always worked from home.

Friction between the couple has become worse now that they are together almost all the time, the woman's social worker, Ms Kristine Lam, told The New Paper.

One of the flashpoints is her husband's harsh disciplining of their two young children, who stopped going to kindergarten a while ago because of the Covid-19 outbreak.

When she tries to help them, he would turn his anger towards her and become violent.

"Her husband would accuse her of being a lousy mother who was incapable of managing the kids," said Ms Lam, who declined to reveal their personal details due to confidentiality.

"He would push her and bang her head against the wall. He also hit her with his hands."

She said the man had always been abusive and controlling, such as checking his wife's phone and laptop, but the frequency of his violence rose after she began working at home.

Ms Lam, a lead social worker at Care Corner's Project StART, and advocacy groups are concerned about a potential rise in domestic abuse as families are forced to stay home during this circuit breaker month.

Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee addressed this issue in Parliament on Monday when he noted a trend in "higher rates of domestic violence, domestic quarrels and friction in the family" in countries that had imposed movement restrictions.

He said a national care hotline will be set up for callers to get support from psychologists, counsellors and others.

Family Violence Specialist Centres (FVSC) and Child Protection Specialist Centres will be "adequately resourced during this time" as they are essential services, Mr Lee added.

The Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) said it received 619 inquiries last month, a 35 per cent jump from March last year.

Aware's head of research and advocacy Shailey Hingorani told TNP: "Crises, such as pandemics or economic recessions, have historically corresponded with a surge in domestic violence cases."

She said social workers told Aware last month that they had observed a rise in family violence cases.

One social worker said 60 per cent of her daily referrals were family violence-related, up from 30 per cent last year.

United Women Singapore president Georgette Tan said such cases may continue to rise as virus containment measures may inadvertently trigger domestic violence.

Nanyang Technological University's associate professor of psychology, Dr Andy Ho, noted that physical isolation also makes it harder for victims to get help.

He said: "Victims are now constantly in close physical proximity with their abusers. This exposes them to a higher likelihood of abuse.

"And they might not have the privacy and personal space to contact their support network for help even if they have one."

Stress arising from the Covid-19 crisis may also result in more abusive behaviour by perpetrators, said Ms Hingorani of Aware.

She added: "Abusers may seek a sense of control in their disrupted and uncertain lives, which may trigger them to lash out at those around them."

Ms Lam, whose centre is one of two FVSCs here, said she has seen a recurrence of violence in cases involving those who were previously on stay-home notices or quarantine orders.

Like NTU's Dr Ho, she feels that victims are now more isolated from their support networks. For example, school counsellors and teachers can no longer monitor how potential child abuse victims are doing now that they are not in school.

Work-from-home arrangements may also impact victims' level of empowerment, as many find their identity through their jobs, and this could affect whether they seek help, said Ms Lam.

Stressing that physical isolation does not mean social isolation, Dr Ho said: "It is crucial for victims to have a contact point that checks in on them. Technology makes that possible, but only if they can have privacy or time alone."

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Rise in domestic abuse cases as families forced to stay home - The New Paper

War against virus: The new nightingales of India, lighting the lamp of hope (IANS Special)

New Delhi, April 10 (IANS) As thousands of nurses across the country light the lamps of hope in the hospitals, several leading ladies play a vital role in India''s war room to contain the spread of dreaded pandemic.

From developing India''s first test kit for COVID-19, to despatching life saving medicines in remote areas, and from chalking out strategies for the government to tackle the spread of the virus to building treatment protocols, women from various walks of life burn midnight oil to counter the virus which is gradually spreading in world''s second most populated country.

Just a day before she delivered a baby, Minal Dakhave Bhosale, a Pune based virologist, managed to deliver the first testing kit for COVID-19 to India. In just a record time of six weeks, Minal and her team including some of the best scientists gifted its first test kit to conduct COVID-19 tests at a large scale in the country, an exercise required to identify and isolate carriers of the dreaded virus.

A few kilometers away from Minal''s laboratory in Pune, another virologist, Dr Priya Abraham, made an important breakthrough by isolating the virus. This breakthrough, by Dr Abraham, Director of the National Viral Institute, helps the scientists and immunologists in developing a vaccine or a drug for the treatment for new coronavirus.

Around 1500 kilometers away from Pune, in India''s seat of power, New Delhi, several women bureaucrats, policy makers, health strategists, joined hands with the Prime Minister''s Office (PMO) in chalking out strategies and initiating quick steps to prevent the country from slipping into stage 3, where disease is transmitted into communities.

Preeti Sudan, an alumni of London School of Economics, and presently the Secretary of Union Ministry of Health and Welfare, became the nodal point for the PMO to execute the key medical strategies on ground through health departments of various states."

Preeti is a workaholic. Fortunately she has rich experience of public food distribution, disaster management and PM''s mega health Insurance scheme. She seems to be the fittest person to be the nodal point for coordinating the war against a pandemic, " says a 1983 batch IAS and batchmate of Preeti Sudan.

Incidentally, the person in charge of viral diseases in India''s premiere medical body, Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), happens to be a well known woman scientist, Dr Nivedita Gupta. Her contribution in containment of virus Nipah in India''s southern most state of Kerala is widely acknowledged in the research fraternity.

Dr Gupta, who played a key role in setting up a viral and diagnostic network for ICMR, is presently building testing and treatment protocols in India. Such protocols, adhered by the medical practitioners are vital in the fight against the virus.

The actual battle against COVID-19 could be won only through a repurposed drug or a vaccine, a field which usually comes under biotechnology ministry. As several groups of scientists launch the project of developing repurpose drugs or a vaccine to combat the virus, Renu Swaroop, a top class scientist and secretary in the Union Ministry of Biotechnology, looks after all these projects.

She hopes that repurpose drugs could be an answer to quickly deal with the highly infectious virus.Seeing her deep involvement in the going projects, the union government has given Renu Swaroop one year extension in her service.

While these scientists and bureaucrats hold the key in fighting the pandemic, thousands of nurses, who form the frontline of the battle, work tirelessly in hundreds of hospitals where patients are being treated.

"We are thankful to Prime Minister Modi. For the first time we were invited in a video conference with the PM and I am happy to say all our requests ranging from suitable insurance package to availability of Personal Protection Equipments (PPEs) were heard and sorted out, " said Professor Roy George, the President of The Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) the apex body of nurses founded in 1908.

India has over 1.2 million workforce of trained nurses, who seem to brave this highly contagious virus and redefine women empowerment as the country gears up to battle coronavirus.

--IANS

ds/rt

Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: IANS

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War against virus: The new nightingales of India, lighting the lamp of hope (IANS Special) - Outlook India

TransUnion unveils research assessing pandemics consumer finances impact; launches new consumer educational hub to help

CHICAGO, March 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Six in 10 Americans (59%) said their household income has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic an increase of 53% from those who reported impact the previous week. An additional 10% of U.S. adults said they expect their household income will suffer in the future. The newly released research from TransUnion (TRU) found that consumers from the youngest generations, as well as those persons least informed about their credit, perceive the greatest financial hardship.

TransUnion has initiated a survey of adults in the U.S. and abroad to better understand the financial impact of COVID-19 on consumers. This weeks U.S. survey of more than 3,100 adults marked the second in the ongoing research. Additional details as well as resources for consumers looking to minimize the potential negative impact of the pandemic on their credit, and access to self-serve, educational materials can be found on TransUnions COVID-19 website.

Whether its their health, financial well-being or changes in day-to-day living, the lives of tens of millions of people in the U.S. and abroad have been dramatically changed, said Amy Thomann, head of consumer credit education for TransUnion. The aim of our weekly consumer research is to better understand the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and better inform consumers, businesses and government decisions during these unprecedented times.

TransUnions research found that the youngest generations, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, were most impacted financially by the COVID-19 pandemic. While 59% of Americans said their household income was negatively affected by the virus, the percentages were more pronounced for Millennials (68%) and Gen Z (63%).

Furthermore, the research found that Millennials (79%) and Gen Z (74%) were among the most concerned about their ability to pay bills and loans in the next month. This compared to 70% for all respondents and 53% for Baby Boomers.

Story continues

The concern is growing; survey responders indicated an inability in the near future to pay bills and loans averaging $1,031 a 14% increase from last weeks average of $903. Much of the payment problems are likely due to the fact that 36% of respondents said their work hours have been reduced. Comparatively, last week 45% of respondents said their work hours were reduced. However, this improvement is marred by the fact that this week 16% of respondents said they lost their job compared to 9% last week.

The survey also impressed upon the need for further consumer education in relation to financial options. Of those survey respondents struggling to pay bills, nearly one quarter of the population dont know what they could do to address the situation. This level of uncertainty increased to 41% among consumers that do not know their credit scores. Of those consumers who do not know their credit scores, 80% have not contacted their lenders to discuss options, versus 63% for the overall population.

Consumers are facing many unexpected challenges and its natural that people are concerned about their finances. It is clear that those with the least knowledge about their financial situation or means to act have been the hardest hit. We encourage consumers looking to minimize potential negative impacts of the pandemic on their credit to visit TransUnions COVID-19 website, concluded Thomann.

TransUnions research and credit education tools will be updated in real-time on its COVID-19 website as the company continues to support consumers and businesses from around the globe.

About TransUnion (TRU)

TransUnion is a global information and insights company that makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing a comprehensive picture of each person so they can be reliably and safely represented in the marketplace. As a result, businesses and consumers can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good.

A leading presence in more than 30 countries across five continents, TransUnion provides solutions that help create economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for hundreds of millions of people.

http://www.transunion.com/business

Contact Dave Blumberg TransUnion

E-mail david.blumberg@transunion.com

Telephone 312-972-6646

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Nearly 60% of Americans Say Household Income Negatively Impacted by COVID-19 - Yahoo Finance

Writing, editing, advising and encouraging students are all tasks members of the women empowerment blogs ShoutOut! and Her Campus do on a daily basis. Both are available to JMU students to join, and both focus on issues such as sexism, pay disparity and sexual liberation.

Olivia McCoy, the campus correspondent for Her Campus at JMU, said she got involved with the blog during Student Organization Night her freshman year and has been actively participating since. Her Campus stuck out to McCoy because she recognized the name from online articles shed read.

Professor Sarah Taylor teaches the ShoutOut! class at JMU. It's an advocacy blogging class that's been at the university for almost a decade.

As campus correspondent, McCoys essentially the editor-in-chief and president of the JMU chapter. Shes in charge of directing writers to meet deadlines, managing the executive board, scheduling meetings and recruiting new members. Her Campus is an online magazine written by college women for college women.

Im all about female empowerment, lifting other women up so they can be the best versions of themselves, McCoy said. Through Her Campus, Im able to assist other college women with their writing, editing and marketing skills, and all while creating a network of valuable connections.

Her Campus works to be relatable in its content. It covers a wide range of topics from social media tips to keys of a healthy relationship. McCoy said members try to write from the perspective of the students that read the articles.

Similar to Her Campus, all of ShoutOut!s articles are written by and for college students as well. ShoutOut! is an advocacy blogging class SCOM 301 or WGSS 301 thats been at JMU for almost 10 years. Students of any major can join. Writers can blog about their own experiences, as well as issues they feel strongly about, such as racism, sexual assault and gender identity.

Sarah Taylor who teaches the ShoutOut! class, said one of the class main goals is to disprove any falsely preconceived opinions about feminism.

Feminism is not a singular definition thing, Taylor said. I think one of the challenges for us at JMU and on our campus is to change peoples existing perspectives about feminism because, even though we are a liberal arts university, we have a lot of perspectives that are very old school when it comes to what feminism is.

Online editor and teaching assistant Cayla DiGiovanni said ShoutOut! has a mission to provide the JMU community with accurate and constructive information concerning events, legislation, cultural criticism and resources for womens rights and personal health on and off campus.

It also aims to foster a safe space in the JMU community for interactive, informed and constructive dialogue, in hopes of collectively advancing the cause of women and other marginalized groups by means of these conversations. DiGiovanni said that the goal of this blog isnt to convert readers to feminism but instead to raise consciousness of the diverse perspectives toward understanding everyday inequities.

Taylor, McCoy and DiGiovanni said that these blogs at JMU aim to help women grow, to push them to become the best versions of themselves and to give them a voice in a world that frequently tries to silence them.

Women empowerment plays a huge role in my life, DiGiovanni said. I am a firm believer in badass women empowering other badass women. I grew up in a family with badass women, and I hope to continue the trend in my family. In my opinion, every woman should strive to empower other women if they can.

Contact Morgan Vuknic at vuknicma@dukes.jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts, and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on Twitter @Breeze_Culture.

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The empowered women behind JMU's feminist blogs | Culture - The Breeze

"Fat girls don't flip fast," the gymnastics coach I had throughout elementary and early middle school told us as she explained how to get enough height in our tumbling passes. It's called "setting" before you connect a back handspring, front handspring, whip back, etc. into a flip, you have to reach your arms up by your ears so the flip goes high up in the air. If your arms are far apart, or as my coach warned, "fat," you won't get as much height. I never quite seemed to think about "fat girls" or my body the same after that.

I'll always remember the slight, sometimes overt, comments my coach, a former gymnast herself, made about our bodies at a time when puberty was top of mind. We were learning about it in the classroom, and some of us were already facing its wrath. At one practice, she jokingly (but not so jokingly) compared the size of all of our calf and glute muscles. Then, she told a few of the girls that if they weren't careful, they'd grow up to have big butts.

There were other instances where my coach specifically targeted one girl on our team whom she constantly pointed out as too "jiggly." She'd pinch the girl's stomach and make snide remarks about needing to speak with the girl's mother to find out what food was available at home. My coach would scold the girl for her "thick" thighs and demand she run extra rounds of stairs at the end of practice. The most distressing part? She'd always say these things through a smile, sometimes mitigating the severity of her words with a laugh.

Body-shaming by coaches and other authority figures and the resulting unhealthy relationship with body image is a common theme when you talk to gymnasts on the elite level, too. Five-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles, UCLA superstar Katelyn Ohashi, and former elite gymnast Mattie Larson have all spoken about body-shaming they endured in the sport. Biles mentions in her book, Courage to Soar, that she remembers falling during her floor routine at the 2013 US Secret Classic and overhearing another coach say, "You know why she crashed? Because she's too fat." Ohashi was shamed for her curves prior to her collegiate career and was called a "bird that couldn't fly." And Larson, who developed an eating disorder in her teens, explained to Vice News in a 2018 documentary that at the now-closed-down Karolyi Ranch in Texas, former national team coordinator Martha Karolyi would go around during training-camp meals and praise gymnasts for having small amounts of food on their plates.

The things you're told as a young gymnast, good or bad, stay with you. (One study published in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology in 2006 concluded, based on surveys, that retired gymnasts "reported more eating disorders and negative views of their experiences than did the current gymnasts.") Even after switching gyms a number of times and no longer working with my original coach, I still felt her comments stick.

After over a decade in the sport, my life without gymnastics began freshman year of college. When I was a senior, I wrote a personal essay recalling how, when I first went away to school, I used to stare down warily at my hips and cup them in my hands as if to hold them in when they started to blossom. I also became near-obsessed with working out. I'd go to the campus gym for two hours per night, six days a week. Why? Well, the thought of losing the abs you could see through my leotard this "perfect" gymnast's body was terrifying. My roommate even shared her concerns when I'd come back to the dorms at 11 p.m. fresh off a long sweat session.

Though I never developed an eating disorder while competing in gymnastics or thereafter, I did show signs of disordered eating. There was a period of time when I punished myself for indulging in sweets by doing extra crunches on my bedroom floor. I was hyperaware of what my body looked like. These were all things I had to work through once I quit gymnastics. It took a few years, but I learned that rest days are important and so is enjoying the food you eat, exercise is not a punishment, and my body can still be beautiful and athletic without meeting standards set by a sport fixated on attaining perfection.

I heard similar sentiments when I spoke with Betsy McNally, a former gymnastics coach who also competed in the sport for over a decade through level 10 (level 10, for reference, is right below the elite level). Now she's a personal trainer and nutritionist who teaches gymnastics boot camps, called Betsy Bootcamps, across the country to instruct families, coaches, and gymnasts about the importance of proper nutrition for athletes and how to foster positive body image and a safe environment. She doesn't want things to escalate for them like it did for her.

At 14, McNally was told that she was "too heavy" to be good at gymnastics and that her weight was holding her back. She describes in her memoir, Binges & Balance Beams, that her coaches started displaying her and her teammates' weights on a chart at practice. She fell into a downward spiral of "not eating" and sprinkling fiber powders on her meals, so she'd stay fuller for longer. No one ever taught her which foods would give her energy and what would help her recover from workouts, she said. No one was there to talk about how to eat to promote a healthy lifestyle; instead, it was all about restriction. And the worst part, as it is for many gymnasts, were the lingering effects.

After gymnastics, McNally turned to bodybuilding competitions and modeling, becoming "obsessed" with her physique and looking fit. She struggled with the "vicious cycle" of restriction and binging in the bodybuilding world, and those comments from her gymnastics coach remained. Though McNally can't diagnose eating disorders or refer athletes at her boot camps to eating-disorder specialists that's out of her scope of practice she can educate them on the importance of nutrition that she's learned not only through her professional work but through her own experiences, too.

It's in the nature of gymnastics (and in the rules, for that matter) to strive for perfection, but I realize now that, as much as I love and appreciate those years as a gymnast, this fight for the elusive "perfect" led me to grip onto what I deemed to be my own imperfections. I can't sit here and pretend that the sport didn't shape me as a person in positive ways. I owe a lot to it my courage, my attention to detail, my splits but the body-shaming is not just exclusive to the elite level of gymnastics; it's on all levels, and it has longterm effects.

And it's not just in gymnastics. Take former professional runner Mary Cain's November 2019 op-ed video published on the New York Times website. In it, she details the ruthless and unhealthy atmosphere on the now-shut-down Nike Oregon Project team cultivated by her coaches and spearheaded by Alberto Salazar (note: Salazar was banned from the sport for four years due to a doping scandal). Cain was conditioned to shed pounds at a dangerous rate because it would make her "faster," and she, too, was weighed in front of her peers.

Cain is an advocate for more women coaches, and I agree that we need them. But my experience shows that women are not immune to falling prey to, and perpetuating, these negative cultural messages. We all need to work together to change the fundamental ways in which we educate and support young women in sports.

As McNally told me, "I really like to think that I'm part of a movement where we're changing, shifting completely, the whole result of the sport and focusing more on being positive and educating girls." But the real people struggling, she noted, are "people like me and you." We, as McNally explained, experience the residual effects later in life where it "manifests in eating disorders and people not loving themselves just because of a stupid comment."

McNally and I spent some time talking about how the focus on appearance and weight and lack of education on healthy habits and nutrition caused us to have missed opportunities in our gymnastics careers. "I really would have been good at the sport, but nobody ever taught me balance," she said. Still, she was able to use the struggles she faced for a purpose greater than her own. "I took a bad thing and I made it a good thing," she said, "and that's what makes us stronger and better people."

Hearing McNally say this made me feel seen. Self-love can be hard to come by. Gymnastics did teach me to be proud of my strength and to believe in that strength. My former coach's body-shaming can't take away that feeling of empowerment, but it wasn't until after those transitional years in college that I could abandon the microscopic lens I used to view my body through; that I could detach from this idea of what a "perfect" body should be.

For gymnasts or former gymnasts going through similar experiences, I have a message: It's OK to love the sport and, at the same time, acknowledge that there are deep-seated issues in how girls' bodies are judged. It's OK to thank the sport for what it's given you and recognize what it took from you. It's OK to grow into the person you now are and will become knowing that perfect isn't who you are. And that's exactly how it's supposed to be.

Originally posted here:

My Gymnastics Coach Used to Fat-Shame Girls, and It Shaped the Way I View My Body - POPSUGAR

One of the problems that the coronavirus pandemic is exposing in the U.S. is a decades-long erosion of trust in civil society. The effect is like a loss of the civic antibodies that keep self-governance healthy. In the political vacuum, the work of containing the outbreak falls nearly 100 percent on elected leaders and corporations with minimal popular credibility. As journalist David M. Shribman notes, [T]he cost to capitalism shrinks in comparison to the cost in social capital.

Elections alone are not producing just outcomes that address citizens needs, as witnessed, for example, by more than a year of weekly street protests by anti-austerity activists in France against their elected government, or neoliberal economic policies implemented by an elected president in Chile.

U.S. elections have devolved into $10 billion spectacles funded by banks, corporations and a small cadre of wealthy donors representing less than 1 percent of the adult population. They account for nearly 70 percent of all campaign funding. Eitan Hersh of Tufts University describes the resultant mutation of citizenship as political hobbyism, in which everyone is a spectator, an armchair quarterback, a partisan fan picking a favorite candidate-product.

Get the latest news and thought-provoking analysis from Truthout.

As long as U.S. politics are dominated by a top-down consumerist version of representative democracy in lieu of citizen-driven civil society, the nation will stay focused on maintaining a permanent $1.25 trillion warfare state built on extreme social and economic inequality, and political dysfunction will continue to deepen.

The irony of this devolution of democracy is that there has never been a time of greater opportunity for creative problem solving and citizen empowerment.

Since 2016, I have been traveling in Europe and the Americas studying citizen-driven innovation. While my findings are not scientific in any formal sense, this field investigation and bricolage on a global scale have consistently revealed potentially transformative models of citizen self-organization and small-bore government activism that embody a more hopeful politics of direct democracy.

In Spain, for example, a project called Vivero de Iniciativas Ciudadanas (VIC), or Nursery of Citizens Initiatives, was launched 16 years ago to honor the civic lives of victims of the terrorist bombing of Atocha Train Station. With help from Spains innovative Medialab Prado, VIC has produced a creative commons project called CIVICS that interactively maps citizens initiatives in the non-monetary social economy.

The initiatives being mapped whether focused on helping elderly shut-ins, advocating for alternative transportation or increased public art come and go as the economy rises and falls, but their numbers increase over time. They are too small and informal to show up as nongovernmental organizations, yet their aggregate impact is considerable.

For the first time, CIVICS open-source mapping gives engaged citizens visibility of initiatives similar to their own and the ability to connect, add information and broaden their collective impact.

Through a partnership of regional and local initiatives in Madrid called Los Madriles, both printed and interactive versions of CIVICS-style maps showing neighborhood initiatives are available throughout the city, including educational childrens maps.

As the website states, the overarching goal of this collaborative effort is to value the power of a critical and active citizenship, and to create new spaces of possibility through self-management and participation.

The Madriles project is also changing tourism by empowering visitors from other countries to connect with like-minded neighborhood activists in Spain.

In Chile, in spite of their recent political turmoil, an initiative called Quiero mi Barrio (QMB), or I Love My Neighborhood, started in 2006 under former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and has spread through communities across the Andes with a low-cost, high-impact focus on simply empowering people to express their love for their neighborhoods.

Even in the poorest barrios, civic pride of place exists. QMB encourages this pride and increases citizen engagement through personal attention, training, public visibility, facilitating partnerships, and self-organization to raise community morale and increase activism.

These kinds of projects exist everywhere that I have traveled since 2016. They range from farmers seed exchanges aimed at preserving genetic diversity of seed stocks and building local community in Mexico, Central and South America, to open-source architectural cooperatives practicing urban acupuncture, and computer hacker networks promoting political accountability and civic innovation.

With the ability of citizens to connect anywhere in the world, such initiatives offer alternative civic models that can be duplicated, modified and scaled across borders. There has never been a better time for citizens to shift their focus away from political spectacle to building a new kind of democratic self-governance predicated on direct citizen engagement and collaboration.

As the failure of representative democracy has become too clear to ignore, alternative models for organizing a modern democratic society built around diverse citizens initiatives have also emerged.

Yale Professor Hlne Landemores pioneering work on empowering the rule of the many in lieu of rule by a self-interested professional class of elected representatives is one of the more promising frameworks for enabling citizen-driven change.

Landemore starts with what political theorists call the fact of disagreement, then seeks to clarify its meaning and propose novel ways of dealing with it.

Rather than ignoring or downplaying the reality that people in free societies are committed to different and conflicting beliefs, values, conceptions of social justice, Landemores nascent solutions hinge on the idea of obligatory citizenship similar to a draft or lottery. When everyone serves, it is not possible to outsource either responsibility or blame.

Although there are no quick solutions, there is ample raw material to begin constructing viable forms of alternative citizen-centered democratic politics and governance. All that is needed is the courage to start.

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Undemocratic Elections Have Citizens Reinventing Self-Governance Worldwide - Truthout

Meet the changemakers.

This Air Max season, Nike Sportswear champions inclusivity in the ever-evolving sneaker culture. Nike has tapped singer-songwriter KLPfor an interview series amplifying the voices of female changemakers who are shaping the future of sneaker culture. The following interview and words are written by KLP.

Sometimes you meet someone who shines such a bright light of positivity, it genuinely inspires you. That was me the moment I met Nawal Sari. She has such a passion for spreading self-empowerment, creativity and cultural awareness. And she does so with such grace, through sharing her own honest experiences with her followers. Having the opportunity to sit down with her and chat so openly about her upbringing, her inspirations and motivations was a moment that Ill carry through life with me.

KLP: Its so nice to meet you, Nawal. How do you describe yourself and what you stand for when you first meet people?

Nawal Sari: It feels like, for me, Im just doing my own thing in my own little bubble. But to put it into words, Im redefining modest fashion by using my platform to show other women Muslim women and every girl that modest fashion is there, and its personal and creative.

Im working on my platforms to basically push that message and inspire other girls, because I never had that growing up as this young Aussie girl. I didnt have a Muslim girl on social media, or in the media, that I could look to and be like, I want to be like her or theres a space for me. Im just on my own little mission to work to change things in my own way.

KLP: I wasnt aware of what modest fashion was. I didnt even know that it was a term to describe a type of fashion. How do you describe modest fashion?

NS: First of all, its very personal. To me, modest fashion is wearing the hijab, having longer pieces that are not as tight. To some other girls its wearing more of a turban-style hijab and doing their own type of thing. So its very, very personal. What Im trying to do is show that modest fashion is present. Its there, its in the world, people need to recognise it and take it for what it is; but its also very empowering for women.

KLP: Its your choice to dress like that and I guess youre trying to say that its up to you and the individual how they want to dress.

NS: Yeah, just as any woman should have the option to dress how she wants, the same applies. I choose to cover, you may choose to do something else. Its totally up to you, its personal, and women should have the right to dress how they want to dress and not feel like they have to conform to something because it makes someone else uncomfortable.

KLP: When you were growing up, did you have anyone that you could see that was visible that you could look up to, be it in fashion or TV?

NS: I wore the hijab when I was 15 or 16, it was in year 10. And at the time, I wasnt looking up to hijabi women. It wasnt until I got onto social media and I saw in the UK and the US that they have hijabi bloggers. I didnt think that was a thing, because I just saw the typical Aussie look for so long. And that appeals to some women, but to a lot of us it doesnt. So I kind of thought there wasnt a space for me in fashion, being a Muslim woman who also wears the hijab.

KLP: This Air Max season, Nike is championing inclusivity in sneaker culture through the likes of Air Max Verona, the new silhouette created by women, for women. Youve spoken about that at length, and youre an inspiration for so many people, how does it feel being a muse in fashion to your followers?

NS: Its crazy. I feel like I just fell into it, I never strived to be like, Im going to inspire women. I would get feedback from women who were like, because of you, I decided to wear the hijab or because of you, I dress more creatively or more personally. Thats amazing, thats what Im here to do.

Before anything I would tell myself, if Im going to put myself on a platform where I have a voice and I have that power, its going to be for something. Im not just going to be there to benefit myself, its going to help other people.

Im still studying, Im still doing my own thing, but I do see it as a career now.

KLP: You have such a strong message and its so genuine. And I guess through social media, you can connect with people all over the world which is amazing. Has there ever been an experience where someone has hit you up directly and said your sense of style has changed the way they think about modest fashion?

NS: Ive had a lot more recently, when Ive been exposed to more mainstream media, where Ive had non-Muslim women come to me and say, because of you, Ive changed my perspective of it all. Im way more open to [modest dressing] now, I see that its empowering.

My mission is to help my own first, of course I want Muslim women to feel the power. But to think that any woman can be more inclusive towards my community, and that when they see a Muslim woman walk down the road, that woman wont be alienated or treated differently because I helped a person unpack [their perceptions], its just another amazing thing that could happen from the whole thing.

KLP: So, do you believe that youve created a catalyst for change among your followers?

NS: I feel like Ive created a space where, if you follow me and you decide to be a part of the community then for sure, its changing things. To think that a Muslim woman can feel like the hijab isnt going to change her whole life and be a thing of I have to chuck out all my fun clothes and do all these things because I think a lot of Muslim women, we thought that. Like, We have to change who we are to be a woman who wears the hijab.

I feel like Im trying to show girls that its a big step, its powerful, its personal. But it can also be creative and fun, and you dont have to totally flip things upside down so you can wear the hijab.

But sneaker culture for me was how I developed my own personal style, because streetwear and sneakers, its a lot more modest than other style spaces. When I finished high school, I was actually working at a sneaker store when I discovered street culture. Its modest and its also really sick, so I can do both and still respect what Im doing. So thats kind of how I developed into my own personal style.

And I think for a lot of Muslim women, street culture and sneakers and everything around sportswear is kind of its like their safe space. Because no ones going to judge you if you walk around in a modest outfit, but its a full-on Nike kit, because its sick. But youre also comfortable and youre wearing whatever you want. So its also how Ive pushed into my own style.

KLP: Okay so last question, why is sportswear and sneaker culture important to you?

NS: Its how I developed my own style. Its how I connected my personality plus modest fashion into what I wear. When I was in high school, I remember feeling like I had to dress a certain way, which is how other hijabis dressed. Which is fine for some, but for me I didnt feel like it was personal enough. So being able to step into the sportswear world, it was not totally foreign because youre wearing longer pieces, looser pieces. I think for a lot of women, thats been really empowering. And now we have the Nike Hijab which has totally changed the game.

KLP: How did you feel when you saw that?NS: I was so happy! I wear it as more of a fashion piece, like I wear it with a hoodie on top or with just like a really cute outfit. And you can do that, theres versatility to it.

Shop the Air Max Verona here and read others in our Shaping Culture series here.

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Shaping Culture: Nawal Sari on the intersection of modest fashion and sneakers - Fashion Journal