Below are excerpts of my most recent academic pieces, completed as part of my Masters in Development Studies and Diplomacy.
Example I; Final paper excerpt from a course on the UN Millennium Development Goals
Realizing The Right to Development through Means of Implementation
I. Introduction
The Millennium Development Goals were a landmark in the fact that the international community was committing to working towards specific development goals, followed by the Sustainable Development Goals, or 2030 agenda. Were just as monumental, if a bit more detailed. The 2030 agenda took what we learned from the MDGs and how they were implemented and what was accomplished in their fifteen-year span. A key resource for the SDGs was the Declaration on the Right to Development. A document outlining the ways that development is considered a human right and how that changes, or should change, the way that development is understood and how the 2030 agenda is incorporated into nations and agencies policies and programs.
Although it’s important that the 2030 agenda understands that different states have access to and preference for different tools, approaches, visions and models for realizing the goals, it is important to look at and understand the means of implementation connected to the goals and how they can be operationalized from the perspective of affirming the Right to Development, or RtD. This paper will focus on the Right to Development as a framework to be used to view and contextualize the SDGs and their means of implementation in order to best operationalize them for the needs of individual nations.
II. Right to development
The Right to Development states that the ability to define what development looks like for each state, and access to the tools to achieve that, should not be infringed on or kept from any peoples. This means there shouldn’t be roadblocks put in their way of achieving their own development goals, as well as their part of the 2030 agenda. The scope for the Right to Development is defined as being an individual right enjoyed by citizens of a nation as well as a right to be exercised by the state, as the representative of it’s citizens. While nations are the ones exercising the right for their citizens, the citizens are the ones who are actually entitled to the Right to Development.
The criteria used for the analysis in this paper is looking at what references there are to the Right to Development in the 2030 Agenda, both stated and implied by the wording of or ideas, specifically in how it’s incorporated in the means of implementation, or MOI. Lastly, this paper will discuss using the Right to Development as a framework to be used to implement and operationalize the 2030 Agenda, as referenced in some of the literature used in this course.
In light of the ongoing Covid19 pandemic, and the problems that have ensued over access to information, treatment, and vaccines, this paper will focus on SDG 3, Good Health and Wellbeing. As we’ve witnessed quite strongly the past few years of the Covid19 crisis, health and access to healthcare have a huge effect on so many of the metrics we use to measure development. Understanding how best to realize the Right to Development as part of the 2030 agenda will not only help achieve the SDGs, it will also better equip nations to handle future events like the Covid19 crisis.
III. Implementation vs Operationalization
The Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development of the Human Rights Council put out a report in the fall of 2021 where it discussed the ways that states can best “operationalize” the Right to Development through their participation in the 2030 agenda. To operationalize means to put into use or operation, the findings by the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, therefore, gave its findings and opinions on how to incorporate the Right to Development into the way that individual states implement their part in the 2030 agenda. This paper seeks to analyze the way that the 2030 agenda was written and what considerations went into them based on the Right to Development. The difference between implementation and operationalization is that, implementation means to implement or to put in place, and to operationalize means to make something workable. The implementation strategies outlined in the a,b,c’s of the SDGs are how to implement, and the work that states must do to operationalize those things are to make them work for each individual states context and environment to achieve their goals or objectives. This means, the way that some states operationalize these strategies will look different than others, and some might reach the goals faster than others because of where they were starting from.
Example II; Fundraiser Analysis for a class on Fundraising for and Management of Nonprofits;
I. Project Information
a) Project Title; Illumination Gala
b) Country; United States
c) Executing Entity; The Jewish Federation of Raleigh-Cary
d) Name of the town/city/country; Raleigh
e) Source of funding; Crowdfunding via donations from individuals and community organizations
f) Amount of funding; $327,000
II. Justification
a) Description of the fundraising activity;
The Illumination Gala is a yearly auction and raffle of items donated by local businesses to raise money for mental health care and meals provided to local Jewish senior citizens through Jewish Family Services, a subsidiary of the Jewish Federation. Auction items range from gift cards to local restaurants, riverboat tours, a hotel stay, and art made by local artists during the event. People could purchase raffle tickets for a few lower-value items before the dinner, and the winner was drawn after the auction items were sold. During the event, there are calls for volunteers, speeches from the organization’s staff on the importance of being involved in and taking care of one’s community, and a few testimonials from individuals who have received services from this funding.
b) Describe its contribution to addressing environmental and/or social problems, considering its root causes and barriers;
Depending on the health insurance that one has access to when they retire, mental health care is often inaccessible in the United States. Whether through economic walls or state agencies not having the funding to care for as many people as need their services. Even social stigma, around mental health in general or the embarrassment of needing assistance with costs or transportation. The Jewish Federation not only raises funds to pay for mental health services but also offers to connect the recipients with volunteers who will spend time with them, do activities with them, or assist them in their homes in order to help connect them with others in the community.
This specific project is very focused on providing relief from the social and infrastructural problems that keep senior citizens from accessing mental health care and food. However, the Jewish Federation has other projects in tandem that focus on local policy, advocacy, and cooperation with other community groups in order to better address the root causes of these problems, like retirement insurance, access to facilities, etc.
c) Describe its contribution to achieving SDGs goals.
This project contributes to two of the Sustainable Development Goals, including;
Goal 2 of zero hunger by providing meals and access to a food bank, as well as access to financial assistance.
Goal 3 of good health and well-being by providing mental health services and connecting senior citizens who may be more isolated from others in the community. In particular, this organization emphasizes to volunteers and potential volunteers the importance of reaching out to those you know to be more isolated or otherwise in need. Rather than putting the responsibility solely on those in need to reach out, when there is still social stigma and other barriers.
d) Describe its contribution alignment to local or national policies.
Many of the mental health initiatives and policies in North Carolina, and the United States overall, are concentrated between school counseling and addiction treatment. Most mental health policies and initiatives targeted at seniors (65 years and older) focus on age-related degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Dementia. There are organizations like NAMI that work with schools, facilities, and communities on educating people about mental health services and how to access them. Rather than aligning with specific local policies, this project actually fills in a gap that the local services often don’t focus on.
Life with Tzuri 