Issues and Analysis
News and views on the people, places and topics of concern to Community Supported Film and its project partners
Recent Posts
ON AFGHANISTAN | Parks become latest no-go areas for women in Kabul, BBC News
With new restrictions imposed by the Taliban, Afghan women fear what could come next.
ON DEVELOPMENT | Soaring humanitarian costs in 2023, The New Humanitarian
More hunger, more displacement, more people in crisis, and a soaring price tag: Humanitarian needs and costs will once again shatter records in 2023, but available funding – and the system itself – isn’t keeping pace.
Source: Soaring humanitarian costs in 2023: Key takeaways, The New Humanitarian, by Irwin Loy and Jessica Alexander, December 1, 2022
ON DEVELOPMENT | Protecting 30% of Earth’s surface for nature means thinking about connections near and far, The Conversation
Governments, scientists and conservation groups are working to protect 30% of Earth’s land and water for nature by 2030. Scientists say that protecting 30% of Earth’s surface will help species and ecosystems recover from the stresses that are depleting them. It also will conserve valuable services that nature provides to humans, such as buffering coasts from storms and filtering drinking water. Protecting forests and grasslands can help slow climate change by promoting carbon storage in soil and plants.
ON DEVELOPMENT | This Planet Is Drying Up. And these Are the Consequences, IPS News
Drought is one of the ‘most destructive’ natural disasters in terms of the loss of life, arising from impacts, such as wide-scale crop failure, wildfires and water stress. Droughts are one of the “most feared natural phenomena in the world;” they devastate farmland, destroy livelihoods and cause untold suffering.
ON MIGRATION, ON AFGHANISTAN | An Afghan soldier fleeing the Taliban spent months reaching the U.S. to request asylum. He was arrested at the Texas border.
Abdul Wasi Safi was trying to reach his brother, who immigrated legally to Houston after helping the U.S. military. Legal experts say Wasi may have to serve a criminal sentence before he can pursue asylum.
ON AFGHANISTAN | ‘I drug my hungry children to help them sleep’ – BBC News
Afghans are giving their hungry children medicines to sedate them – others have sold their daughters and organs to survive. In the second winter since the Taliban took over and foreign funds were frozen, millions are a step away from famine.
On the Media
ON THE MEDIA | Online mobs are now coming for student journalists, The Washington Post
The experience of an Arizona student journalist highlights the growing threat that online harassment poses to journalists, especially those just starting out.
ON THE MEDIA | A Decade of Failed Efforts to Protect Journalists in Latin America, Nieman Reports
Dozens of journalists have been killed across the region, despite protections designed to keep them safe.
ON THE MEDIA | A New Deal for Journalism
The disruption of the media ecosystem and unfair competition driven in part by the move to a digital, mobile, and platform-dominated media environment jeopardizes the sustainability of journalism, which represents a major democratic danger.
ON THE MEDIA | How can we build a new future for journalism that belongs to all of us?
Policymakers, investors, and funders have often had warm words to say about the value of independent journalism, [but] when it comes to cold, hard cash or meaningful policies, in a world of growing crises, other priorities tend to take precedence.
ON THE MEDIA | Media Reform amid Political Upheaval: Lessons from Burma, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tunisia, and Ukraine
Reforming the media sector is central to ensuring the success of a democratization effort. Yet reform efforts can easily stall as [it] contends with entrenched political and business interests vying for control of the information space.
ON THE MEDIA | 4 years after Khashoggi’s murder, assaults on press freedom are getting worse
On the fourth anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, we should demand accountability from Saudi Arabia, louder than ever. But we should also denounce, as Khashoggi would have, the assaults against press freedom in so many other countries that continue unabated — and often go unremarked.
On Economic and Social Development
ON DEVELOPMENT | Soaring humanitarian costs in 2023, The New Humanitarian
More hunger, more displacement, more people in crisis, and a soaring price tag: Humanitarian needs and costs will once again shatter records in 2023, but available funding – and the system itself – isn’t keeping pace.
Source: Soaring humanitarian costs in 2023: Key takeaways, The New Humanitarian, by Irwin Loy and Jessica Alexander, December 1, 2022
ON DEVELOPMENT | Protecting 30% of Earth’s surface for nature means thinking about connections near and far, The Conversation
Governments, scientists and conservation groups are working to protect 30% of Earth’s land and water for nature by 2030. Scientists say that protecting 30% of Earth’s surface will help species and ecosystems recover from the stresses that are depleting them. It also will conserve valuable services that nature provides to humans, such as buffering coasts from storms and filtering drinking water. Protecting forests and grasslands can help slow climate change by promoting carbon storage in soil and plants.
ON DEVELOPMENT | This Planet Is Drying Up. And these Are the Consequences, IPS News
Drought is one of the ‘most destructive’ natural disasters in terms of the loss of life, arising from impacts, such as wide-scale crop failure, wildfires and water stress. Droughts are one of the “most feared natural phenomena in the world;” they devastate farmland, destroy livelihoods and cause untold suffering.
ON DEVELOPMENT | Five international NGOs launch fresh bid to tackle power imbalances in aid
Can a new set of unbinding promises really accelerate progress towards a more equal aid ecosystem by 2030?
ON DEVELOPMENT | The Solution to the Global Food Crisis Isn’t More Food
There’s plenty [of food] to go around, but it’s going to the wrong places.
ON THE MEDIA, ON DEVELOPMENT | Humanitarian communication: a future that is more ethical, sensitive and inclusive
Language [and images are] part of a cycle that retains and reinforces historically rooted unequal power relations, which are often expressed and reinforced in colonialist, racist, sexist and other forms of oppressive practices.
On Migration
ON MIGRATION, ON AFGHANISTAN | An Afghan soldier fleeing the Taliban spent months reaching the U.S. to request asylum. He was arrested at the Texas border.
Abdul Wasi Safi was trying to reach his brother, who immigrated legally to Houston after helping the U.S. military. Legal experts say Wasi may have to serve a criminal sentence before he can pursue asylum.
ON MIGRATION | A Cuban asylum seeker’s dangerous odyssey
Record numbers are attempting the treacherous continent-crossing route through the Darién Gap to the United States. Here’s one person’s story.
ON MIGRATION | Human Rights First Celebrates Block of Title 42 Ban
Late yesterday, District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, DC voided the order that has allowed U.S. border officials to use Title 42 to expel migrants. The court found it “arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.”
ON MIGRATION | What other options are there if Rohingya refugees can’t go home?
Regional leaders meeting in Cambodia are being urged to find solutions for Rohingya refugees facing rising dangers in Bangladesh camps.
ON MIGRATION | New Report Shows Disproportionate Abuse of Black Immigrants in Detention
Black immigrants in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) disproportionately face abuse while in detention, a report released last week finds…the report argues that this discriminatory treatment of Black immigrants is the result of the legacy of anti-Blackness that permeates government institutions…
ON MIGRATION, ON AFGHANIATAN | In Türkiye, Syrians and Afghans live in fear ahead of 2023 elections
As politicians scapegoat refugees, both xenophobic attacks and deportations are rising.
On Afghanistan
ON AFGHANISTAN | Parks become latest no-go areas for women in Kabul, BBC News
With new restrictions imposed by the Taliban, Afghan women fear what could come next.
ON MIGRATION, ON AFGHANISTAN | An Afghan soldier fleeing the Taliban spent months reaching the U.S. to request asylum. He was arrested at the Texas border.
Abdul Wasi Safi was trying to reach his brother, who immigrated legally to Houston after helping the U.S. military. Legal experts say Wasi may have to serve a criminal sentence before he can pursue asylum.
ON AFGHANISTAN | ‘I drug my hungry children to help them sleep’ – BBC News
Afghans are giving their hungry children medicines to sedate them – others have sold their daughters and organs to survive. In the second winter since the Taliban took over and foreign funds were frozen, millions are a step away from famine.
ON AFGHANISTAN | In Afghanistan’s shadowy new conflict, new displacement and new civilian abuses
The UN has accused the Taliban of resorting to a ‘collective punishment’ of torture and other abuses as it tries to quell a brewing rebellion.
ON AFGHANISTAN | Regional Refugee Response Plan
The humanitarian, economic, and human rights situation inside Afghanistan continues to deteriorate. Iran estimates that up to 1 million Afghans have arrived in the country since the start of 2021, although deportations have occurred on a large scale. In Pakistan, of the 250,000 new arrivals, approximately 216,000 have approached UNHCR. Conditions of refugees and other Afghans in [neighboring] countries have deteriorated, worsened by the economic situation across the region with lack of livelihoods opportunities and socio-economic perspectives.
ON MIGRATION, ON AFGHANIATAN | In Türkiye, Syrians and Afghans live in fear ahead of 2023 elections
As politicians scapegoat refugees, both xenophobic attacks and deportations are rising.
On Haiti
ON HAITI | Surge in use of rape against women and rivals by Haiti gangs
Women and girls are being hunted down by armed groups who are using rapes and targeted killings as a weapon of war.
Women and girls are being hunted down by armed groups who are using rapes and targeted killings as a weapon of war.
ON HAITI, ON DEVELOPMENT | The international community must own its role in Haiti’s food crisis
It’s time for a different approach in Haiti – one that reckons with the enduring harms Global North policies have inflicted in the country.
ON HAITI | Video: Stolen futures, Haiti’s gangs and its children
‘Most of our friends didn’t make it to their 18th birthdays.’
Many of these gang members are under 24. Some are children as young as 11.
With few work or educational opportunities, many gang members say they have turned to the armed groups as a way of earning quick cash or gaining power. Some even say they are doing what the government has failed to do – taking care of its population.
ON HAITI, ON THE MEDIA | Haiti: Covering a chaotic nation, with deadly consequences
“‘Haiti is a minefield,’ said Harold Isaac, a journalist based in Port-au-Prince who works for the Associated Press. ‘The minute you start reporting news, there are so many threats, because it casts light on people that don’t necessarily enjoy that.’”
ON HAITI, ON DEVELOPMENT | Can Haiti rebuild a food system broken by disaster, historical injustice, and neglect?
Years of political unrest, under-investment in agriculture, and repeated earthquakes and storms have left 4.3 million people facing acute hunger.
ON HAITI, ON DEVELOPMENT | Have the lessons of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake been learned?
“Build back better” became a guiding mantra after the earthquake struck in 2010, but Haiti has struggled to follow it and prepare for future disasters.
Background Information
Background information on the places and topics CSFilm has covered:
Download our Immigration Facts PDF
US immigration facts
- Facts on U.S. Immigrants, 2017: Statistical portrait of the foreign-born population in the United States (Pew Research Center)
- The Facts on Immigration Today, 2017: US foreign-born population and its impact on the economy, current immigration policy, and voting power of new Americans (Center for American Progress)
- Immigration Data Guide, 2018: links to the most credible, high-quality data on immigrants and immigration in the United States and internationally. (Migration Policy Institute)
- Facts about Immigration – Learn about demographics, economics, laws, crime rates, citizenship requirements and factors that drive immigration (JustFacts)
Immigration information and research
- How the U.S. Legal Immigration System Works (Migration Policy Institute)
- Mini Course on US Immigration five short email lessons on US immigration (Pew Research Center)
- Immigration Research Library (The Immigrant Learning Center)
- Frequently Asked Questions on Immigrants and Immigration in the US (Migration Policy Institute)
- Ten Myths About Immigration – information to help you and your students separate fact from fear. (Teaching Tolerance)
Refugees in the US
- Refugees in America – about refugee resettlement in the US (International Rescue Committee)
Perceptions and communications about immigrants and refugees in the US
- Out of Many, One: A Defining Moment for American Integration – attitudes that shape perceptions of immigration in the US (a report by the National Immigration Forum)
- When Facts Don’t Matter: How to Communicate More Effectively about Immigration’s Costs and Benefits (Migration Policy Institute)
- Defusing Hate: A Strategic Communication Guide to Counteract Dangerous Speech (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- The Hidden Tribes of America – a project to better understand the forces that drive political polarization and tribalism in the United States, 2018 (More in Common)
Employment, the economy and US immigration
- Immigrants and the economy in the US (PDF)
- Immigrants and the American economy (New American Economy)
- Undocumented Immigrants’ State and Local Tax Contributions (Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy)
- Work in the United States, Introduction to Sociology (Lumin Learning)
Immigration and refugee policy, undocumented immigrants, and DACA
- The Debate Over Immigration Policy Reform (Council on Foreign Relations)
- 5 Tips for Talking About DACA – the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 (The Opportunity Agenda)
- Trump administration’s proposed changes to family-based immigration and refugee admissions (Pew Research Center)
- Crime and Undocumented Immigrants (New York Times)
- The Criminalization of Immigration in the United States (American Immigration Council)
- Gender Bias and Immigration Policy (Legal Momentum, The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund)
Assimilation and acculturation of US immigrants
- What Does It Take to ‘Assimilate’ in America? (New York Times Magazine)
- Assimilation and Integration of US Immigrants and Their Descendants (Cato Institute)
- Should Immigration Require Assimilation? (The Atlantic Monthly)
- Acculturation, Development and Adaptation of Youth and Young Adults (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
Faith and US immigrants
- Immigrants and Religion – data on the religious composition of immigrants (Pew Research Lab)
Women and Immigration
- Immigrant Women and Girls in the United States (Migration Policy Institute)
- New Beginnings: Immigrant Women and The American Experience (National Women’s History Museum)
- Gender Bias and Immigration Policy (Legal Momentum, The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund)
- For Immigrant Women, Crossing the Border Doesn’t End Their Struggle (The Nation)
Politics and Immigration
- Immigrants have a long history of taking their issues to the people — as political candidates (PRI-The World)
- Immigrants in US Congress, (Pew Research Center)
Points-of-view on US Immigration
- The 14 Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They’re Wrong (Cato Institute)
- The Real Problem with Immigration… and the Real Solution (The Heritage Foundation)
- Immigrants Have Enriched American Culture and Enhanced Our Influence in the World (Cato Institute)
- 5 Ways Immigration Actually Enhances a Country’s Culture (Global Citizen)
Other websites with immigrant stories
- We Are America Project – high school students define via video what they think it means to be American;
- USAHello-Voices – immigrant and refugee stories of integration and overcoming resettlement obstacles
- I Am An Immigrant – stories demonstrating how immigration benefits our communities, economy, and country
- Newest Americans – a glimpse into the world of the newest Americans and a vision of our demographic future (Rutgers University-Newark, VII Photo and Talking Eyes Media)
Resources and Information for Immigrants and Refugees
- USAHello – the resources and information newcomers need to build successful lives for themselves and their families in the US
Background
- Afghanistan’s 36 Years of Turmoil in Review
- Afghanistan’s Conflict Timeline
- Links to Information on Aid, Human Rights and Conflict
- BBC- Afghanistan Country Profile
- United States Institute of Peace
- Afghanistan’s position in the balance of world power
- The Cost of War: Afghan Experiences of Conflict, 1978-2009 (PDF)
Aid and Economic Growth
- Afghanistan National Development Strategy 2010 – 2013
- The World Bank Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund
- Feinstein International Center – “Winning Hearts and Minds?”
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit – “Aiding the State?”
- Provincial Reconstruction Teams and Military – Humanitarian Relations in Afghanistan
- Preventing Corruption in Humanitarian Operations: A Handbook of Good Practices
Lessons From Development and Conflict Elsewhere
- PBS Frontline- Nation Building in Bosnia
- Assessing the Kecamatan Development Project, Indonesia (PDF)
- Community-Based Reconstruction in East Timor and Rwanda (PDF)
- Prospects for Community Driven Development in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone (PDF)
- What Everyone Should Know About Filming (And Sharing) Injustice on Social Media (PDF)
US Politics and Afghanistan Current Events
Background
- At a Glance: Haiti (UNICEF)
- Background Notes: Haiti (US Department of State)
- BBC – Haiti Country Profile
Aid and Economic Growth
- Cacophonies of Aid, Failed State Building and NGOs in Haiti: setting the stage for disaster, envisioning the future
- Haiti: the US and Military Aid in Times of Natural Disaster
- Moving Mountains: Challenges in Contemporary U.S. Foreign Aid in the Context of Post-Disaster Haiti
- A Rational Foreign Policy Toward Haiti and How the Media Shapes Public Perception of Haiti
- Ruptures, rights, and repair: The political economy of trauma in Haiti
Lessons From Development and Conflict Elsewhere
- The post-Cold War American interventions into Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo
- The Crucial Role of Civil Society in Disaster Recovery and Japan’s Preparedness for Emergencies
- What Everyone Should Know About Filming (And Sharing) Injustice on Social Media (PDF)
US Politics and Haiti Current Events