Corina Murafa » English

“Comeback” Experiment/ “Poate” m-am intors

Corina Murafa — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:45:39 +0000

Do not jump to conclusions. I am not sure I will start being an active blogger again. It’s just that sometimes I read and/or listen to things I want to share, and, even better, I work on some exciting projects and papers. Before we can all declare a comeback, let’s just be patient and walk the walk.

Cum zic si in engleza mai sus, nu sunt convinsa ca voi deveni din nou un blogger activ. Din cand in cand insa, citesc, aud sau fac lucruri despre care vreau sa vorbesc si altora. Deci sa nu zicem inca hop pana nu trecem pragul. La recitire placuta!

Obama – The Catch-phrase

Corina Murafa — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:46:27 +0000

It seems that Americans (and people in general, I believe) are very sensitive when it comes symbols and quotes of all sort. Rhetoric drives a lot of what we do, after all. It also seems that most memorable American presidents had at least one phrase in their inaugural speech that become a global symbol of what America stands for. For instance, Kennedy uttered the world famous ”Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” in his inaugural speech, while Roosevelt cornered the equally famous “There is nothing to fear but fear itself”. I wonder what Obama’s historic catch-all phrase will be:

I have three candidates so far:

1. The world is changing and we are changing with it.

2. You will be remembered not but what you destroy, but by what you have built. (I have to pay royalties to somebody else for spotting this one)

3. In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned.

Any more ideas?

2008: Honour Killings in Turkey

Corina Murafa — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:43:12 +0000

Yesterday, I attended one of the events of the campaign of combating violence against women launched by the United Nations Organization in Romania. I had written about the campaign at its inception, but it was only yesterday that I got to see two movies of the campaign. They were both part of a wider UN campaign titled “Women in the Frontline”, with Annie Lennox as front cover. The first of the films I saw explored one of the many forms of violence against women, namely human trafficking. Viewers were confronted with the bleak realities of Nepal, were thousands of women are smuggled overborder in Indian brothels, by their brothers, fathers or husbands, sold and turned into prostitutes, ostracized in their home communities, and all these happening sometimes to girls as young as 10 years of age. With incredible levels of poverty and virtually no way of feeding their children, women are simply trapped in a society that has found very few solutions to breaking the poverty cycle.

However, for me as an European the second film showed yesterday – portraying the situation of women in Turkey – was the one that really had me going. Apparently, in South-Eastern Turkey women are still brutally killed by their closesest male relatives in the name of honour. Dressed in black, they are taken in remote places of the village, shot at or simply stoned to death by their fathers and brothers. Because of European Union pressures, Turkey has modified its penal code and increased sentences for crimes of honour to life imprisonment (until 2001, evoking the family’s honour was a circumstance that could reduce one’s conviction in front of the court). However, 40% of men in rural areas are still supporting honour killings, which indicates that legislative measures were not supplemented in any way by cultural and educational changes. I’ve always spoken not necessarily against Turkey’s accession in the European Union (I am not against enlargement per se), but I’ve always warned that Turkey still has unsettled issues that will remain unsettled for a long time. However, I was simply baffled by yesterday’s movie. Really now, how can the Turkish government pretend Turkey is a modern, 21st century Westernized country? And by this, please don’t understand less terrible phenomena occur in Western Europe…

Facebook Political Protest in Croatia

Corina Murafa — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:55:44 +0000

I have visited Croatia and I have a couple of very good Croatian friends. To me, their level of development seemed quite high and they seemed rather Westernized in everything from economics to political views. Thus, I always thought the fact they were left out of the European Union was merely bad timing and that things will be sorted out soon. Latest news was that they were scheduled to join the EU as early as 2009.

However, a couple of days ago worrisome events occured in Croatia. Political opponents of the current regime (Prime Minister Sanader) were arrested by the Zagreb police for political protests via Facebook. A Facebook group called “I bet I can find 5,000 people who dislike Sanader” became the main proof of anti-establishment behaviour I believe such judiciary practices are obviously not fit for an EU member, to say the very least. I’m curious on the results of the investigation commissioned by PM Sanader…

Government Pending

Corina Murafa — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:09:31 +0000

Sunday was parliamentary elections day in Romania. Few Romanians left their cosy apartments for a trip to the ballot box (a bit less than 40% of them , to be more precise), and there’s worrisome statistics indicating that only 15% of the voters had higher education. This year we’ve also had a new voting system – a mixed member proportional representation, supported by a fairly large majority of the political spectrum (the liberals and the social-democrats), and opposed by the President’s party. As any proportional system, there were quite a few dissatisfactions with the way mandates were redistributed, but overall the system seems to have achieved its purpose.

The social democrats scored 33.6%, the democrats (allegedly a right-wing party, though their political programme seems to be the opposite) 33%, and the liberals 18.7%. The new voting system – with a 5% electoral threshold – eliminated extremist parties from the Parliament, which is great news. However, Sunday’s results leave us with a huge dilemma, as we do not know who will form the Government. Most probably, intense political negotiations will last till the end of December and our President will definitely take advantage of our semipresidential political system to veto plenty of government formulas that don’t suit him.

Unfortunately, the end of the year also reminds us we’ve done too little to curb corruption (one of the elected MPs this Sunday is actually in detention for fraud) and to absorb European structural and cohesion funds properly. With political strife prevailing over efficient administration, there are chances we will end up in the same situation of aid freezing as our Bulgarian neighbours…

The Non-Profit Crunch (European version)

Corina Murafa — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:17:42 +0000

I borrowed the title of this post from my friend Ben – a non-profit strategist and consultant based in the US, with over 10 years of experience in managing non-profits. I also borrowed the theme of this post from his most recent op-ed, but I know he will forgive me. Ben talks about the way the recent financial and economic crisic will impact non-profits, but he does that from an American perspective. I intend to do the same (much briefer though) from a European/ Central European/ Romanian perspective, taking into account my 2-3 years of experience in non-profits (working/ consulting).

To sum up Ben’s main points, he believes non-profits have to focus on leveraging individual giving (private philanthropy) – following pretty much the model Obama used to fundraise for his campaign. Firstly, because CSR budgets will be the first to see cut downs. Secondly, because foundations will be much more cautionate in grant-giving and will demand more accountability and measurable impact. Last but not least, because individual giving is the main source of revenue for social causes, despite the fact government grants, corporate sponsorship and foundation grants are more visible (it seems in the US they account for more than 80% of all money raised by non-profits). I agree with most of this points, but I believe business looks slightly different in Europe.

The European Union is – and should remain – one of the main grant-givers for European non-profits acting both in Europe and in developing countries. In times of crisis, government spending goes up and corporate spending goes down. While I definitely support the EU drive towards non-profits (either through structural funds or other funding schemes), this money should definitely be spent in a more transparent way. However, NGOs should start lobbying governments and European institutions to support their business in a more efficient and unified manner.

CSR budgets will be cut down in Europe, too. Unfortunately, the sectors that will still receive corporate money will still be the “trendy” ones (environment is actually the only one I can think of), while major ones like health, education and the arts will experience severe cuttings. Honestly, I cannot think of ways NGOs could mitigate this.

European non-profits have to learn – although they should’ve done so years ago – the intricate ways of social entrepreneurship. Less than 10 % of Romanian NGOs have self-sustainability schemes in place – such as making money through co-payment or fee-for-service programmes tailored for third parties. Social entrepreneurs are a rarity in Europe in general, but now it may be the time for them to bloom, out of plain need unfortunately.

As I was talking recently with some friends from PEEP, and as the recent blog campaign about IHTIS (Romanian bloggers helping an association of young people with physical disabilities that want to live independently in fundraising through independent donations) demonstrates, Romanian and European NGOs should learn how to use individual giving better. My friends from PEEP were amazed to receive small individual donations for their educational projects – which are not at all those type of “make the giver cry by showing him individual tragedies and get his money” type of projects. Currently, fundraising by other mechanisms than grant-writing for international donors is almost never used by the most prestigious Romanian non-profits. When I worked for the Coalition for the International Criminal Court in New York, I witnessed dozens of tactics for fundraising that are never used in Romania.

All in all, it’s time for European non-profits to start using their creative strategic thinking. Or to hire/ convince experienced consultants to help them out.

Obama Plays on Feelings

Corina Murafa — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:58:54 +0000

As I’ve commented on several Obama-related blog entries today, it will be long before we see a fundamental change in policy following the much acclaimed victory, but a permanent change in the political discourse has occurred, which will come to affect everybody in time – Americans and non-Americans, and yes, even Romanians.

Saying too much about all this as a Romanian living in Romania is somehow dishonest. Instead, I will dare copy-paste an email that I received today from a girl I worked with in New York, from whom I haven’t heard in two years. It’s touching, beware:

Warm Greetings to all my friends abroad,

I hope you are all well. I feel compelled to write to you all on this historic day in my country’s history.

Last night, I watched Barack Obama be elected President of the United States of America. Though he was ahead in the polls and most assumed he would claim a victory, his supporters have been nervous and anxious for the last few weeks, refusing to take anything for granted or showing any signs of celebration a moment too early. As last night went on, and more electoral votes were counted, everyone I was with slipped into a state of disbelief that this was actually happening.

I do not know if I can describe the excitement when his victory was announced. I have celebrated New Year’s Eve in New York City for the last 3 years, and those celebrations could not compare to the jubilation in the streets last night. Cars were honking, people screaming in the streets, strangers congratulating and hugging each other on the sidewalk, everyone chanting “Yes We Can!”

I don’t think any of us expected the deep emotional reaction we would have to Obama’s election. Every person in the crowded bar where I watched the results was weeping at the news, and when Obama gave his acceptance speech and introduced Michelle Obama is the First Lady-elect, we just lost it. Seeing Jesse Jackson, who was with Martin Luther King Jr when he was assassinated, with tears streaming down his face, and hearing that Virginia, which was the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War, had gone blue, were amazing moments that I can never forget. Hearing his acceptance speech simply seemed too good to be true.

I truly apologize for the last 8 years, when George Bush was our president (and I apologize for any horrible things he might do in the next 3 months before Obama is inaugurated). I’m sure many of you doubted the sanity of Americans during this time, as I did, and I think that’s why I had trouble believing this could be a reality until it actually happened. This campaign has revealed the deep divisions that exist in our country right now, and there are people here who still support Bush and who honestly think Barack Obama is a terrorist whose relatives caused 9/11. Fighting ignorance and fear will be an ongoing battle for us, but I truly believe Obama has the ability to bring us together and start working with our neighbors again.

Today I am still letting the news sink in, and being my cynical self, feel like this will not be a reality until Obama is sworn in as president on January 20. I am so excited to see what the next 4-8 years will be like, and I hope that Obama will restore our friendships around the world.

I am sitting here 12 hours after his victory was announced, and am still getting tears in my eyes when I think about the enormity of this.

I just wanted to share this experience with you all. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Vivi (a Romanian settled in New York) is having similar feelings (and his entry is in Romanian), while there are some other interesting entries on the topic I’ve come to read today. I really recommend Vlad Petreanu’s comparison between racism in the US and racism in Romania (his account stemming from the racial connotations of today’s victory), and a very realistic/ pessimistic/ cynical approach by Cristian Sarb.

PS: The image displays this week’s Economist cover. I found it highly prophetical…

November 4th: My Birthday and Obama’s victory?

Corina Murafa — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:31:26 +0000

I love it how Romanians realize the importance of public issues that surround them only when they are hit hard and heavy by them. There have been very few public debates, either on TV or in the blogs, about the US elections in Romania. This last week however, Hotnews (one of the most popular news portals in Romania) was packed with articles and more or less intelligent analyzes about the American elections. A very interesting debate – “The American Night” – is broadcast on TV as we speak, with influential Romanian opinion makers discussing the US elections. Before this nonetheless, few Romanian bloggers discussed this subject – a rather trivial indication of this is the absence of any category titles “elections”,”Obama” or anything similar in Zelist’s tag cloud (a Romanian version of Technorati).

I wonder whether this is because Romanians simply don’t care about international politics or because international politics doesn’t affect Romania. On a first glimpse, I’d tend to stick to the first version. However, over the last couple of months it became consistently more obvious to me that Obama’s stand on Europe will not change transatlantic relations in any way, hence won’t impact Romania. I discussed this topic a couple of months ago on Blogactiv, and later on with some American friends and we all concluded Obama won’t change in any fundamental way the current status quo. At least not as rapid as we’d like to see it changed.

In order to fundamentally change America’s position in the world, the President has to be backed by Congress, by a prosperous economy, by interest groups and, of course, by the American people (which is far from being as web 2.0 as we imagined . Surely, he is charismatic, surely I would vote for him, surely I’d never prefer a Republican over a Democrat, but still it takes more than one American president to change the world. Also because the world has dramatically changed:

Whoever wins the US Presidency today will be facing the ultimate challenge: steering a self-destructing Western-based economic growth model through a painful transition towards a new global sustainability. This is a task far beyond any past Apollo project. (Willy de Baecker on Blogactiv)

Overall nonetheless, Go Obama! Anxiously waiting for the victory speech…