Yes, it gets harder. Maybe it’s because the world has now seen through the lies; stopped clutching to the meaningless phrases served up as propaganda, is giving money and protest time as a habit now, not exception 1/ Maybe we’ve all been too wet and cold on the streets begging for a ceasefire, for an end to deliberate starvation, laying out children’s clothes on the cold earth in protest now actions which are regular as clockwork. 2/

International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

The greatest security is a just peace and greatest solidarity is learning how to achieve that through non violent means.

Maybe learn about Deir Yassim and if in Glasgow visit the memorial today. Or - If in Glasgow or Edinburgh go to the Gaza Monologues

Members of our teams in Palestine, Zimbabwe and Scotland have performed these powerful pieces over the years @UofGUnescoRILA @Tawona_Sithole

Today at The Tramway 2/

stellarquines.co.uk/show/the-gaza-…

Today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

For last 3 years I have sustained an international cultural project with leaders in Ghana, Mexico, Scotland, Morocco, Zimbabwe & Gaza for eradication of GBV

Israel has eliminated our work in Gaza. 1/ The UN reports that 67% of those killed the IDF are women and children.

No percentage is acceptable in the work to eliminate violence against women.

These war crimes must be properly documented and prosecuted in the ICC, following the protocols.

2/who.int/news/item/03-1…

What a swirl - and designed to be - that's the performative cruelty of declaring culture wars and open season on anyone who dares to leave a place where they have been abused or persecuted. 1/ All wars - those of words and cultures and those with weapons - are deadly in intent. Necropolitics is the word Achille Mbembe the great Cameroonian Philosopher has used to describe this. A politics of death 2/

My heartfelt apologies to everyone @SDVisitors last night who was hoping to hear me celebrating 20th anniversary and offer words of sense-making and maybe soothing in the face of cruelty of detention. Sadly my husband had an accident and I received an emergency call at 5pm 1/ He will be fine - very shaken - head trauma and a broken rib it seems and quite the shiner this morning - thanks to @GlasgowSubway staff especially Kevin for care and help. 2/

Full article: Cuts destroy, hurt, kill: a critical metaphor analysis of the response of UK academics to the UK overseas aid budget funding cuts

And it’s OUT our open access article on #ODA #UKRI #GCRF cuts and their effects - lead Maria Grazia Imperiale tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10… “We identified the following metaphors: CUTS ARE AN ENTITY; CUTS ARE A THREAT, CUTS ARE ILLNESS, CUTS ARE VIOLENCE; plus, on the other hand, RESEARCH IS HEALTH, RESEARCH IS A JOURNEY, RESEARCH IS CONNECTION.” @kentbuse @VolcanoJenni @claire_horwell @CUSP_Network @MIDEQHub 2/

The weight of the suffering world. #LittleAmal falls for a second time, caught by a lamppost as she rests and gathers herself before dragging the dead tree of MotherEarth towards those with power in their hands tonight. Accompanied by those trying to turn away from the deeply wrong ways of living which are bringing death and profound loss to so many #LittleAmal struggles on; bewildered; disoriented and clearly reluctant to go back again into the #Cop26 Blue Zone and beg for mercy

#LittleAmal came to Glasgow and #COP26 today for a walk.

I’ve lived the stories of preparations with school children to welcome her for months now. The ups & downs, of rehearsals held ably by @Evs_C with NTS including acres of time from @Tawona_Sithole from @UofGUnescoRILA But nothing had prepared me for how moving I would find the puppetry, dramaturgy and unscripted spontaneous reactions of the children as and after they performed.

UK Government Resettlement Scheme published (h/t @ZoeJardiniere)
Starts out looking promising i.e. resettlement according to criteria in Refugee Convention & by UNHCR but then brings in whole set of new criteria on top of 'well founded fear' assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl… 2/
• Legal and/or Physical Protection Needs;
• Survivors of Violence and/or Torture;
• Medical Needs;
• Women and Girls at Risk;
• Family Reunification;
• Children and Adolescents at Risk;
• Lack of Foreseeable Alternative Durable Solutions.

“If we spend too much time looking at who to blame we put people at risk.” “War, conflict, bombs don’t discriminate. We need a sizeable resettlement programme and family reunion” Clear thinking & analysis from @sabir_zazai on @BBCRadioScot with @foreigncorr1 @scotrefcouncil “The only expectation people have is to stay alive. The international community has a responsibility. This is a dreadful humanitarian situation and it will be worse in the winter.” @sabir_zazai

Behind scenes across #Glasgow there were acts of kindness yesterday & just sheer practical care - folk ensuring food & water supplied, phone calls, peace talks & messages zigzagging every network. People sitting with those dawn-raided or detained in past & shaken to core 💚🙏🏾💚 This doesn’t happen by accident. This is built up over years of many strong small organisations that mean everyone’s who fae somewhere can know someone. The kinds of community trust #KenmureStreet demonstrates was also policy in Scotland over 10 years #NewScots

The indefatigable ⁦⁦@willrworley⁩ has put together a tracker will details of programmes affected by #ODA cut. It includes initial list from March 11 #UKRIcuts . If your project has been cut please let him know #gcrfcuts devex.com/news/tracking-… This list @UKRI_News #GCRF cuts on @willrworley tracker picked up to date

Programs affected:
• Research and development into technology to purify dirty water (The Guardian)
• Mapping natural disaster risk in lower income communities (The Guardian)

Our UNESCO Spring School on Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts begins next week and its going to be amazing. @UofGUnescoRILA @UofGlasgow @UofGEducation @UofGVC @UNESCOUK

gla.ac.uk/research/az/un… Forget any normal ideas you have about zoom and 'online conferences' - just come and join our online cinema, games room, bed time stories, talks, outdoor activities (kinda online) lectures, learnings together and workshops with makers and magicians and marvels. @scotrefcouncil

Thread 🧵 of more #GCRFcuts media, protest, the great work 💚analysis & actions from last week or so 👇🏼#ODAcuts #UKRIcuts starting with @heavencrawley @MIDEQHub

https://twitter.com/heavencrawley/status/1379517885492658178

And here is a 🧵 from former challenge lead @lhammondsoas after she resigned in protest #gcrfcuts

https://twitter.com/lhammondsoas/status/1379543227250925574?s=21

Today was the day #UKRI required my University and hundreds of others to submit their decisions on what to cut, how hard and what to terminate.

And required this with a timescale of 3 weeks which included Easter, Ramadan, Passover, up to Orthodox Easter. And school holidays. To all the research and finance staff, PIs, Co-Is, and University leaders who have worked flat out to find ways of responding with integrity to this unprecedented situation and who have just been colleagues - thank you. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 we still have far to go. But it’s made a difference.

20 November 2020

⁦#UKRI announced award of 141 new projects under #GCRF all addressing #SDGs

Global challenges being tackled by projects include [d]:
👉🏼environmental disasters
👉🏼education for children living through conflict
👉🏼malnutrition.” #odacuts ukri.org/news/ukri-anno… Many of these 141 #GCRF award holders had been under strict @beisgovuk imposed embargo on #UKRI for over a year. I know, I was one of them. Delivering during the pandemic meant constant requests to ‘reprofile’ our grants meaning using resource to make projects Covid compliant

“The scrapping of ODA projects will lead to a “loss of trust” in the UK that “will take years to rebuild”, warned Prof Anne Johnson, the president of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

#odacuts #gcrfcuts #ukricuts theguardian.com/science/2021/m… “Disaster is an overused word but the recently announced cuts in ODA funding for research are exactly that” @kevinmarsh8 ‘a letter below now joining @JoBeall1 @FiddianQasmiyeh @OlivetteOtele @ZoeNorridge & Ayesha Siddiqi in resigning as #GCRF advisors at #UKRI 👇🏼

https://twitter.com/kevinmarsh8/status/1377181040662306817

Starting new 🧵 on #odacuts #UKRIcuts #gcrfcuts with this

“I wrote,  along with the other National Academies to the Foreign Secretary on the value of ODA-funded research, and again in March to the Chancellor on the need to protect the science budget.”

acmedsci.ac.uk/more/news/supe… SIGN. SIGN. SIGN - this is the easy bit folks

Only a few hundred signatures needed on the #UKRIcuts #odacuts #gcrfcuts Parliament Petition before Govt has to respond 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👏🏼🙌🏾👏🏼

https://twitter.com/claire_horwell/status/1376503747803811843

“Slashing funding will limit research spending in the UK and may harm the economic recovery.”

Important Op-Ed by @UofGVC⁩: Cuts mean science superpower claim won’t fly ⁦@thetimes⁩ ⁦@UofGlasgow⁩

(paywalled) #odacuts #ukricuts #gcrfcuts thetimes.co.uk/article/cuts-m… Greg Clark MP has written to PM saying cuts amount to “a devastating reduction which would reverse two years of intended increases and mean that the ambition for Britain to be a science superpower would be deferred for much of this parliament”.(paywalled) thetimes.co.uk/article/devast…

Everyday since news of #ukricuts #gcrfcuts broke another set of previously unimaginable consequences occur:-
1) end of peer review for grants - it was already on a shoogly peg but who is now going to donate labour to laborious review of proposals - including risk assessments? 😐 2) Applications for funding - it takes two years constant work to go from idea to successful application with success rates low. To do this needs trust that if successful your work will be funded throughout (stage-gated). Right now I can’t imagine why I would EVER apply again.

“The University will continue to use all available channels to make the case to reverse these cuts.”
 
Strong Statement from @UofGVC @RachelSandison @cjpearce on #UKRIcuts #odacuts #gcrfcuts

👉🏼 gla.ac.uk/research/az/gc… @UofGVC @RachelSandison @cjpearce @UofGlasgow @UofGEducation @UofGUnescoRILA @kentbuse @UCUScotland @MIDEQHub "This decision undermines the UK’s role in combatting the world’s most pressing challenges...[and] will lead to job losses in the UK and in low- and middle-income countries, with early career staff particularly badly affected." @DrJoGrady @ucu
researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-res… (paywalled)