Eisenhower Fellows » Saudi Arabia

This website is managed by the distinguished members of the Eisenhower Fellowship Multi Nation Program 2007.

Fatin’s Regular Column on Arab News: The Little Girl Who Shocked World Leaders Into Silence

Author admin | 02.06.2008 | Category Saudi Arabia, Updates

Fatin Bundagji, (MNP 2007 Saudi Arabia) writes a regular column for the Arab News - Here’s her updated column from this past week (Friday May 30, 2008) -

“There is a YouTube video clip being forwarded that is worth seeing and definitely worth passing around. Its content is an old footage from the “Earth Summit Conference” organized by the United Nations back in 1992, and the scene is taken from a plenary session under the theme, “Development and the Environment”.

The speaker is Severn Suzuki, a 13-year-old Canadian girl, and her audience is world leaders.

Two aspects of the footage got my attention: The speaker, and her message. At the age of 9, Severn started her own Environmental Children’s Organization (ECO), made up of a small group of children committed to teaching other kids about the ongoing environmental crisis. In 1992, Severn and her group raised enough money to attend the Premier Earth Summit in Brazil to warn decision makers of the catastrophic results of their actions - or inactions as we see today - on future generations

Click here to read the rest of the article -

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Future of Saudi Civil Society Associations: Fatin Bundagji in the Arab News

Author admin | 06.04.2008 | Category Saudi Arabia

Fatin Bundagji, MNP 2007 Fellow from Saudi Arabia, has the following article in the April 4, 2008 issue of the Arab News -

During the last few decades the global community has witnessed an extraordinary leap in the positive impact civil societies have had on the communities they served. Their support for children, the young, the elderly, the challenged, and the disadvantaged… their advocacy for human rights and the rights of minorities… their campaigns on environmental threats; consumer rights; child abuse and domestic violence… and their attention to recreational and educational opportunities - as well as the preservation of culture and the arts has not only prioritized these issues on the planning agendas of nations but it has also enabled these civil society associations to position themselves as “the” indispensable 3rd sector development building blocks from which strong and prosperous nations emerge.

As global communities fast-forward themselves to become self-reliant through the systematic incorporation (licensing) of civil society associations, our local efforts are repeatedly blocked by obsolete bureaucracy and excessive restrictions that thwart any attempt to establish “civil society” initiatives as legitimate “non”governmental organizations.

The negative impact of blocking the creation of independent civil society associations is something that cannot be ignored. For one, bureaucracy kills the passion and determination of good-willed citizens and thus aborts good “citizenship” actions; and second, it encourages the growth of a negative, passive “laissez faire” local culture; and third, it creates a fertile breeding ground for unsystematic activities to operate - albeit informally under the radar.

Click here to go to the Arab News website and read the rest of the article!

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Fatin Bundagji writes: Are US Media Violating the 1st Amendment?

Author admin | 21.03.2008 | Category Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia Fellow MNP 2007, Fatin Bundagji, writes up another storm in the Arab News -

Last week Arab News printed in the “Letters to the Editor” column a letter by Ms. Lin Hansen Petro from Portland, Oregon, commenting on my article, “Peace & Stability: Pre-requisites for Reform” (March 7). Ms. Petro wrote that while writing her article, “Fatin Bundagji conveniently forgot, as Arab writers usually do, that the US was attacked by Arab terrorists which led to retaliatory action in the Middle East and out of America. All those glorious outreach programs she was describing that America used to do would still be in effect and there would be no war waging at the moment if the radical Arabs kept their opinions and hatred of American policies in the academic or political arena… Please click here to read the rest of the article.

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Fatin Bundagji’s Columns in the Arab News!

Author admin | 09.02.2008 | Category Saudi Arabia, Updates

The Arab News, Saudi Arabia’s largest English Language Daily Newspaper, has a new regular columnist! Fatin Bundagji (EF MNP 2007), has several columns talking about everything from social change to community building, infrastructure to HR development.

You can log onto www.arabnews.com and search for ‘FATIN’ to see a complete list of these articles, but here are direct links to a few:

‘Have We Failed Them?’ February 8, 2008
‘Why Do We Fear Accountability?’ February 1, 2008
‘A Stitch in Time, Saves Nine!’ - January 9, 2008
You can write to Fatin directly a: fatin@bundagji.com or post a comment for her through this website.

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Fatin Bundagji writes for the Arab News!

Author admin | 09.01.2008 | Category Saudi Arabia, Updates

Fellow from Saudi Arabia, Fatin Bundagji, wrote an article in the January 9th, 2008 issue of the Arab News - you can read a bit of the article below, and click the link at the end of it to go to the Arab News site to read the rest!

‘A Stitch in Time Saves Nine’
Fatin Bundagji, Arab News, January 9, 2008

I had never realized the truth of the proverb “A Stitch in Time Saves Nine” like I did today. As is usual to my daily morning routine, I logged on to be greeted by my Yahoo homepage. As I sat sipping my necessary morning tea, an unusual “news” headline caught my eye. “Garbage Crisis Stirs Protest in Naples”.

Unusual in its seemingly benign topic because in comparison to current news headlines of war, terror, death and disease, garbage seems secondary and trivial.

But is it really? In Naples it seems that it is not. According to the news, the city is suffering a two-week-old garbage collection crisis that has resulted in “scattered stinking mountains in the city.” With no solution in sight, angry citizens have taken to the streets in riots and rebellion. The media latched onto the story and finally government officials began to pay attention. In a public statement, Italian President Giorgio said that he was “alarmed” by the situation and called on officials to shoulder their responsibilities in resolving the problem. Premier Romano Prodi announced that government ministers would meet to resolve Naples’ garbage problems “once and for all.” Fearing negative international coverage on such a domestic issue, he continued to state that “Everybody is watching us, and I don’t want Italy to have such a negative image. It’s an emergency we must tackle rapidly.”

Click here to read more.

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