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Lauren Dobson-Hughes

@ldobsonhughes.bsky.social
7.3K followers 1.8K following 3.4K posts

I run an organisation that designs policy and campaigns on foreign policy, gender, health and rights. Used to work in two Parliaments. Mancunian in Canada

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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 12h
A good summary of ways AI may affect development I will say, AI proponents tend to be sunnier about AI driving economic growth Whereas the experience of people who work in development is that each new tool only exacerbates existing inequalities olihanney.substack.com/p/ten-more-t...
olihanney.substack.com
Ten more things on AI and development
What I’ve been reading on the big questions about transformative AI and development.
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 13h
India removes its prohibition on women working night shifts. But the safety laws that protect women, mostly from men's violence, mean it costs employers five times more to hire a woman than a man prosperiti.substack.com/p/52-a-right...
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 14h
Vietnam became an upper middle income country this year. Its story is remarkable, from 1960s conflict, to 1980s communist isolation, to 2000s economic powerhouse Its trade shifts alone are worth studying yawboadu.substack.com/p/the-2026-w...
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 14h
Remittances nearly double in a decade, reaching $729bn In 10 countries, remittances are more than 10% of GDP. In 9 countries, the inflows exceed exports of all goods and services We've tried for decades to capture and direct remittances, and reduce transaction costs www.ifad.org/en/w/news/re...
ifad.org
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 14h
Excellent news that GiveWell is moving into family planning. Women's ability to decide if, when and how often they have children is foundational to their entire wellbeing and success Family planning is one of the best investments a society can make blog.givewell.org/2026/08/31/g...
blog.givewell.org
GiveWell’s 2025 Metrics and Impact - The GiveWell Blog
Thanks to the trust and generosity of our donors, GiveWell raised $616 million in metrics year 2025 and directed $427 million to support outstanding opportunities to do good in 32 countries. We estima...
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Jaclyn A. Siegel, PhD @jacasiegel.bsky.social · 18h
Discussing gender, power, and empowerment in my psychology of gender class this week. I ask all the women what they do and buy to feel empowered. I ask men the same and they are confused. I ask whether we are sold individual empowerment to divide us and move our energies away from collective action.
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I’m sure the French police will handle this with their usual calm, thoughtful approach and there will be no savage beatings of teenagers at all www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
More than 400 schools in France to be closed on Monday as more protests planned
Education minister says 24 schools have been burnt or ransacked and 78 staff members injured since student unrest began last week
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Despite promises from Poland’s new government to loosen its notoriously resttictive abortion laws, no progress has been made So clinics are getting creative, with abortion pill lockers for same-day access www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Polish activists launch abortion pill locker to bypass near-total ban
‘AbortOmat’ in Warsaw offers novel way to challenge country’s restrictions and allow women swift and anonymous access to pill
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Steve Senior @stevensenior.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
There is an easy solution to this which I have discovered: ignore all of it. There's very little real evidence but a huge amount of ideology behind it. A whole industry of books preying on parental anxiety that can just get in the bin.
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David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
On the importance of asking the right questions in politics.
We are measurably lonelier. We feel less productive, and yet more burnt out. We're less satisfied in our jobs. We are less fulfilled in our personal lives. We're taking up fewer hobbies. Engaging in less culture and art. We miss our real communities. But we're going out less. Our trust in our institutions has plummeted. We're having fewer kids. We're politically more volatile. We're believing more lies. A younger generation is going on fewer dates. And they have fewer friends. Opportunities for human contact are shrinking.
Anxiety is up, and yes, that overall happiness metric is falling.
Sorry to be a downer, but then you knew all that already. We all feel it.
Instead, we are pursuing a race to "growth". But what kind of growth, and to what end? An AI data centre in a hollowed-out postindustrial community might provide 30-odd jobs and create numerical growth on a Treasury spreadsheet but does it materially address the lack of meaning, purpose or agency many feel in their lives?
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Or, if men can't be trusted not to take photos up women's skirts, they shouldn't be allowed into the park www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Women given free cycling shorts to prevent upskirting on Oktoberfest amusement ride
Investigation revealed thousands of voyeuristic videos taken on Munich beer festival’s Teufelsrad, or Devil’s Wheel
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Some good news: Brazil and Turks & Caicos have eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV Chile has eliminated leprosy www.paho.org/en/news/28-9...
paho.org
PAHO Director’s Annual Report highlights health gains across the Americas despite growing challenges
Report highlights disease elimination milestones, progress in immunization and maternal health, and expanded access to medicines, while warning of the loss of the Region’s measles-free status and othe...
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
There is a concerted effort from states and non-state actors to weaken the United Nations until it appears irrelevant, then occupy its remains with regressive actors genevasolutions.news/opinions/the...
genevasolutions.news
❝The UN's human rights system is being hollowed out so it can be captured - Geneva Solutions
The UN human rights architecture is being hollowed out from within and carefully prepared for capture. Nobody should be watching from the sidelines, warns Victor Madrigal-Borloz, trustee at the UN’s f...
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Africa launches its own credit ratings agency this month. "Africa does not lack capital; it lacks the domestic financial architecture required to price risk accurately and channel domestic savings into transformative development investments" www.devex.com/news/new-rat...
devex.com
New rating agency can change how development is financed in Africa
Opinion: Africa’s development finance gap isn’t just about a lack of money, it is also about weaknesses in the domestic financial architecture. A credit ratings agency launching in October can change ...
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Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Hi Nobel Prize! Hope you are doing well. Does Canada need to proactively close our border just in case, or are we good? Wink twice if we need to close.
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Keep coming back to this. Government can support, nudge and remove barriers But if the private sector won’t put its own money in because it judges the demand isn’t there, why is government assuming that risk?
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I’m not saying the UAE wants charges against Man City dropped or its investments in the UK might accidentally dry up But I’m also not not saying that Cautionary tale for any country trying to attract foreign direct investment
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The ability to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into a loss-making TV channel, bent on wrenching British politics sharply to the right, is yet another of the ways in which extreme wealth is trying to remake UK democracy. It needs to be part of any serious conversation about political funding.
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Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Shocking how predatory financialization is in Brazil - More than 80% of Brazilian families are in debt - Families spend nearly 30% of their income on debt payments - Brazilians lost about $7 bn to licensed betting sites last year, compared w/ $4 bn in 2024 www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/w...
nytimes.com
One Issue Hanging Over Brazil’s Presidential Election: Online Gambling and Record-High Debts
Just days before Sunday’s election, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva banned online gambling. But record-high debt is upending millions of lives.
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The head of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation boasts of firing a senior executive who attended a weekly vigil for UN workers killed in Gaza Apparently, there’s no human rights in a UN technical agency www.fao.org/webcast/deta...
fao.org
United Nations Decade for Afforestation and Reforestation: from vision to impact
United Nations Decade for Afforestation and Reforestation: from vision to impact
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Genuinely emotional watching Burnham speak from the heart about the value of care work Bringing energy and water back into public ownership, a national care service, better public transport. The first glimmers of a real progressive agenda for Britain www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS2X...
youtube.com
LIVE: UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Speaks at Labour Party Conference in Liverpool | AC15
YouTube video by DWS News
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rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
i agree with the key point here and will add to it that there IS a reward, it’s knowing you did one right thing instead of walking around plagued by the nameless shame that afflicts all men who are determined to live the most frictionless lives possible
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is partly why “not cool mate” works Because men mistakenly believe their friends hold harmful beliefs about women, and act accordingly Men can correct that mistaken belief and change their friend’s behaviour
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Re-upping this in light of….news Men intervening with their own friends is so important because men’s behaviour is deeply shaped by mistaken beliefs their peers hold harmful views about women
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Samira Shackle @samirashackle.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is one of the saddest stories I've worked on. Luna Wong died by suicide 10 months after coming to the UK for boarding school. Her death exposes a series of safeguarding gaps. If this affected British children, I can't help but feel there would be more outcry www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
‘They accepted the money but didn’t take care of my child’: what Luna Wong’s death reveals about the treatment of international students in the UK
When her parents waved her off to study in England they hoped it would be a fresh start the 16-year-old needed after struggling with her mental health in Hong Kong. Instead, 10 months later, she was d...
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Adam Brody, star of breakout Jewish comedy, "Nobody Wants This" “Put me down as thinking it’s a genocide. Put me down as wanting a free Palestine" deadline.com/2026/09/adam...
deadline.com
Adam Brody Declares Support For "Free Palestine"
As Netflix prepares to release another season of 'Nobody Wants This', leading man Adam Brody is using his platform to speak up for Palestinians.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
i hope that men notice how whenever a rape story gets widespread coverage, women use it as an opportunity to vent about how fucking disgusting we think many of you are and how many have made our lives measurably worse, and take a few moments to deeply process that.
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
*whispers* Taylor Swift needs to find a hobby for a few years. Macrame, get a PhD in IR, learn horse riding, really anything other than music She’s like a factory robot pumping out the same music relentlessly for no reason I can discern anymore cause it’s not for the money
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
- Geocaching team trying to rig the next competition by moving clues in the dark - TikTok rap crew who regret finding a quiet place to rehearse - Fake driveway pavers off for a long day of conning old ladies
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“One day, when it’s safe, when there is no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will always have been against this”
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Security services should exclusively hire women who honed their research skills compiling comprehensive dossiers of every potential new boyfriend in their friendship group. Can spot a wrong’un from 500 miles away
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Chancellor John Healey praises the RNLI, "risking their lives to save others on the sea" - part of "the quiet patriotism that makes Britain great"
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If they are white, the far right drops the story If they are non-white, this is proof there’s a fifth column. No matter how long your family has lived here, you are never fully integrated, loyal or trusted, if you aren’t white. It will be proof even non-white citizens must be deported
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Shiny stage moments don't work for generating major government commitments anymore The EU announces $810M "to help people affected by crisis in Africa". Sounds great! Small print: $430M of it is to tackle migration and support voluntary return www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/...
aljazeera.com
EU unlocks humanitarian aid for crises worldwide
EU allocates majority of aid to sub-Saharan Africa to fund actions related to migration, conflict and food insecurity.
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Canadian marriage licence: “There are no restrictions based on nationality, citizenship, gender or race. Bring 2 pieces of ID” UK marriage licence: “Apply for a marriage visa. Submit biometrics. Be resident in the UK for 9 days. Bring 75 documents. The Home Office may need to approve your marriage”
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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I’m a dual national. I’m not planing on committing any crimes anytime soon, let alone ones with a sentence of 5+ years, but if I ever did I’m not sure why my second passport should disqualify me from facing the same British justice system as everyone else and instead strip me of my citizenship
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Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Anti-immigrant demagoguery is the hearth that keeps the embers of local ethno-sectarian and racial animus alive. We saw it in the US and France, we're seeing it in Northern Ireland and the UK. It's both replacement therapy and gateway drug.
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
From @justinling.ca who sat in on some of the foreign policy focus groups, a similar caution If anything, Canadians want to engage more with the world now. They don’t want to hunker down and focus on ourselves www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
thestar.com
Justin Ling: Mark Carney may appeal to vast swathes of the country, but there are some things about Canadians he doesn’t seem to get
Rather than merely address global policymakers and CEOs, the prime minister needs to talk to more everyday voters.
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Sectarian tension in Northern Ireland was already rising, driven by anti-immigration mobs Now old wounds are re-opening elsewhere. Garvaghy Road was the flashpoint in the 1990s. It bodes very ill that we’re back to this point www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live...
theguardian.com
Northern Ireland live: controversial Orange Order march in Portadown delayed amid huge protest
Large crowd blocking route march was due to take in Catholic enclave of largely Protestant town
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
"Glaring signs of cognitive regression among people, an unhappy combination of ever-smarter machines and possibly dumber humans who are easier to manipulate Countries have been slow to realise how threatened they are by the weaponisation of collective stupidity" www.arguably.uk/p/collective...
arguably.uk
Collective stupidity is a security threat
Why it’s time for societies to take cognitive rearmament seriously
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Re-upping from last night, because there's a lot to chew on. My take-away - people want to know what all this sacrifice and pivoting is for. What country are we building? There's no point enduring all the pain if we also sell out the values that make us us
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
After Zimbabwe rejected a US 'offer' to exchange mining rights and sovereign health data for foreign aid, the US confirms it will end all health funding in Zimbabwe 1.2m people will lose access to HIV medications 19,000 health workers will lose their jobs allafrica.com/stories/2026...
allafrica.com
Zimbabwe: U.S. Announces End to All Health Funding in Zimbabwe
AMERICA will, at the end of this month, stop funding all health programmes in Zimbabwe it has been involved in for more than 20 years, Ambassador Pamela Tremont has revealed.
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Good piece on how the Saudis are spending billions bombing the Houthis only to (not) learn what Carthage learned against Rome: Wealth can rent force, but it cannot manufacture will pplsartofwar.substack.com/p/you-cant-r...
pplsartofwar.substack.com
You can’t rent victory
Why the Saudi backed forces are retreating from the Houthis
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I mean, technically. I would suggest that commitment is a little quiet and wavering these days
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I was involved in a foreign policy deliberative democracy exercise this spring, and the report was just released Basically, they take 400 Canadians, an exact demographic cross-section, who spend a weekend discussing foreign policy www.global-canada.org/foreign-poli...
global-canada.org
Foreign Policy by Canadians 2026 — Global Canada
Global Canada is a non-governmental organization committed to enhancing Canada's positive global impact.
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
“The thinkers surrounding Burnham share certain characteristics. They are mostly men who live in inner London, wear dark blazers over open-collared shirts, and write essays on Substack or for the New Statesman using phrases such as “dynamism” and “productivism”” www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
theguardian.com
Labour’s last chance? The people shaping Andy Burnham’s grand plans for Britain
The long read: The new prime minister has declared he wants to end 40 years of neoliberalism. But is he really prepared to be that radical?
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Turns out, intelligence chiefs think climate change is indeed a huge threat to national security. Who'd have thought it www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
UK shares findings of damning climate crisis national security report suppressed under Starmer
El Niño poses critical threat to nations’ defences, says Ed Miliband in presentation to global foreign ministers
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
For less than whatever PR company is charging to advise Newcastle University, I will advise them not to do this On the plus side, a delightfully bonkers move and an excuse to show pictures of That Wedding again www.theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
Backlash as Indian oil heir made professor of sustainability by Newcastle University
Role for Anant Ambani, son of India’s richest person, who also runs a controversial mega-zoo, met with incredulity
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The vox pops of Mancunians asked what G20 leaders should do in the city are priceless - Trafford Centre (gaudiest mega-mall) - Warehouse Project (EDM rave full of people on ket) - a curry or kebab house FCDO has its marching orders I believe
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Next, we need a committee to assess and decide on everyone's ethnicity Is a white person born in England to white French parents English? How about my daughter, born in Canada to white English parents with roots going back 150 years? A Jewish woman born in England? Can you be Muslim and English??
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