According to Dr. Sandro Calvani, Director of ARCMDG at AIT and
editor-in-chief of the magazine, Freedom from Want targets development
professionals working in the field who seek innovative and proper tools
to accelerate sustainable development work to obtain real, concrete
development goals. The publication also aims to engage those interested
in the views of university lecturers and thought leaders, and is not
necessarily the prescribed recommendations of the United Nations, he
said.
“We believe that we can reach 65,000 people in at least 50 Asian
countries,” Dr. Calvani said.
The title “Freedom from Want” was chosen because it synthesizes the
concepts of the millennium development goals (MDGs), Dr. Calvani said.
The expression was coined by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his
famed “Four Freedoms” address on January 6, 1941, in which proposed
four fundamental freedoms that the world’s people ought to enjoy, such
as freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and
freedom from fear.
Dr. Calvani says the primary readership will come from people who
interact with ARCMDG, and all of AIT’s extended networks of like-minded
professionals in academia, the private sector and international
organizations and non-governmental organizations. Readers concerned
about countries not meeting their MDGs’ pledges by 2015 can find
practical solutions in the pages of Freedom from Want, he said.
As for the editorial focus, the magazine identifies free thinkers or
those with innovative ideas such as Giulio Quaggiotto, who is the
knowledge management practice leader at the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP). One of the contributing authors of the magazine’s first
issue in April, Mr. Quaggiotto, is a recognized blogger who has
facilitated innovative thinking through open discussion among MDG
practitioners.
Freedom from Want has received proposals from people seeking a place
where they can be published and read by experts and fieldworkers. The
magazine invites participation from people who come with a new thinking
and seeks expert contributions from universities, including AIT and
those of UN bodies.
The editor also gives room to the authors who are looking for new ways
to present human development narratives through the lens of country
comparisons and best practices.
“We investigate touchy areas such as the issue of corruption in
development because a lot of people are frankly unhappy and believe the
grants do not reach the poor or they are experiencing aid and
development fatigue,” commented Dr. Calvani.
Asked about readers’ response in the first week, Calvani said: “On
the first day, we got one hundred online readers. And after putting it
on Facebook, we immediately reached 100 more readers in just one hour.
Freedom from Want will gain popularity because most big development
organizations don’t publish thought-provoking content like we do” said
Dr. Calvani.
Freedom from Want can be read and downloaded at the following
links:
http://www.arcmdg.ait.asia/Magazine.htm
http://issuu.com/arcmdg/docs/magazine
Dr. Sandro Calvani with the inaugural issue
of "Freedom from Want."