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When Camilla and I were Googling for this post we also found some miscellaneous Wonder Woman facts and analysis that others might find interesting. We didn't want to go on a tangent so I'm just sharing some of them here in the comments. <a href="http://bigthink.com/Picture-This/wonder-woman-feminist-icon-feminist-failure-or-both" rel="nofollow">Wonder Woman: Feminist Icon, Feminist Failure, or Both?</a> - this is an interesting article with some of the history and different perspectives, particularly on the worldview of Wonder Woman's creator <em>"[Comic book historian] Hanley’s curiosity over Wonder Woman’s curious career begins with her curious creator, writer and psychologist William Moulton Marston. Marston “wanted to impart to his readers a specific message about female superiority,” Hanley writes. Marston’s feminism didn’t hold that men and women were equal. Instead, he believed that women were superior and could bring about a more just and peaceful society than what men had achieved so far, especially in the midst of World War II. Wonder Woman’s women-only homeland of Themyscira thus became a utopian ideal. In the context of wartime America, Wonder Woman became “a superpowered Rosie the Riveter, constantly encouraging women to join the auxiliary forces or get a wartime job,” Hanley argues. While Wonder Woman inspired women to realize their full potential, she also prepared young boys reading the comics for the coming matriarchy, which Marston was devoutly believed would come after the war."</em> But... <em>"Marston’s worldview came with complications, particularly a connoisseur’s eye for bondage, which went far beyond just the heroine’s “golden lasso of truth.” “For Marston,” Hanley defends, “bondage was about submission, not just sexually but in every aspect of life.” For the female utopia to happen, men must submit control, but everyone must submit individual desires to the greater goals of society."</em> Also, if you like vintage comic book artwork, there's some selected feminist panels from Wonder Woman cartoons in these posts <a href="http://comicsalliance.com/wonder-woman-feminism-meredith-finch-david-finch-dc/" rel="nofollow">here</a> and <a href="http://veleda-k.tumblr.com/post/91379284953/wonder-woman-is-a-feminist" rel="nofollow">here</a>, and some arguments backing up her feminist status. And it's interesting how the UN has glossed over her being a LGBTI icon, in typical UN style. There's a lot online about that as well.

Thanks Wendy (and sorry for the delay in getting your comment up, our spam filter is sometimes a little overzealous). I'm not entirely opposed to hijacking pop culture/celebrity to help communicate a socially beneficial message, as long as it doesn't compromise the message or come at a big cost. And as long as it is done really well and effectively, which as those reports show, is often not the case. From a comms standpoint, I think the Wonder Woman appointment comes with a risk of confusing the UN's already kind of fuzzy gender equality messaging - recently it was all #HeforShe, which I always found a bit patronising and vague but I at least kind of understood what they were trying to do with it (even if the execution was off). Now it's about a woman who comes from an all woman planet and who has been both sexualised and objectified by men throughout history but on the other hand has at times espoused a very hardline feminist message that could be seen by the overly sensitive as 'anti-male'. It's all just really confusing from a messaging point of view. Who are they trying to communicate with and mobilise with this campaign? Which version of Wonder Woman is their ambassador (she's had many iterations throughout history)? Is empowerment about equality and partnership between men and women, or is it about women becoming dominant? Such messy messaging. So I oppose this one, but not all. But a big communications question for me in using celebrity/icons would be - whose pop culture do they represent? I think you are spot on about needing to look at regional and national celebrities if you are going to get messages to have traction in particular countries or regions. There is a real dominance of American/Western celebrities on the books as ambassadors and Wonder Woman is no exception. Yes, some of these celebs are truly global, but I completely agree that there is a real need to look at how they play with certain audiences. I'm not convinced of the need to call these people 'ambassadors' though. I think that's where this really sunk. Sure, if there is a good comms and messaging strategy, give some Wonder Woman related tweets a go and tie it in to the anniversary and the movie. But don't call her an 'honorary ambassador for women's empowerment' - that's going to annoy real women who are tired of living up to impossible standards and pressures, let alone fictional superhero ones. It does seem really trivial to appoint someone who has superhuman powers to be an ambassador for an issue that includes gender violence. What, are women supposed to just get superpowers and kapow bang whoosh their way out of violent situations? It's like the UN think that women just need more inspiration to be powerful, instead of actual structural change.

Of course you're right, Jay, that small states would be unlikely to get a bite of the GCF under any allocation arrangements that privileged tonnes of emissions avoided or numbers of people protected from climate-related harms, and therefore gave no weight to sovereignty. If an implementing agency (like the ADB!) were to find a clever way of sweeping them all under a single regional adaptation bid, and could get the costs low enough, maybe. Mitigation funding would certainly be beyond reach. But I don't think that's such a terrible thing given that the GCF houses and will always house only a minority of the available funds. I think too much angst has been devoted to the question of how small states might access big funds. Perhaps it's better to simplify life for the big funds, and let them try to give substance to the claim that their investments are transformative, while making separate and more local or regional arrangements for small island states.

Have a positive attitude and mind set towards the development of PNG. If we want to change our nation, the change must begin in our mind before actions are implemented. God bless PNG.

Thanks for the very informative article. One question: how do you think Pacific countries would fare if the GCF does not adopt some kind of 'inter-country equity'? My own view is that it would seem that their "numbers" - in mitigation (C02 reductions) or adaption (total # people saved) - would never really amount to an attractive proposal to the GCF. And that would discriminate against Pacific countries, who have very real and urgent climate issues to address. Your thoughts appreciated!

The suitability or otherwise of Wonder Woman is only part of the issue. International celebrity ambassadors were novel once, but not any more. Barely a day goes by without some famous person in logo cap and t-shirt weeping into their cornflakes about the cause they have just embraced. Although they are billed as having international reach, many are barely known outside the western world. Regional and national celebrities may provide a more authentic voice for their cause. <a href="http://www.unicef.org/people/people_ambassadors.html" rel="nofollow">Here's a long list</a> from UNICEF of their ambassadors in various places. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/26/celebrity-ambassadors-charities-debate" rel="nofollow">This article from 2011</a> looks at the wider debate about ambassadors. While <a href="https://www.unjiu.org/en/reports-notes/archive/JIU_NOTE_2006_1_English.pdf" rel="nofollow">this 2006 UN report</a> [pdf] makes recommendations about the future of use of goodwill ambassadors -- it is unclear what suggestions, if any, were acted on.

Ashlee, Camilla It is so good you wrote this yet what a shame it ever needed to be written! While I observe your comment in other media as this being a "rant" I think otherwise...it is an articulate expression of your frustration (on behalf of others, the many) of the idiocy of an organisation that should know better. Maybe there is a method in their madness as you observe that raising the vibration on conversations is good - but I agree that of all the ways in which this important global issue could be prioritised, this seems polar from the better options. I also comment, with some embarrassment, that as a male my voice was slow to condemn - no excuse, just slow. Thank you for not being silent. M

This is an amazing movement being seen in Papua New Guinea, agreeing upon everyone less in this discussion. I'm currently doing a campaign about technology, mostly upon mobile phones and presenting unknown and unseen experiences and talents that can only be shown outside of the digital space. I also will raise some concerns upon the future with this movement of bringing social media into PNG, as PNG can offer a range of hidden talents that aren't shown to a range of countries until they have experienced the culture. The new addition of social media being a part of PNG will increase connectivity, but will it further extend the usage being seen upon younger generations in the near future? And will they still be able to reconnect with traditions? For further information on my campaign, I will leave them below. Thank you. https://www.facebook.com/stopmadtech/ https://twitter.com/LMTM2016 https://letsmakethemove.wordpress.com/

Hi Jordi, I am PNGn but from another part of the country. I have just completed a three year assignment in kokopo. You are in for the best, kokopo is the best town in PNG, it has most of what we would consider as basic services and among if not the safest. It is a beautiful par of the world and your only main challenge would be the earth tremours and occaisonally earth quakes. Most or all the expats that visit kokopo always want to return so I will not be surprised that you will too. I can provide many other details but I should leave the rest for you to pleasntly surprise ypurself.

Hi Monique, Thank you for your comment. My rough estimate on the basis of the data I have is that about 10% (maybe as many as 15%) of voting age Australians donate to aid NGOs in any given year. The number would be higher, obviously, if we took a longer period, say once every 3 years. If you want detailed info on Australian government aid spending please see the Devpolicy <a href="https://devpolicy.org/aidtracker/" target="_blank">Australian Aid Tracker</a>. Also, ACFID have a great map of where their members (most Australian aid NGOs) work. I can't find it at present (in haste as I'm travelling) but it is on <a href="https://acfid.asn.au/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">their website</a> somewhere. Thanks again for your comment. Terence

Hello everyone; My name's Jordi I'm Spanish and I'm going to be relocated to PNG in January 2017. My employer is sending me to Kokopo. I've been living in China for the last 20 years so I am not new in the expat life but I would like to know what is it like in Kokopo and if some of you guys can give me some tips on do's and don'ts. Thanks

This process might perhaps be better described as polarisation than fragmentation The larger agencies have tended to merge (presumably to foster growth and reduce overheads) while smaller agencies are being established and closed all the time. Much of the innovation in NGOs tends to come from smaller agencies because they can often respond more quickly to changing needs and priorities and pick up on new approaches. Larger NGOs inevitably become more bureaucratic, whether they wish to or not. Being taken over is not necessarily a sign of failure. Brand names are important. A reputation is hard earned and translates into revenue, but the support base will often follow the organisation into a new format. In the corporate world there are many examples of both plural and consolidated brands. VW Group, for instance, trades under several brand names (VW, Audi, Skoda, SEAT), while BMW and Daimler Benz have a single brand. Many small NGOs reach the limits of what they can do with the resources available to them and can benefit from being absorbed into a larger entity with greater resources. In addition, many smaller entities are driven by the one or two people who established them and often cannot survive the demise or retirement of these key people. In my corporate experience (I was for more than a decade a market analyst and corporate strategist) there are some mergers (the Brown Boveri-ASEA merger to form ABB is an example), but they are actually rare. Most mergers are in fact takeovers and if this is not the case the internal disputes over power, administrative systems and culture can soon bring the new entity down.