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Amy Fallon

I am a widely-published and versatile freelance journalist and communications specialist currently who has worked around the world for a plethora of leading media outlets and organisations. Please scroll down to see my work. I have reported from Australia, the UK, Africa, Asia, and Canada. I have covered a broad range of topics but I am most interested in social justice, human rights and international development. I have worked for international news wire agencies, newspapers, consumer magazines, trade journals, and more. I have worked as a staff reporter in Australia, from the newsrooms of most of the UK national papers, for magazines and trade journals, done consulting for NGOs, and more. I am completing a human rights masters and a communications degree. I am available for story commissions, media advising, copywriting and content writing. 

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Mobilisation Lab •

When people power meets litigation: A history-making success story in Sierra Leone

It was a people-powered case that led to a landmark decision. In November 2018, a court ruled that SIVA Group, a billion dollar conglomerate headquartered in Singapore, must return 41,500 hectares (103,000 acres) to villagers in the Port Loko district in Sierra Leone’s north and pay a fine of US $250,000. SIVA had vowed when it leased the land in 2011 to create 8,000 jobs for the community and put local children in school. However, it failed to pay residents rent for three years, the country’s

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delicious.com.au •

What it's really like inside a Hare Krishna camp (words and pics)

There's more to this Northern NSW farm than meets the eye. Here's what really goes on at a Hare Krishna retreat, tells Amy Fallon. “I might move here,” a woman I’ve just met in the communal bathroom says to me. “I’m sick of the real world. I’ve been doing it for 40 years. It’s not going anywhere.” Gazing out at the “unreal” world, if you like, the lush green hills in a tiny part of Northern NSW that belong to New Govardhana, a thriving Hare Krishna community boasting scrumptious vegetarian foo

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Devex •

In Nairobi, a landmark push for a global blue economy

TORONTO — Some 4,000 people are set to gather in Nairobi this week for the first global conference to focus solely on the sustainable blue economy. Hosted by Kenya, with Canada and Japan as co-hosts, the event will be the first to focus on how to channel global water resources in sustainable ways to enhance development. Described as a “bold initiative” by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference is expected to draw participants from some 180 countries, as well a

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The Independent UK •

How a running tour of a township in Cape Town showed me another side of South Africa

“The only stories that you hear about our hood are negative, but we have so many positive stories,” says our guide Vincent Ntunja, as we begin our 10km run on a Saturday morning just outside Mzoli’s, a restaurant famous across South Africa for its barbecued meat. The Gugulethu township may not be the first place that springs to mind when you think of doing a running tour of South Africa. And Ntunja himself prefers shooting hoops to pounding the pavements, if it comes down to it. But five years

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Pacific Standard •

Can a Web App Help Reduce Nigerian Food Waste?

Oscar Ekponimo has created a program that notifies retailers in real-time when their food items are approaching expiry and lets them initiate discounts on them. Oscar Ekponimo, the Nigerian inventor of a Web app improving food accessibility and affordability for poverty-stricken people, had his "epiphany" when he was strolling the aisles of a supermarket in 2014 and unearthed a can of tuna that was about to expire. "I pulled [the can] off the shelf and I said to the shopkeeper, 'Hey look, expi

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Devex •

In South Africa, ATM pharmacies help fill a massive shortfall

ALEXANDRA, South Africa — When Thapelo — name changed to protect his identity — went to government clinics to collect medicine for chronic blood pressure, the lines were so long that he was often forced to take the day off work. And at times, he’d even leave without his medication. “The line is very long and then they say, ‘you may come tomorrow,’” said the 58-year-old, “it affected my health.” South Africa needs about 12,000 pharmacists to fulfill the international standard of 50 pharmacists

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Malnutrition Deeply •

Nigeria Turns to Technology to Reduce Food Waste and Fight Hunger

Oscar Ekponimo, the Nigerian inventor of a web app improving food accessibility and affordability for poverty-stricken people, had his “epiphany” when he was strolling the aisles of a supermarket in 2014 and unearthed a can of tuna that was about to expire. “I pulled [the can] off the shelf and I said to the shopkeeper, ‘Hey look, expiring in a matter of a week,’” the 31-year-old software engineer explained. They were “throwing away food that was still consumable because it had reached its expi

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Equal Times •

Can innovative design help improve low-cost housing in Cape Town?

This photo from February 2017 shows one of the first Empower Shack structures in the township of Khayelitsha, Cape Town. This year, the low-cost housing project was nominated for the prestigious 2018 RIBA International Prize. In the lounge room of her two-storey home made from corrugated iron, timber and hollow-core blocks, Magau Mhlupheki is washing clothes using a big plastic bucket. It’s a new experience, even though her water usage is limited by the restrictions put in place to prevent the

Thomson Reuters Foundation •

South Africa pushes to combat HIV among girls #blessed by sugar daddies

More than 10 percent of young women in South Africa are HIV positive JOHANNESBURG, March 26 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Before 20-year-old Lebogang Motsumi even had sex with her first "blesser" - or sugar daddy - a successful, married, company boss more than twice her age, he handed her a wad of cash. He was soon making regular deposits into her bank account, paying her rent and taking her out in exchange for sex, which the young single mother readily accepted as she had a three-month-old b

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News Deeply/Women's Advancement •

In Uganda, Unmarried Women Must Fight to Keep Their Homes

Kampala, UGANDA – After almost two decades living with a man nearly twice her age, who first got her pregnant when she was 15, Jane Zamukunda finally had one small comfort: a nice home that she felt was hers. Her partner and father of her three children had bought a piece of land in the Nansana suburb of Kampala, where they built a house together. It was comfortable by most standards, with furniture and a TV. But most important to Zamukunda, now 28, was the fact that she had a key to the house:

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Quartz Africa •

Australia's offer to fast track visas for "persecuted" white farmers is slammed by South Africa

A potential offer by Australia to give white South African farmers “humanitarian” visas has sparked backlash from the South African government. Australia’s home affairs, immigration and border protection minister Peter Dutton said he had asked his department to “look at ways in which we can provide some assistance”, following claims in the country’s Rupert Murdoch-owned newspapers that “white South African farmers are murdered every week.” Fact-checking website Africa Check was quick to point o

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News Deeply Malnutrition Deeply •

In Uganda, Finding Out Just How ‘Miraculous’ Sweet Potatoes Can Be

LUWERO, Uganda – At Joweria Sekiyanja’s house in tiny Mayilikiti village in central Uganda, a group of about 15 women are marveling at an assortment of goodies the mother has made to sell at local markets. There are twisted treats Sekiyanja calls “mummies,” doughnuts, cakes, packaged porridge and soft-drink bottles containing a bright orange liquid. The common ingredient in all of them is orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP). The biofortified crop is enriched with beta-Carotene, which gives the p

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The Sydney Morning Herald •

The Aussie student who makes soccer jerseys for the world's toughest market

Kampala, Uganda: When Robert Wurube, a South Sudanese soccer player, represents millions of people from his war-torn country sporting his national jersey, there’s some Australian labour of love that’s gone into his uniform’s design. The green shirt donned by the midfielder boasts a bright, complex diagonal sash with cultural symbols traditionally worn by local chiefs to symbolise their power. It was created by the AMS Clothing company, founded by Melbourne university student Luke Westcott. AMS

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Devex •

Q&A: Uganda's RHU warns of impact of global gag rule on its programs

KAMPALA, Uganda — Reproductive Health Uganda is one of Uganda’s leading NGOs providing services related to sexual health and reproductive rights, but it now faces a number of challenges to its work, including a recent move by the United States to bring back the Mexico City policy, also known as the “global gag rule.” In 2016, RHU reached over 6.8 million people in the east African nation, with 3.3 million services offered to youth. They accessed nearly 1 million people across the country with f

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