Weekly Briefing: The Gender Equality Top 100; 3 ways to negotiate a higher salary

Top Stories

Apolitical’s second annual Gender Equality Top 100 is out today. This list — our biggest and most global yet — draws on more than 9,000 nominations to celebrate those making a mark on gender policy. Those honoured range from Michelle Obama to unsung civil servants, academics and activists. (Apolitical)

How to negotiate a higher salary — in three steps. Too few people try to negotiate, even if they feel they deserve to earn more. The secrets to a successful negotiation? Come prepared, ask the right questions and convey a willingness to hear the other person's views. (Sarah Hoy, Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services)

Online learning is helping to solve Namibia’s HIV doctor shortage. Nearly 10% of Namibia's population lives with HIV, but a shortage of specialists impedes care. Project ECHO spreads expertise to rural areas by allowing healthcare workers to learn virtually, on their own schedule. (Apolitical)

When people hear ‘procurement’, they tend to think of scandal and inefficiencies. Potholes that don't get fixed, white elephant infrastructure projects and corrupt politicians come to mind. It’s time to shift the narrative: from the plagues of contracting, to its power to boost economies, entrepreneurship and citizens' quality of life. (Kathrin Frauscher, Open Contracting Partnership)

Parental leave policy: How to make dads take time for their kids. When they do, children make developmental gains and both partners benefit in and out of the workplace. Here’s how a ‘use it or lose it’ approach has boosted paternal leave in Sweden, Norway and Quebec. (Apolitical)

Governance and Citizen Engagement

Stockholm is ranked the world’s best city for work-life balance. In addition to two years of parental leave per child, employees enjoy flexible hours: many leave the office at 3 pm daily. This flexibility results in a happy, efficient labour force, and attracts highly educated workers from around the globe. (The Guardian)

Education and Changing Jobs

Apprenticeships are bringing Los Angeles’ low-income residents into government work. Public sector jobs offer a steady income and good benefits — but most are out of reach for applicants with limited work experience. The city hopes apprenticeships will serve as a gateway to long-term public employment. (Governing)

Technology Frontiers

One UK city is trialling an ‘artificial intelligence triage’ to cut hospital visits. Birmingham patients will be encouraged to use chatbot services, online symptom checkers and video consultations with doctors and nurses before visiting A&E, in a bid to relieve ‘unsustainable’ pressure on resources. (Huffington Post)

Health and Safety

Lebanese students get lessons in surviving war and natural disasters. Beyond drills that teach them how to recognise an emergency, where to evacuate and how to find shelter, students learn first aid, fire fighting and other skills from materials like board games. (Thomson Reuters)

Energy, Environment and Economic Opportunity

Washington became the first US state to legalise human composting. The law will allow bodies to be placed in a container alongside organic material like straw and wood chips, which speeds up the natural process of turning human bodies into soil. It will come into effect in May 2020. (New York Times)

Eskilstuna, Sweden doesn’t send any trash to landfill. The city met the EU’s 2020 recycling target of 50% early by having residents sign up to a seven-category recycling system. Metal, food, newspapers, textiles, plastic, cartons and non-recyclables each have their own colour-coded bag. (Source)

And finally

Japanese women are using an app to yell at train molesters. It allows victims to display a message reading ‘There is a groper here. Please help,’ to other passengers, and activate a voice that shouts ‘Stop it!’ loudly. Introduced by the Tokyo police three years ago, the app has been downloaded over 237,000 times. (Women in the World)

(Picture credit: Unsplash)