Donna Bowater

Journalist and communications consultant

Opinion: How to advocate effectively in the age of COVID-19

For many global development issues, 2020 is a milestone year. From the deadline for national plans to meet the Paris Agreement climate targets to the Nutrition for Growth Summit, the international calendar weighs heavily with pivotal moments. Yet amid the COVID-19 pandemic, so many of these events — and the opportunities for development advocates to meet with decision-makers — are now hanging in the balance, with a growing number moving online. Virtual conferences, such as the online Lead Auth
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Devex •

Opinion: How to advocate effectively in the age of COVID-19

For many global development issues, 2020 is a milestone year. From the deadline for national plans to meet the Paris Agreement climate targets to the Nutrition for Growth Summit, the international calendar weighs heavily with pivotal moments. Yet amid the COVID-19 pandemic, so many of these events — and the opportunities for development advocates to meet with decision-makers — are now hanging in the balance, with a growing number moving online. Virtual conferences, such as the online Lead Auth
The Independent •

Why a nomadic family homestay in Mongolia is the ultimate camping experience

“That’s dinner,” my host tells me, gesturing to the lone sheep tethered outside that bleats gently as I return from an invigorating six-mile trek through the pastel green hills to see the ruins of the Erdene Khambiin Khiid monastery. Within two hours, the animal is slaughtered, shorn, blowtorched and butchered for the pot, leaving nothing to waste. It’s a brutal lesson in the realities of nomadic life, which balances freedom, fresh air and the vast Mongolian countryside with the challenges of s
DW.COM •

Death of Brazilian councilor marks birth of movement for new politics | DW | 23.03.2018

For a country so recently mired in institutional corruption, backhanders and political turmoil, it was nevertheless impossible to dissociate Marielle Franco's politics from who she was. A black, gay mother from one of Rio's most notorious favelas, she was the publicly elected face of the most disenfranchised groups in Brazil, where more than 60 percent of the prison population is black and where a record number of homophobic killings took place last year. She was also a vocal critic of the pol
The Telegraph •

Why more mid-lifers should take an adult reading week

It normally starts with a message or a notification or the recognisable buzz of an email arriving. Out of the corner of my eye, my phone lights up and I’m drawn away from the book in front of me, no matter how engaging or well-written, to indulge my curiosity. From there, it’s just a flick of the thumb to check Twitter, open up the latest hot takes, see if anyone else has liked my last Instagram post, and in the meantime, I’ve wasted precious minutes of reading time.
The Telegraph •

Parintins festival, Brazil: Snorting bulls, feathers and tribal theatre

With its multi-million pound production, colourful choreography and supple samba dancers, Carnival in Rio de Janeiro has long been the most famous festival in Brazil. But its nearest rival is hardly known even among Brazilians, despite attracting more than 80,000 visitors every year. The Parintins Folklore Festival takes place in the remote town of Parintins, on a river island in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, and it is the second biggest party in the country. While I arrived by plane -
The Guardian •

Abortion in Brazil: a matter of life and death

Born five years apart, sisters Joyce and Jandyra Magdalena dos Santos Cruz lived together in a simple low-rise in Guaratiba, a poor neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, with Joyce’s four children, Jandyra’s two daughters, and their mother, Marie Ângela. Like many Brazilian families, their lives were inextricably meshed by economies of scale. It was the honey-coloured eyes they also shared that Joyce Magdalena recognised last August, when Jandyra was found inside a burnt-out car. She had been mutila

Brazil's quilombos, founded by escaped slaves, offer a window to the past

The grave of the João Palacio, founder of the Santo Antônio dos Pretos quilombo in Codó, Maranhão state, Brazil. Gustavo Oliveira “When he got down from his horse, he was enchanted and he danced, he danced until he fell on the floor, he almost died from dancing,” she said, breaking into the song her grandfather sang when Lieutenant Vitorino came to shut down the celebration. “He never came back to Santo Antônio and he would always pass by another way, and whenever he met my grandfather, he low
BBC •

Arms wide open

There is a trapdoor on Christ's right shoulder. To mount the steps and slowly, fearfully peer out is to see the world through the eyes of a bird, or even a god. Far below, white blocks of flats and offices cluster among folds of tropical green. Down there are the poor in the favelas, the rich in the luxury high-rise apartments, the homeless, the famous football stadiums and Guanabara bay with its scattered islands and boats. Beyond the sands of Copacabana and Ipanema, the limitless Atlantic oc

About

Donna Bowater is a journalist and communications consultant, currently working with Marchmont Communications.

Donna was formerly a freelance correspondent based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, covering Latin America for English-language media, including the Telegraph, the Independent, the BBC, Al Jazeera, Washington Post and VICE among others.

She was previously a home news reporter for the Daily Telegraph in London, having also worked for the Northampton Chronicle and Echo, the Birmingham Mail, National News Press Agency and Press Association.