Guardian columnist Paul Daley has covered MAPW’s efforts to disrupt weapons companies’ interference in STEM education:
Many are the ways a multinational arms manufacturer, whose products are responsible for the deaths of countless humans including children, may seek reputational enhancement.
Merchants of death may fund a range of cash-strapped tertiary institutions for Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs, as happens in Australia now.
Or donate their relative spare change to the Australian War Memorial, thereby both profiting from battle and reputationally (well, that’s the dubious aim) by commemorating the dead. Unthinkable? No. It’s been happening for years.
Or they could sponsor a leading Australian charity for children. Improbably, this also happened when weapons manufacturer BAE Systems Australia this year “partnered” with the national, independent children’s charity The Smith Family for three years.
After advocacy from MAPW, the Smith Family announced it was “ending” its partnership with BAE Systems, a step we welcome.
Read the full story at Guardian Australia.