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relatives were transporting the corpse of her brother-in-law for cremation. "They were accosted by five or six young men who had set up a roadblock," said S.N. Pradhan, a police official in Jnarkhand. According to the criminal complaint, the men stole 40,000 rupees ($625) and then ordered the woman out of the vehicle. "Then they took her to the bush and raped her one by one while others stood watch," he said. The rape wasn't reported until Friday, when police—investigating reports of highway robbery—discovered a photo of a policewoman near where the thefts occurred. "The superintendent of police asked her why her photo was there and only then did she report the rape," Mr. Pradhan said. Back to top Is there any space in the development debate for African experts? Andrew Quinn — Guardian blog Ata 2012 TEDxChange conference in Berlin, African women's development fund CEO Theo Sowa turned the spotlight on an uncomfortable truth: African women may be the focus of many development campaigns, but they are rarely represented as drivers of the discussion. "When people portray us as victims, they don't want to ask us about solutions. Because people don't ask victims for solutions," Sowa told the audience. Of course, experts from Africa and other parts of the developing world are pioneering solutions to a vast range of development challenges on everything from improving maternal health to boosting sustainable crop output. Bringing their perspectives to light should be an integral part of development work, particularly as the international community contemplates the next steps in the global development agenda beyond the 2015 MDGs. Celebrity advocates, government officials and major funders all have ready-made platforms for spreading their views — the power of their brand is often enough to build an audience. But for those without immediate recognition, the task is harder. The Aspen Institute's New Voices Fellowship, launched this year with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, is one attempt to start figuring out an answer by providing both media coaching and contacts for development experts from Africa and, eventually, other parts of the developing world. Development experts, so focused on their endless and crucial work, often neglect this area. Yet finding ways to leverage yours or your colleagues’ public visibility is not as difficult as it sounds. Media training can be expensive, but enormously beneficial. Persistence pays off. And above all, helping people to think like "thought leaders" can bring real results. Our fellows represents a cross-section of the work under way in Africa today, from a Congolese doctor seeking to build a health system in one of the remotest parts of his country to a Ghanaian tech entrepreneur devising new strategies for expanding math and science education in rural communities. Each one is an expert, and each one has a story to tell. Helping them to craft their stories, and find an audience, have been our challenges. The audience, at least initially, has been the easy part. The explosion of online and issue-driven media over the past decade has created a wide range of outlets, many of which are eager to bring new voices to light. Development-focused media such as the Guardian's Global Development section, general interest aggregators such as the Huffington Post, and geographic specialists such as AllAfrica.com and Think Africa Press all represent potential platforms for fresh writing about development issues. Even mainstream outlets such as CNN and Al Jazeera are welcoming new contributors for their opinion sections, while professional community portals such as Business Fights Poverty and the Guardian Global Development Professionals Network can open the door to engaged specialists who care deeply about the challenges ahead. Add to this the increasingly crowded schedule of conferences and meetings ranging from the Clinton Global Initiative and Skoll World Forum to TEDx events held around the world and it's clear that there are a wealth of opportunities to reach important audiences with new stories. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_028645