Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Education in UK: Sure Path to Success
Interview with Dr. Ridwan Zachrie (Delegate/Indonesia, Tokyo Summit 2008) by CampusAsia magazine for their June-August 2010 issue.
Take Kim to Court
by Jared Genser (Delegate/USA, KL Summit 2009)
Sinking the Cheonan was a war crime. There would be several advantages to prosecuting it as such.
This article appeared in The Wall Street Journal on June 3, 2010.
It was a quiet night aboard the South Korean naval warship Cheonan on March 26 as it patrolled the Yellow Sea south of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto boundary dividing North and South Korea. Suddenly a strong underwater explosion, later determined to have been the detonation of a North Korean homing torpedo, split the ship in two. Within five minutes, the ship had sunk, killing 46 of its crew and sparking a new threat of war on the Korean peninsula.
Since then, the international community has been scrambling to defuse tensions, coordinate a response, and understand why North Korean leader Kim Jong Il would launch this unprovoked attack. What has been missing in the assessment of options so far, however, is the prospect that Kim may have exposed himself for the first time to international justice. There is, I believe, a prima facie case for referring the sinking of the Cheonan to the International Criminal Court for investigation and prosecution of those who carried out and ordered the attack.
The crux of the crime itself is straightforward. One of the war crimes that can be prosecuted in the ICC is the crime of "killing . . . treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army." Merely conducting a sneak attack itself is not considered treachery under the laws of war, as surprise is often used in wartime. What was actually "treacherous" is that North Korea signed the 1953 armistice and committed unequivocally to "order and enforce a complete cessation of hostilities."
In this case, North Korea invited the confidence of South Korea that the armistice was in force—despite the occasional minor skirmish here and there over the years—which led the South Korean navy to not be patrolling on high alert. That confidence was intentionally betrayed to sink the vessel and kill its crew. The laws of war make very clear that while an armistice merely suspends active fighting and can indeed be broken, notice must be provided to the other side first.
With regard to jurisdiction, the incident took place in South Korean territorial waters and against a South Korean ship. Either of these facts alone–given that North Korea would dispute the first point—gives the court jurisdiction to hear a complaint because South Korea is a party to the Rome Statute establishing the Court.
All that is required at this point to trigger an investigation would be for a party to the Rome Statute to refer the situation to the prosecutor for investigation. Beyond South Korea, that could include any of more than 100 countries around the world. Alternatively, the Court's creative and relentless prosecutor, Argentine lawyer Luis Moreno Ocampo, could decide to take up the situation on his own.
That said, this would not necessarily be an easy course to follow. Even if the situation is taken up by the prosecutor, to indict anyone responsible for the sinking of the Cheonan would require substantial evidence. While the report on the sinking says the evidence for North Korean culpability is conclusive, the court only prosecutes individuals and not countries. Thus, further intelligence to determine who is actually responsible and following those orders up the chain of command would be required.
Then there's the time factor. All the court's investigations up to now have taken years to complete. And even if one could ultimately procure the evidence to issue an arrest warrant for Kim, it would be highly unlikely that he could be easily apprehended, given his limited travel outside North Korea.
Yet despite all the obstacles, this remains a desirable course to pursue for several reasons. Beginning such an investigation could mark a critical rhetorical turning point in labeling Kim as an international criminal, rather than merely as a dictator. Such a label is past due. While global focus on North Korea in recent years has been primarily on its nuclear weapons program, the daily reality for the people of the country is appalling. Starvation is widespread and the Kim regime maintains a vast gulag system holding some 200,000 political prisoners.
Beyond the sinking of the Cheonan, there is little doubt that Kim is also guilty of committing crimes against humanity against his own people. Any measure that focuses attention on this aspect of his character would be a needed reality check on the tendency to treat him merely as a strong-willed, if unpredictable and cunning, dictator to be negotiated with by the international community.
Kim is ailing and may well die of natural causes in the next few years before facing any sort of justice. But given the profound suffering of the North Korean people and his recent actions against South Korea, triggering an investigation before the International Criminal Court could drive a wedge between Kim and any elements of his government that care about the damage his conduct has caused the country and its people. If this hastens his demise even a little, that can only benefit the North Korean people and the world.
Mr. Genser is an international lawyer in Washington, D.C. who has previously taught at the University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania law schools.
Sinking the Cheonan was a war crime. There would be several advantages to prosecuting it as such.
This article appeared in The Wall Street Journal on June 3, 2010.
It was a quiet night aboard the South Korean naval warship Cheonan on March 26 as it patrolled the Yellow Sea south of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto boundary dividing North and South Korea. Suddenly a strong underwater explosion, later determined to have been the detonation of a North Korean homing torpedo, split the ship in two. Within five minutes, the ship had sunk, killing 46 of its crew and sparking a new threat of war on the Korean peninsula.
Since then, the international community has been scrambling to defuse tensions, coordinate a response, and understand why North Korean leader Kim Jong Il would launch this unprovoked attack. What has been missing in the assessment of options so far, however, is the prospect that Kim may have exposed himself for the first time to international justice. There is, I believe, a prima facie case for referring the sinking of the Cheonan to the International Criminal Court for investigation and prosecution of those who carried out and ordered the attack.
The crux of the crime itself is straightforward. One of the war crimes that can be prosecuted in the ICC is the crime of "killing . . . treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army." Merely conducting a sneak attack itself is not considered treachery under the laws of war, as surprise is often used in wartime. What was actually "treacherous" is that North Korea signed the 1953 armistice and committed unequivocally to "order and enforce a complete cessation of hostilities."
In this case, North Korea invited the confidence of South Korea that the armistice was in force—despite the occasional minor skirmish here and there over the years—which led the South Korean navy to not be patrolling on high alert. That confidence was intentionally betrayed to sink the vessel and kill its crew. The laws of war make very clear that while an armistice merely suspends active fighting and can indeed be broken, notice must be provided to the other side first.
With regard to jurisdiction, the incident took place in South Korean territorial waters and against a South Korean ship. Either of these facts alone–given that North Korea would dispute the first point—gives the court jurisdiction to hear a complaint because South Korea is a party to the Rome Statute establishing the Court.
All that is required at this point to trigger an investigation would be for a party to the Rome Statute to refer the situation to the prosecutor for investigation. Beyond South Korea, that could include any of more than 100 countries around the world. Alternatively, the Court's creative and relentless prosecutor, Argentine lawyer Luis Moreno Ocampo, could decide to take up the situation on his own.
That said, this would not necessarily be an easy course to follow. Even if the situation is taken up by the prosecutor, to indict anyone responsible for the sinking of the Cheonan would require substantial evidence. While the report on the sinking says the evidence for North Korean culpability is conclusive, the court only prosecutes individuals and not countries. Thus, further intelligence to determine who is actually responsible and following those orders up the chain of command would be required.
Then there's the time factor. All the court's investigations up to now have taken years to complete. And even if one could ultimately procure the evidence to issue an arrest warrant for Kim, it would be highly unlikely that he could be easily apprehended, given his limited travel outside North Korea.
Yet despite all the obstacles, this remains a desirable course to pursue for several reasons. Beginning such an investigation could mark a critical rhetorical turning point in labeling Kim as an international criminal, rather than merely as a dictator. Such a label is past due. While global focus on North Korea in recent years has been primarily on its nuclear weapons program, the daily reality for the people of the country is appalling. Starvation is widespread and the Kim regime maintains a vast gulag system holding some 200,000 political prisoners.
Beyond the sinking of the Cheonan, there is little doubt that Kim is also guilty of committing crimes against humanity against his own people. Any measure that focuses attention on this aspect of his character would be a needed reality check on the tendency to treat him merely as a strong-willed, if unpredictable and cunning, dictator to be negotiated with by the international community.
Kim is ailing and may well die of natural causes in the next few years before facing any sort of justice. But given the profound suffering of the North Korean people and his recent actions against South Korea, triggering an investigation before the International Criminal Court could drive a wedge between Kim and any elements of his government that care about the damage his conduct has caused the country and its people. If this hastens his demise even a little, that can only benefit the North Korean people and the world.
Mr. Genser is an international lawyer in Washington, D.C. who has previously taught at the University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania law schools.
Michael Jackson and science
by Aditya Mittal (Delegate/India, Seoul Summit 2006)
In an impassioned obituary, biological scientist Aditya Mittal tells us how the phenomenal singer's music moulded his science and scientific temperament.
I grew up in the city of New Delhi in India in the environs of the North campus of Delhi University. The music of Michael Jackson was a core part of my childhood and an inseparable part of my teenage. So much so, that while earning a diploma in Indian classical music during my teenage years, I could not allow myself to miss owning the latest song or even video release of Michael Jackson. Even with a financially humble background, the value of Michael Jackson's music in solving problems in my mathematics course was recognized by my mother, herself a senior teacher of mathematics. I was the proud owner of every single video cassette of MJ that came to the Indian market.
His music provided the rhythm to my problem solving and played a key role in my merit certificates in the National Mathematics Olympiads. Then MJ came to India in 1996. I was a proud owner of a concert ticket, seated in very close proximity to the stage, to the right of my music God. I still remember losing my voice for four days after the concert because of all the "singing" that I tried to do with him. His one handed hanging act on a ramp that extended right over my head during the performance of the Earth Song still holds the true meaning in my life for 'looking up'. I still have my head band from that concert and the concert ticket laminated with me.
After completing my high school and college, still with MJ as a core part of my life, I went to the US of A for my graduate studies. There I made American friends; my age group, some a little older to me too, but all from a generation for whom MJ had the same value in their life. I remember discussing membrane biophysics, ecology, turtles, mating rituals of bees over rounds of beers and whiskey with these friends while playing pool in different pool halls of Philadelphia.
I also remember several overnight discussions in one of the Irish pubs in the neighborhood on multi-parameter fitting of kinetic data on membrane fusion. I remember MJ's music being an important common ingredient in all those discussions. Here I was with people who had become very close to me, who had grown up in a totally different part of the world than I had, but who shared MJ in their roots as much as I.
Then I went to the NIH for my post-doc. It was in a 'Russian' group. Within a couple of months our group became well known in the 11th floor of building number 10 for having one of the most fun atmospheres in the lab. We used to play MJ on high decibel levels while working on our viruses and fibroblasts. Even HeLa, Jurkat and NIH3T3 fibroblasts seem to respond to the music of MJ. Our annual laboratory retreats, weekend getaways to discuss our science in form of posters on glass windows dropping straight down into a river valley, were heavily fueled by the music of MJ and our attempts with the white glove and the moon walk on the carpeted floors. Again, these were my friends who had grown up in yet another part of the world with MJ in the roots of their upbringing.
Science has a very close relation with music. Music has indeed been an integral part of, at least, my thought process during my science. And for my generation of scientists, the music of MJ has been one of the foundation pillars. Even today the passion invoked by 'Dirty Diana', or the accompanying of failed experiments with 'Stranger in Moscow', or the tears that can be brought out by the 'Earth Song' or just the jamming with 'Beat it', 'Jam', 'Keep it in the closet' – the list can go on, form the core of my identity as a scientist. The music in a way reflects my own relationship with science.
Today, I woke up to hear that MJ's gone. I immediately called my American friends from grad school. They had also been thinking about me while feeling the loss of MJ and, of words. It has been hours since I heard the news; there is an emptiness. However, MJ's music is still with us. He was a phenomenon of nature. And we do not even need to worry about his music mutating for any number of years like we have to worry about HeLa cells. His music will live with us. And it will keep pushing our science.
The author is an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
In an impassioned obituary, biological scientist Aditya Mittal tells us how the phenomenal singer's music moulded his science and scientific temperament.
I grew up in the city of New Delhi in India in the environs of the North campus of Delhi University. The music of Michael Jackson was a core part of my childhood and an inseparable part of my teenage. So much so, that while earning a diploma in Indian classical music during my teenage years, I could not allow myself to miss owning the latest song or even video release of Michael Jackson. Even with a financially humble background, the value of Michael Jackson's music in solving problems in my mathematics course was recognized by my mother, herself a senior teacher of mathematics. I was the proud owner of every single video cassette of MJ that came to the Indian market.
His music provided the rhythm to my problem solving and played a key role in my merit certificates in the National Mathematics Olympiads. Then MJ came to India in 1996. I was a proud owner of a concert ticket, seated in very close proximity to the stage, to the right of my music God. I still remember losing my voice for four days after the concert because of all the "singing" that I tried to do with him. His one handed hanging act on a ramp that extended right over my head during the performance of the Earth Song still holds the true meaning in my life for 'looking up'. I still have my head band from that concert and the concert ticket laminated with me.
After completing my high school and college, still with MJ as a core part of my life, I went to the US of A for my graduate studies. There I made American friends; my age group, some a little older to me too, but all from a generation for whom MJ had the same value in their life. I remember discussing membrane biophysics, ecology, turtles, mating rituals of bees over rounds of beers and whiskey with these friends while playing pool in different pool halls of Philadelphia.
I also remember several overnight discussions in one of the Irish pubs in the neighborhood on multi-parameter fitting of kinetic data on membrane fusion. I remember MJ's music being an important common ingredient in all those discussions. Here I was with people who had become very close to me, who had grown up in a totally different part of the world than I had, but who shared MJ in their roots as much as I.
Then I went to the NIH for my post-doc. It was in a 'Russian' group. Within a couple of months our group became well known in the 11th floor of building number 10 for having one of the most fun atmospheres in the lab. We used to play MJ on high decibel levels while working on our viruses and fibroblasts. Even HeLa, Jurkat and NIH3T3 fibroblasts seem to respond to the music of MJ. Our annual laboratory retreats, weekend getaways to discuss our science in form of posters on glass windows dropping straight down into a river valley, were heavily fueled by the music of MJ and our attempts with the white glove and the moon walk on the carpeted floors. Again, these were my friends who had grown up in yet another part of the world with MJ in the roots of their upbringing.
Science has a very close relation with music. Music has indeed been an integral part of, at least, my thought process during my science. And for my generation of scientists, the music of MJ has been one of the foundation pillars. Even today the passion invoked by 'Dirty Diana', or the accompanying of failed experiments with 'Stranger in Moscow', or the tears that can be brought out by the 'Earth Song' or just the jamming with 'Beat it', 'Jam', 'Keep it in the closet' – the list can go on, form the core of my identity as a scientist. The music in a way reflects my own relationship with science.
Today, I woke up to hear that MJ's gone. I immediately called my American friends from grad school. They had also been thinking about me while feeling the loss of MJ and, of words. It has been hours since I heard the news; there is an emptiness. However, MJ's music is still with us. He was a phenomenon of nature. And we do not even need to worry about his music mutating for any number of years like we have to worry about HeLa cells. His music will live with us. And it will keep pushing our science.
The author is an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
PROJECT SIGNET: Morality marching with capacity
by Jeremy Lim (Delegate/Singapore, Seoul Summit 2006; Singapore Summit 2007)
SIGNET is to the best of my knowledge the first of its kind, a philanthropically funded healthcare leadership and management program to nurture and support healthcare leaders in North India wanting to make a difference. I have been privileged to be involved since its inception and after 4 visits to India and countless meetings and tele-conferences, perhaps it is time to take stock and reflect on some observations.
SIGNET started after a serendipitous meeting between Prof Lazaer Mathew and Dr Joseph Mathew and I in Montreal in June 2008. A spirited discussion on what ails healthcare in developing countries led us to the conclusion that while resources were scarce in developing countries, an equally pressing concern was the often poor utilization of these resources. Decision-making by healthcare leaders and hospital managers was identified as a key weakness that could be ameliorated, and with the generous funding of the Temasek Foundation, SIGNET was born.
SIGNET aims to provide clinicians and managers making healthcare resource decisions with the skills to move from ‘ego to evidence’ as Prof Raj Bahadur, the Director Principal of Government Medical College Hospital Sector 32 and advisor to SIGNET, succinctly puts it. Healthcare resource decisions are often based on superficial understanding of the medical literature, personal biases, professional pride and commercial influences, but they should be based instead on the paradigm of population needs and best practices derived from the scientific literature and contextualized to local circumstances. Our framework is based on asking three simple and yet profound questions: ‘Does it work?’, ‘Does it work here?’ and ‘Is it worth it?’. ‘It’ being any healthcare intervention, be it vaccination, a new drug, a clinic workflow or a community outreach program.
We started with the notion of a typical ‘training of trainers’ format but quickly learnt that this would be insufficient. Our program now starts with a half-day workshop with senior hospital leaders to create awareness of the science of decision-making and evidence-informed management. After garnering support from the leadership, we then begin in-depth learning with middle managers and clinicians about the tools which include health technology assessment, health economics, process improvement and managing innovation. Another lesson we learnt along the way was the need to anchor the learning in specific innovation projects. The rationale was two-fold: firstly to provide a vehicle to put the classroom theory into practice and secondly and more importantly, to enable visibility of the fruits of such innovation to the larger hospital community. I say more importantly because our efforts are not to train a cadre of skilled managers, but to seed changes in mindset and practices of the hospital. In an environment so steeped in conservatism and filled with highly skilled, highly intelligent and opinionated professionals as healthcare is, early successes are vital to encourage the innovators and to win the support of peers.
The workshops include a training stint in Singapore also, and whilst costly, are absolutely integral to the program. Much of the expertise relevant to our innovators is found in Singapore hospitals and the exposure to a totally different environment with different cultural norms and practices has been invaluable in igniting the sparks of creativity.
A third differentiator has been the strong support of our partners Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School (GMS). GMS has played a pivotal role in developing pedagogical expertise and by sharing so freely their expertise and insights in medical education, they have equipped our participants with the necessary wherewithal to impart effectively their new-found skills.
What have I learnt? Firstly, there is a certain ‘universality’ to healthcare and many challenges faced by our brethren in Chandigarh and Delhi are the same ones we struggle with. Secondly, to teach is truly to learn twice and whilst the program is purportedly a capacity building one to benefit India, we Singaporeans have also been much enriched by our experiences in India and we bring these lessons into our stewardship of the Singapore system. Thirdly, “Morality must march with capacity” was James Grant’s rallying call as he led UNICEF through its ambitious vaccination and diarrheal disease programs in the 1980s and for us in Singapore, who have been privileged with probably one of the best healthcare systems in the world, the opportunity to play our part and contribute internationally should be seized.
SIGNET is an acronym for Singapore India Group Network for Empowerment Training and focuses on building healthcare leadership in North Indian hospitals including Post Graduate Institute for Medical Education and Research (PGI), Government Medical College Hospital Sector 32, Chandigarh and Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI) hospitals such as Holy Family, Delhi. It comprises the following components:
1. Awareness creation workshop for hospital leaders
2. Healthcare Managers’ Leadership Program (In India and Singapore)
3. 1 year long facilitated innovation project
4. Training of peers in evidence-informed healthcare decision-making
Jeremy Lim, Project Director (Singapore) for SIGNET, is Senior Consultant in the Ministry of Health, Singapore while on secondment from Singapore Health Services.
SIGNET is to the best of my knowledge the first of its kind, a philanthropically funded healthcare leadership and management program to nurture and support healthcare leaders in North India wanting to make a difference. I have been privileged to be involved since its inception and after 4 visits to India and countless meetings and tele-conferences, perhaps it is time to take stock and reflect on some observations.
SIGNET started after a serendipitous meeting between Prof Lazaer Mathew and Dr Joseph Mathew and I in Montreal in June 2008. A spirited discussion on what ails healthcare in developing countries led us to the conclusion that while resources were scarce in developing countries, an equally pressing concern was the often poor utilization of these resources. Decision-making by healthcare leaders and hospital managers was identified as a key weakness that could be ameliorated, and with the generous funding of the Temasek Foundation, SIGNET was born.
SIGNET aims to provide clinicians and managers making healthcare resource decisions with the skills to move from ‘ego to evidence’ as Prof Raj Bahadur, the Director Principal of Government Medical College Hospital Sector 32 and advisor to SIGNET, succinctly puts it. Healthcare resource decisions are often based on superficial understanding of the medical literature, personal biases, professional pride and commercial influences, but they should be based instead on the paradigm of population needs and best practices derived from the scientific literature and contextualized to local circumstances. Our framework is based on asking three simple and yet profound questions: ‘Does it work?’, ‘Does it work here?’ and ‘Is it worth it?’. ‘It’ being any healthcare intervention, be it vaccination, a new drug, a clinic workflow or a community outreach program.
We started with the notion of a typical ‘training of trainers’ format but quickly learnt that this would be insufficient. Our program now starts with a half-day workshop with senior hospital leaders to create awareness of the science of decision-making and evidence-informed management. After garnering support from the leadership, we then begin in-depth learning with middle managers and clinicians about the tools which include health technology assessment, health economics, process improvement and managing innovation. Another lesson we learnt along the way was the need to anchor the learning in specific innovation projects. The rationale was two-fold: firstly to provide a vehicle to put the classroom theory into practice and secondly and more importantly, to enable visibility of the fruits of such innovation to the larger hospital community. I say more importantly because our efforts are not to train a cadre of skilled managers, but to seed changes in mindset and practices of the hospital. In an environment so steeped in conservatism and filled with highly skilled, highly intelligent and opinionated professionals as healthcare is, early successes are vital to encourage the innovators and to win the support of peers.
The workshops include a training stint in Singapore also, and whilst costly, are absolutely integral to the program. Much of the expertise relevant to our innovators is found in Singapore hospitals and the exposure to a totally different environment with different cultural norms and practices has been invaluable in igniting the sparks of creativity.
A third differentiator has been the strong support of our partners Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School (GMS). GMS has played a pivotal role in developing pedagogical expertise and by sharing so freely their expertise and insights in medical education, they have equipped our participants with the necessary wherewithal to impart effectively their new-found skills.
What have I learnt? Firstly, there is a certain ‘universality’ to healthcare and many challenges faced by our brethren in Chandigarh and Delhi are the same ones we struggle with. Secondly, to teach is truly to learn twice and whilst the program is purportedly a capacity building one to benefit India, we Singaporeans have also been much enriched by our experiences in India and we bring these lessons into our stewardship of the Singapore system. Thirdly, “Morality must march with capacity” was James Grant’s rallying call as he led UNICEF through its ambitious vaccination and diarrheal disease programs in the 1980s and for us in Singapore, who have been privileged with probably one of the best healthcare systems in the world, the opportunity to play our part and contribute internationally should be seized.
SIGNET is an acronym for Singapore India Group Network for Empowerment Training and focuses on building healthcare leadership in North Indian hospitals including Post Graduate Institute for Medical Education and Research (PGI), Government Medical College Hospital Sector 32, Chandigarh and Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI) hospitals such as Holy Family, Delhi. It comprises the following components:
1. Awareness creation workshop for hospital leaders
2. Healthcare Managers’ Leadership Program (In India and Singapore)
3. 1 year long facilitated innovation project
4. Training of peers in evidence-informed healthcare decision-making
Jeremy Lim, Project Director (Singapore) for SIGNET, is Senior Consultant in the Ministry of Health, Singapore while on secondment from Singapore Health Services.
Friday, April 30, 2010
FXB Center Initiative: South – South Conference on Children in Post-earthquake Haiti
Satchit Balsari (Fellow/India, Class of 2010) writes to request members of the network for input on a project he's currently working on with Harvard's FXB Center for Health and Human Rights and UNICEF.
The earthquake in Haiti has left the country in a dire situation from which it will undoubtedly require years to recover and rebuild. Reports estimate 250,000 people dead, 300,000 injured and 1,000,000 homeless. In relation to Haiti’s children, tens of thousands have experienced heightened levels of insecurity including separation and loss, abuse and exploitation, interruptions in education, food insecurity, and profound levels of psychosocial distress. Moreover, the damage the earthquake left behind to both buildings and infrastructure presents the Haitian Government with a formidable challenge to address.
Haiti’s leaders are of the view that the post-earthquake experiences of other countries would be helpful in informing the planning and strategy of Haiti’s rebuilding and reconstruction. Linked by commonalities in the challenges they face, countries from the “global south” can share their learned experience to help build upon previous successes and avoid previous mistakes. Policymakers and stakeholders from other earthquake affected areas have important stories to share and lessons to convey, so that the “building back better” of Haiti could be undertaken in the context of what has worked best elsewhere.
To support the re-building efforts of the Haitian authorities and to promote the potential of shared knowledge from other countries, the FXB Center plans to facilitate a three day, South-South Conference that could enable translation of the best practices in post-disaster recovery from the “Global South,” with a specific focus on responses to the needs of children. The Conference will address those issues that Haitians identify as the most central and problematic in their reconstruction. The participants will be from countries that have experienced a significant earthquake in the last 10 years, including possible representation from Pakistan, Algeria, China, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Indonesia, as well as Chile. Invitees will be selected by a conference steering committee of Haitian officials, UNICEF and FXB leadership. International organizations, such as WHO and PAHO, will also be invited. The conference would take place in June or July of 2010 at a location still to be determined.
The conference will aim to have immediate and practical application. Its focus on best practices will highlight the efforts that have been working in Haiti, as well as identify additional strategies that might help meet complex ongoing challenges. The conference will serve as the launch of a longer-term action undertaken by the Haitian authorities in collaboration with the UN and non governmental stakeholders to create an agenda for mapping need and measuring the interventions that are taking place.
In terms of addressing the needs of children post-disaster, conference participants will explore the vital components in protecting children, which necessarily include human security issues facing their families and communities. The conference will discuss different approaches and models to be used in ensuring protection, shelter, and care for orphans and vulnerable children. Participants will also investigate how livelihood protection and sustainability, women’s access to personal and financial security and access to land have fitted in with child protection programs in other earthquake settings. The conference will also examine best practices in dealing with child rights, legal identity, registration and tracing.
The earthquake in Haiti has left the country in a dire situation from which it will undoubtedly require years to recover and rebuild. Reports estimate 250,000 people dead, 300,000 injured and 1,000,000 homeless. In relation to Haiti’s children, tens of thousands have experienced heightened levels of insecurity including separation and loss, abuse and exploitation, interruptions in education, food insecurity, and profound levels of psychosocial distress. Moreover, the damage the earthquake left behind to both buildings and infrastructure presents the Haitian Government with a formidable challenge to address.
Haiti’s leaders are of the view that the post-earthquake experiences of other countries would be helpful in informing the planning and strategy of Haiti’s rebuilding and reconstruction. Linked by commonalities in the challenges they face, countries from the “global south” can share their learned experience to help build upon previous successes and avoid previous mistakes. Policymakers and stakeholders from other earthquake affected areas have important stories to share and lessons to convey, so that the “building back better” of Haiti could be undertaken in the context of what has worked best elsewhere.
To support the re-building efforts of the Haitian authorities and to promote the potential of shared knowledge from other countries, the FXB Center plans to facilitate a three day, South-South Conference that could enable translation of the best practices in post-disaster recovery from the “Global South,” with a specific focus on responses to the needs of children. The Conference will address those issues that Haitians identify as the most central and problematic in their reconstruction. The participants will be from countries that have experienced a significant earthquake in the last 10 years, including possible representation from Pakistan, Algeria, China, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Indonesia, as well as Chile. Invitees will be selected by a conference steering committee of Haitian officials, UNICEF and FXB leadership. International organizations, such as WHO and PAHO, will also be invited. The conference would take place in June or July of 2010 at a location still to be determined.
The conference will aim to have immediate and practical application. Its focus on best practices will highlight the efforts that have been working in Haiti, as well as identify additional strategies that might help meet complex ongoing challenges. The conference will serve as the launch of a longer-term action undertaken by the Haitian authorities in collaboration with the UN and non governmental stakeholders to create an agenda for mapping need and measuring the interventions that are taking place.
In terms of addressing the needs of children post-disaster, conference participants will explore the vital components in protecting children, which necessarily include human security issues facing their families and communities. The conference will discuss different approaches and models to be used in ensuring protection, shelter, and care for orphans and vulnerable children. Participants will also investigate how livelihood protection and sustainability, women’s access to personal and financial security and access to land have fitted in with child protection programs in other earthquake settings. The conference will also examine best practices in dealing with child rights, legal identity, registration and tracing.
The Greening of the Food Service Industry
Pat Gallardo (Fellow/Philippines, Class of 2008) was featured in the Inspiration Profile section of F&B World's March-April 2010 issue.
Friday, March 5, 2010
One small step for Kennedy, one giant leap for Obama
by Thom Woodroofe (Delegate/Australia, KL Summit 2009
As a boy I wrote a detailed seven-page letter to President Clinton outlining why he should send a child into space. Coincidentally I suggested the child should be me.
Today, it is a dream that not even in my most fanciful of moments can I still consider a reality.
Last month, Barack Obama unveiled his new budget which abruptly cut NASA’s ambitious Constellation program.
It was an endeavor that would have seen us return to the moon before the decade was out and then set our sights on Mars.
Now, with that single stroke of the pen, he has destroyed whatever speck of moon dust there was of my grandest dream ever becoming a reality. Alabama Senator Richard Shelby rightly observed it was the “death march for the future of US human spaceflight.”
Announced by the Bush Administration in the wake of the 2003 Columbia disaster, the Constellation program was a healthy injection of Obama’s favorite home remedy at a time it was most needed: hope.
But now the magic and romance of grand idealism in the politics of space travel is well and truly dead.
It is hard to imagine President Obama channeling the Camelot era of Kennedy and committing the nation to an unquantifiable and almost unimaginable goal by the end of the decade on any issue. Or perhaps even more importantly, rallying the nation across the aisle towards it.
In these days of stark and bitter partisanship coupled with a vicious media cycle of shock jocks and pundits it would be one of the most dangerous political moves in history. Health care is the closest he has come to such idealism, but it has been so diluted by the political process you would hardly call it visionary stuff. Or to use an appropriate pun: the right stuff.
By most estimates, the cost of launching a manned mission to Mars would total around US $40 billion. Not much really when you think of the size of the bank bailouts and stimulus packages steamrolled across the developed world in the last eighteen months.
Imagine if simply a small part of the Obama stimulus package was used to invest in the vision of a manned mission to Mars, or building a base on the moon. An investment of that size in a sector so diverse that every Congressional district is linked to launching the shuttle in some way would have been phenomenal.
The perplexing reality is that on two of the most traditionally liberal stalwarts of policy: spaceflight and foreign aid, President Bush has actually beaten President Obama thus far.
There is little doubt the Apollo space program cost more than could be afforded at the time. At its peak, NASA’s direct funding alone totaled 5% of the federal budget. This was against the backdrop of a country gripped in the bipolar struggle of a Cold War with the USSR and struggling economically to sustain a rising insurgency war in Vietnam.
But Apollo was more than just a goal.
The prospect of landing on the moon raised people’s spirits. Bank bailouts or some dodgy home insulation in the Australian example have hardly done that.
The benefits were much wider too.
Advances in medicine, technology and energy efficiency have saved lives and increased our overall quality of life. If it wasn’t for Apollo, we may well not have yet developed lasers sufficiently to conduct heart and eye surgery, and solar systems might too be a thing of the future.
With India, Japan and China each successfully conducting manned space missions in the last decade, now is the time for the US to be bolstering rather than booting the sector to the ground. At times it seems like the best thing for the US space industry might just be China’s power becoming a rival to the US. Either that or the effects of climate change accelerating rapidly or the discovery of intelligent life somewhere in the universe.
Sometimes I still catch myself looking up there at the moon and wondering when we will be going back, and who that will be. My astronaut-idol Jim Lovell once proclaimed: “Imagine if Christopher Columbus had returned from the New World and nobody returned in his footsteps?”
Under President Obama it seems like one giant leap away.
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/one-small-step-for-kennedy-one-giant-leap-for-obama/#comments
Thom Woodroofe, 20, is the 2009 Young Victorian of the Year and founder of Left Right Think-Tank. He is currently living and studying in the USA overcoming his lifelong desire to become an astronaut.
As a boy I wrote a detailed seven-page letter to President Clinton outlining why he should send a child into space. Coincidentally I suggested the child should be me.
Today, it is a dream that not even in my most fanciful of moments can I still consider a reality.
Last month, Barack Obama unveiled his new budget which abruptly cut NASA’s ambitious Constellation program.
It was an endeavor that would have seen us return to the moon before the decade was out and then set our sights on Mars.
Now, with that single stroke of the pen, he has destroyed whatever speck of moon dust there was of my grandest dream ever becoming a reality. Alabama Senator Richard Shelby rightly observed it was the “death march for the future of US human spaceflight.”
Announced by the Bush Administration in the wake of the 2003 Columbia disaster, the Constellation program was a healthy injection of Obama’s favorite home remedy at a time it was most needed: hope.
But now the magic and romance of grand idealism in the politics of space travel is well and truly dead.
It is hard to imagine President Obama channeling the Camelot era of Kennedy and committing the nation to an unquantifiable and almost unimaginable goal by the end of the decade on any issue. Or perhaps even more importantly, rallying the nation across the aisle towards it.
In these days of stark and bitter partisanship coupled with a vicious media cycle of shock jocks and pundits it would be one of the most dangerous political moves in history. Health care is the closest he has come to such idealism, but it has been so diluted by the political process you would hardly call it visionary stuff. Or to use an appropriate pun: the right stuff.
By most estimates, the cost of launching a manned mission to Mars would total around US $40 billion. Not much really when you think of the size of the bank bailouts and stimulus packages steamrolled across the developed world in the last eighteen months.
Imagine if simply a small part of the Obama stimulus package was used to invest in the vision of a manned mission to Mars, or building a base on the moon. An investment of that size in a sector so diverse that every Congressional district is linked to launching the shuttle in some way would have been phenomenal.
The perplexing reality is that on two of the most traditionally liberal stalwarts of policy: spaceflight and foreign aid, President Bush has actually beaten President Obama thus far.
There is little doubt the Apollo space program cost more than could be afforded at the time. At its peak, NASA’s direct funding alone totaled 5% of the federal budget. This was against the backdrop of a country gripped in the bipolar struggle of a Cold War with the USSR and struggling economically to sustain a rising insurgency war in Vietnam.
But Apollo was more than just a goal.
The prospect of landing on the moon raised people’s spirits. Bank bailouts or some dodgy home insulation in the Australian example have hardly done that.
The benefits were much wider too.
Advances in medicine, technology and energy efficiency have saved lives and increased our overall quality of life. If it wasn’t for Apollo, we may well not have yet developed lasers sufficiently to conduct heart and eye surgery, and solar systems might too be a thing of the future.
With India, Japan and China each successfully conducting manned space missions in the last decade, now is the time for the US to be bolstering rather than booting the sector to the ground. At times it seems like the best thing for the US space industry might just be China’s power becoming a rival to the US. Either that or the effects of climate change accelerating rapidly or the discovery of intelligent life somewhere in the universe.
Sometimes I still catch myself looking up there at the moon and wondering when we will be going back, and who that will be. My astronaut-idol Jim Lovell once proclaimed: “Imagine if Christopher Columbus had returned from the New World and nobody returned in his footsteps?”
Under President Obama it seems like one giant leap away.
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/one-small-step-for-kennedy-one-giant-leap-for-obama/#comments
Thom Woodroofe, 20, is the 2009 Young Victorian of the Year and founder of Left Right Think-Tank. He is currently living and studying in the USA overcoming his lifelong desire to become an astronaut.
Earth Hour 2010
On the 27th of March 2010 at 8:30 PM, cities and towns across the world will turn off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour – sending a powerful global message that it’s time to take action on global warming.
For the past two years Earth Hour has brought together about one billion people around the globe, in more than 1000 cities from businesses, governments, and communities sending a message to world leaders in the lead-up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen. We needed to commit to reducing green house gas emissions to prevent catastrophic climate change impacts especially on the most vulnerable communities and to ensure the survival of our planet.
The United Nations Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009 was a historical gathering that brought together world leaders, to tackle the most challenging crisis of our time. We needed a deal, we needed commitments, and we needed the political will to be able to initiate action against climate change. However the outcome of Copenhagen was unable to fulfill the objectives of keeping global warming below the widely agreed 2º C high-risk level.
This year Earth Hour is even more important and significant. This year, Earth Hour 2010 will empower individuals to commit to the challenge of finding the courage to solve the climate change crisis. It will continue to send a strong message to our world leaders for change by calling upon individuals, communities, and governments to turn out their lights for an extra hour.
In what we hope will be the world’s largest mass participation event, Earth Hour 2010 will be the culmination of over one billion people around the globe, in more than 6000 cities, towns and municipalities from business, government and the community turning off lights for one hour on one night. Earth Hour 2010 aims to send a message to world leaders that we, the citizens of the planet, demand commitment to actions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the benefit of the planet. 2010 is the ultimate year for humanity to address the problem.
Last March 2009, the Philippines ranked first amongst all nations who participated in Earth Hour 2009. From Luzon, Visayas to Mindanao, 647 local government units and communities switched off their lights, and iconic buildings and landmarks went dark. This year WWF is aiming for the support of at least 15 million Filipinos nationwide. In the midst of the darkness, the Philippines will shine again.
Earth Hour is a message of hope and action. Imagine what we can do if we act together.
Join us on March 27 at 8:30pm for Earth Hour 2010.
For more information, visit www.earthhour.org. You may also sign up at http://greenarmynetwork.net/earthhour2010.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
THE CHANGE AGENT
(Feature article on Vivian Liu, Delegate/Singapore, KL Summit 2009, in the December 2009 issue of Her World)
QIFANG: STUDENT LOANS MAKE FAMILY ABOUT LOVE, NOT FINANCIAL SECURITY
by Timothy Chen (Delegate/US, Singapore Summit 2007)
The Chinese are known to take a long view on everything. Story has it that in the 1970s, when Zhou Enlai was asked by Henry Kissinger what he thought about the French Revolution, Zhou responded, "It's too early to tell." Likewise, traditionally most Chinese parents would gladly give everything they have to their children-to invest in the next generation-with the expectation that 40 or 50 years down the road, those children would "repay" the parents by taking care of them in their old age.
In a China steeped in Confucian mores with less in-country migration and deep ties to family and home communities, this was an investment that parents could count on. Parents could also spread their risk by having several children with the hopes that at least one would be there to provide for them in the future. Previous generations had done the same.
But in today's China, with a migratory workforce, looser connections to traditions and most families with only one child, seniors must either trust in the country's limited social safety net, or live with the uncertainty that investments in their children will pay the types of returns that will allow them to retire with financial security.
And what if your family's financial means are limited and you don't have the family savings to invest in your child now when they are pursuing their education? There is a small window of time during which you must have the money to pay to keep your child in school. Some majors at universities in the East might cost as much as four times the annual salary of a worker in a poorer, Western province. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, most Chinese families already spend more money on education than on anything except food. And other expensive items, like computers, have become educational necessities.
For many, government support has been the principal option. Government support for tertiary education is growing, but focuses on those who can demonstrate the greatest need. What's left is a tremendous gap between those for whom school fees are not a problem, and those who receive public sector support. Families in the gap have tried to find informal means to borrow for school, from friends or extended family, or their children had to drop out.
This is where formalized borrowing and a robust set of options for education finance can relieve a tremendous burden from so many Chinese middle and lower income families. With the expansion of education finance, educational decisions about where to go to school and how long to stay in school can be removed from the realities of financial resources. Young people with potential can use their talent as collateral to make sure they stay in school and realize that potential.
Shanghai-based Qifang is facilitating this development. Qifang is an online service for Chinese students to find a way to pay for their education by connecting them with individuals, companies and organizations that can support their educational dreams. Working like an eBay auction, sponsors can bid and compete to help, and lenders can offer internships and job opportunities as well as provide funding to pay bills. Qifang manages the transaction and repayment and is a communication tool for borrowers, lenders and peers. This has helped students learn about related topics like financial literacy too. With nearly 2500 loans on the site, Qifang's model is gaining early traction. In 2008, the World Economic Forum recognized Qifang as a Technology Pioneer for its innovative model and positive social impact.
Importantly, with models like Qifang, parents can still support their children's education according to tradition-helping with any money they can-but there is a subtle but important shift in responsibility to the child. It's their name on the loan and their credit at risk. It's this credit that the child will need to be in good standing to later borrow for a house, a car or to start their own business. And parents can still also depend on their children's improved career prospects to provide for their retirement and golden years, but they can also use some of the money that would have gone entirely to pay for education today to invest for retirement, buy insurance products or otherwise build up their own nest eggs.
Ideally then, family members become somewhat more financially self-reliant, but remain there for each other in times of need and emergencies. Family relationships are freer to become more about emotional and spiritual fulfillment and less about economic necessity.
The Chinese are known to take a long view on everything. Story has it that in the 1970s, when Zhou Enlai was asked by Henry Kissinger what he thought about the French Revolution, Zhou responded, "It's too early to tell." Likewise, traditionally most Chinese parents would gladly give everything they have to their children-to invest in the next generation-with the expectation that 40 or 50 years down the road, those children would "repay" the parents by taking care of them in their old age.
In a China steeped in Confucian mores with less in-country migration and deep ties to family and home communities, this was an investment that parents could count on. Parents could also spread their risk by having several children with the hopes that at least one would be there to provide for them in the future. Previous generations had done the same.
But in today's China, with a migratory workforce, looser connections to traditions and most families with only one child, seniors must either trust in the country's limited social safety net, or live with the uncertainty that investments in their children will pay the types of returns that will allow them to retire with financial security.
And what if your family's financial means are limited and you don't have the family savings to invest in your child now when they are pursuing their education? There is a small window of time during which you must have the money to pay to keep your child in school. Some majors at universities in the East might cost as much as four times the annual salary of a worker in a poorer, Western province. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, most Chinese families already spend more money on education than on anything except food. And other expensive items, like computers, have become educational necessities.
For many, government support has been the principal option. Government support for tertiary education is growing, but focuses on those who can demonstrate the greatest need. What's left is a tremendous gap between those for whom school fees are not a problem, and those who receive public sector support. Families in the gap have tried to find informal means to borrow for school, from friends or extended family, or their children had to drop out.
This is where formalized borrowing and a robust set of options for education finance can relieve a tremendous burden from so many Chinese middle and lower income families. With the expansion of education finance, educational decisions about where to go to school and how long to stay in school can be removed from the realities of financial resources. Young people with potential can use their talent as collateral to make sure they stay in school and realize that potential.
Shanghai-based Qifang is facilitating this development. Qifang is an online service for Chinese students to find a way to pay for their education by connecting them with individuals, companies and organizations that can support their educational dreams. Working like an eBay auction, sponsors can bid and compete to help, and lenders can offer internships and job opportunities as well as provide funding to pay bills. Qifang manages the transaction and repayment and is a communication tool for borrowers, lenders and peers. This has helped students learn about related topics like financial literacy too. With nearly 2500 loans on the site, Qifang's model is gaining early traction. In 2008, the World Economic Forum recognized Qifang as a Technology Pioneer for its innovative model and positive social impact.
Importantly, with models like Qifang, parents can still support their children's education according to tradition-helping with any money they can-but there is a subtle but important shift in responsibility to the child. It's their name on the loan and their credit at risk. It's this credit that the child will need to be in good standing to later borrow for a house, a car or to start their own business. And parents can still also depend on their children's improved career prospects to provide for their retirement and golden years, but they can also use some of the money that would have gone entirely to pay for education today to invest for retirement, buy insurance products or otherwise build up their own nest eggs.
Ideally then, family members become somewhat more financially self-reliant, but remain there for each other in times of need and emergencies. Family relationships are freer to become more about emotional and spiritual fulfillment and less about economic necessity.
HERITAGE AS A CATALYST FOR PROGRESS
by Ivan Anthony Henares (Delegate/Philippines, Tokyo Summit 2008)
A strong national identity can become a potent force to push a nation to become great. Unfortunately, the Philippines has yet to solidify its own identity as one nation. There is thus a need to strengthen pride of place and nationalism, especially among young people, in order to harness that cultural identity and unite the country to be able to move forward as a nation.
Built heritage is a potent symbol for national identity. The Heritage Conservation Society is the prime mover and advocate for the preservation of Philippine built heritage resources. We do this "in order to contribute towards the establishment of a Society that preserves and values its cultural heritage through advocacy and volunteerism, project implementation, education and information." Our vision is "a Filipino society that values and preserves its cultural heritage in order to instill pride of place and strengthen Philippine national identity."
Heritage is an asset people do not realize they have until it's finally gone. When it's gone, you can't bring it back. It's sad when people realize how heritage could have raised the quality of life in a community. And when they finally understand it, they try to recreate it, but cannot.
Part of our mission is to make heritage relevant to Filipinos today. And part of heritage conservation is making heritage economically viable if you want it to survive. The term there is adaptive reuse. We use heritage buildings by carefully altering the interiors to suit modern needs. Most of the important tourist districts in the world have revolved around heritage.
Sad to say, many businessmen in the Philippines are so short-sighted, they consider old buildings as useless, tear them down, and build hideous structures to replace them. If packaged in the right way, people will flock to heritage areas like Binondo, Sta. Cruz and Quiapo in the Old Manila district and that will increase business. Dr. Trevor Hogan, an Australian sociologist said, "If Quiapo were in Melbourne, the rich and famous would be scrambling to live in it."
Our neighbors have fine examples of adaptive reuse, districts with preserved exteriors and chic interiors, such as Boat Quay and Clarke Quay in Singapore, San Ma Lo and Plaza Senado in Macau, and the Bund in Shanghai. They have been transformed into trendy attractions.
As we continuously destroy every trace of our past, we are diminishing our pride as a Filipino race. There will be no visible symbols that we can use to bring us forward as one people. And many poor communities in countries around the world have turned their situation around because of heritage and cultural tourism. You can check out the Hue Declaration on Cultural Tourism and Poverty Alleviation to guide everyone on how heritage has become a tool for poverty alleviation.
I look forward to a Philippines with a strong sense of nationalism and cultural identity. It is my hope that Filipinos, especially the current generation of the youth, will value our rich cultural heritage and be proud of everything that is Filipino. Preserving our culture and heritage is the duty of every Filipino. Once that love for country and everything that is Filipino is instilled in every citizen, it will create a realization of our moral obligation for civic participation and volunteerism that would address all these pressing concerns that transcend sectors.
For more information on the Heritage Conservation Society, click here. You may also visit Ivan's travel blog, Ivan About Town.
Ivan, a staunch advocate of cultural heritage, is a Trustee of the Heritage Conservation Society and member of the International Cultural Tourism Committee (ICTC) of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). His blog was adjudged Best Travel Blog at the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards.
A strong national identity can become a potent force to push a nation to become great. Unfortunately, the Philippines has yet to solidify its own identity as one nation. There is thus a need to strengthen pride of place and nationalism, especially among young people, in order to harness that cultural identity and unite the country to be able to move forward as a nation.
Built heritage is a potent symbol for national identity. The Heritage Conservation Society is the prime mover and advocate for the preservation of Philippine built heritage resources. We do this "in order to contribute towards the establishment of a Society that preserves and values its cultural heritage through advocacy and volunteerism, project implementation, education and information." Our vision is "a Filipino society that values and preserves its cultural heritage in order to instill pride of place and strengthen Philippine national identity."
Heritage is an asset people do not realize they have until it's finally gone. When it's gone, you can't bring it back. It's sad when people realize how heritage could have raised the quality of life in a community. And when they finally understand it, they try to recreate it, but cannot.
Part of our mission is to make heritage relevant to Filipinos today. And part of heritage conservation is making heritage economically viable if you want it to survive. The term there is adaptive reuse. We use heritage buildings by carefully altering the interiors to suit modern needs. Most of the important tourist districts in the world have revolved around heritage.
Sad to say, many businessmen in the Philippines are so short-sighted, they consider old buildings as useless, tear them down, and build hideous structures to replace them. If packaged in the right way, people will flock to heritage areas like Binondo, Sta. Cruz and Quiapo in the Old Manila district and that will increase business. Dr. Trevor Hogan, an Australian sociologist said, "If Quiapo were in Melbourne, the rich and famous would be scrambling to live in it."
Our neighbors have fine examples of adaptive reuse, districts with preserved exteriors and chic interiors, such as Boat Quay and Clarke Quay in Singapore, San Ma Lo and Plaza Senado in Macau, and the Bund in Shanghai. They have been transformed into trendy attractions.
As we continuously destroy every trace of our past, we are diminishing our pride as a Filipino race. There will be no visible symbols that we can use to bring us forward as one people. And many poor communities in countries around the world have turned their situation around because of heritage and cultural tourism. You can check out the Hue Declaration on Cultural Tourism and Poverty Alleviation to guide everyone on how heritage has become a tool for poverty alleviation.
I look forward to a Philippines with a strong sense of nationalism and cultural identity. It is my hope that Filipinos, especially the current generation of the youth, will value our rich cultural heritage and be proud of everything that is Filipino. Preserving our culture and heritage is the duty of every Filipino. Once that love for country and everything that is Filipino is instilled in every citizen, it will create a realization of our moral obligation for civic participation and volunteerism that would address all these pressing concerns that transcend sectors.
For more information on the Heritage Conservation Society, click here. You may also visit Ivan's travel blog, Ivan About Town.
Ivan, a staunch advocate of cultural heritage, is a Trustee of the Heritage Conservation Society and member of the International Cultural Tourism Committee (ICTC) of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). His blog was adjudged Best Travel Blog at the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards.
BUILDING A BETTER WORLD THROUGH SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION
by Penny Low (Delegate/Singapore, Seoul Summit 2006)
Social Innovation Park Ltd (SIP) was founded in 2006 with a vision to build a more inclusive, sustainable, and better world through Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation. SIP is an impartial, not-for-profit organisation that aims to Educate, Empower, and Enhance (3Es) social entrepreneurs to bring positive innovations to lives and societies. This year, SIP will celebrate its fourth anniversary and the many achievements that have brought us many steps closer to realising our dream.
One of our programs, the Global Social Innovators Forum (GSIF), brings together a highly trusted community of influential minds from the public, private and people sectors and provide opportunities for them to collaborate and embrace innovations that will define business, government and society, thereby building a more inclusive, sustainable and better world. The theme for GSIF 2009 was Collaborative Innovations: Investing in Team Earth & an Inclusive World . For three days, more than 530 delegates and speakers from about 30 countries took part in building a community of change leaders who are embracing social innovation to do good and do well. We started the forum asking ourselves how to design a better future, one with economic profits, social dividends, political successes and harmony, and environmental sustainability. Throughout the three days, we deliberated on the challenges we face, but more importantly focused on the social innovations that can lead us to our better future.
At the GSIF Gala Dinner, SIP announces the recipients of its SIP Distinguished Fellow and Fellow Awards, which was started in 2008 and honors leaders in Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation worldwide. Among the inaugural Fellows recognized was Veronica Colondam (Fellow/Indonesia, Class of 2007), Founder of Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa (YCAB). This year honorees included Asia 21 alumni Melissa Kwee (Delegate/Singapore, Singapore Summit 2007), Chairperson of Halogen Foundation, Singapore, and Calvin Chin (Delegate/USA, KL Summit 2009), Co-Dounder and CEO of Qifang, China.
Another project, called the Pop and Talent Hub (PaTH) Initiative, is Singapore's first Social Enterprise Development Platform, championing social entrepreneurship via the arts by developing artists from traditionally marginalised groups including the hearing- and visually-impaired, chronically depressed, stay-at-home mothers, youths-at-risk, among others. In 2008, we collaborated with Network for Electronic Transfers Pte Ltd (NETS) to launch six limited edition CashCards featuring artwork by PaTH talents. Through the partnership, 150,000 cards were printed and six less-advantaged but equally-abled artists gained confidence and dignity from seeing their artwork published and in the hands of thousands of Singaporeans.
As we enter our fourth year of driving the social entrepreneurship movement in the region, we've been fortunate to receive the partnership and support of many global movers and shakers- leaders and innovators including his Excellency President S R Nathan of Singapore; Peng Tsin Ong, technopreneur and founder of Match.com; and Global Investor Jim Rogers. Many SIP supporters have also given their time to educate on social entrepreneurship and innovation through our "Giant in Conversation" and "Chatterbox" speaking series. Our "Giants" have included Rory Stear, founder of Freeplay Enterprise and Fondations; Mel Young, social entrepreneur and founder of the Homeless World Cup; Young Global Leader Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera Software; and Stephan Chambers, Chairman of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Director of the MBA and EMBA degress at Oxford Saïd Business School. Stephan Chambers joined us in Singapore last year for the launch of a Skoll-Oxford-SIP partnership through which SIP and the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship will host an annual exchange of lectures, forums, and other events to grow the social entrepreneurship movement. SIP is also spreading its seeds overseas, having formed SIP Chapters in the USA (Yale University), China (Fudan University), Japan, Indonesia, and Kashmir as well as maintained our local student chapters at the Singapore Institute of Management and Nanyang Polytechnic. Projects range from student forums at our university chapters to SIP Water Clubs, formed in Kashmir to teach water conservation and solutions to water problems faced by locals. SIP looks forward to continuing to grow our organisation in 2010 and educating, empowering, and enhancing social entrepreneurs to bring positive innovations to lives and societies worldwide.
To find out more about SIP and its initiatives, please visit www.socialinnovationpark.org or email info@socialinnovationpark.org.
Penny, President and Founder of Social Innovation Park Ltd, is one of the 34 founding members of the New Asian Leaders by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum. She has also been honored as one of the 237 (out of 8,000 worldwide) founding members of the prestigious The Forum of Global Young Leaders (YGL). She was the youngest elected female Member of Parliament in Singapore, representing the Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency in 2001.
Social Innovation Park Ltd (SIP) was founded in 2006 with a vision to build a more inclusive, sustainable, and better world through Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation. SIP is an impartial, not-for-profit organisation that aims to Educate, Empower, and Enhance (3Es) social entrepreneurs to bring positive innovations to lives and societies. This year, SIP will celebrate its fourth anniversary and the many achievements that have brought us many steps closer to realising our dream.
One of our programs, the Global Social Innovators Forum (GSIF), brings together a highly trusted community of influential minds from the public, private and people sectors and provide opportunities for them to collaborate and embrace innovations that will define business, government and society, thereby building a more inclusive, sustainable and better world. The theme for GSIF 2009 was Collaborative Innovations: Investing in Team Earth & an Inclusive World . For three days, more than 530 delegates and speakers from about 30 countries took part in building a community of change leaders who are embracing social innovation to do good and do well. We started the forum asking ourselves how to design a better future, one with economic profits, social dividends, political successes and harmony, and environmental sustainability. Throughout the three days, we deliberated on the challenges we face, but more importantly focused on the social innovations that can lead us to our better future.
At the GSIF Gala Dinner, SIP announces the recipients of its SIP Distinguished Fellow and Fellow Awards, which was started in 2008 and honors leaders in Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation worldwide. Among the inaugural Fellows recognized was Veronica Colondam (Fellow/Indonesia, Class of 2007), Founder of Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa (YCAB). This year honorees included Asia 21 alumni Melissa Kwee (Delegate/Singapore, Singapore Summit 2007), Chairperson of Halogen Foundation, Singapore, and Calvin Chin (Delegate/USA, KL Summit 2009), Co-Dounder and CEO of Qifang, China.
Another project, called the Pop and Talent Hub (PaTH) Initiative, is Singapore's first Social Enterprise Development Platform, championing social entrepreneurship via the arts by developing artists from traditionally marginalised groups including the hearing- and visually-impaired, chronically depressed, stay-at-home mothers, youths-at-risk, among others. In 2008, we collaborated with Network for Electronic Transfers Pte Ltd (NETS) to launch six limited edition CashCards featuring artwork by PaTH talents. Through the partnership, 150,000 cards were printed and six less-advantaged but equally-abled artists gained confidence and dignity from seeing their artwork published and in the hands of thousands of Singaporeans.
As we enter our fourth year of driving the social entrepreneurship movement in the region, we've been fortunate to receive the partnership and support of many global movers and shakers- leaders and innovators including his Excellency President S R Nathan of Singapore; Peng Tsin Ong, technopreneur and founder of Match.com; and Global Investor Jim Rogers. Many SIP supporters have also given their time to educate on social entrepreneurship and innovation through our "Giant in Conversation" and "Chatterbox" speaking series. Our "Giants" have included Rory Stear, founder of Freeplay Enterprise and Fondations; Mel Young, social entrepreneur and founder of the Homeless World Cup; Young Global Leader Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera Software; and Stephan Chambers, Chairman of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Director of the MBA and EMBA degress at Oxford Saïd Business School. Stephan Chambers joined us in Singapore last year for the launch of a Skoll-Oxford-SIP partnership through which SIP and the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship will host an annual exchange of lectures, forums, and other events to grow the social entrepreneurship movement. SIP is also spreading its seeds overseas, having formed SIP Chapters in the USA (Yale University), China (Fudan University), Japan, Indonesia, and Kashmir as well as maintained our local student chapters at the Singapore Institute of Management and Nanyang Polytechnic. Projects range from student forums at our university chapters to SIP Water Clubs, formed in Kashmir to teach water conservation and solutions to water problems faced by locals. SIP looks forward to continuing to grow our organisation in 2010 and educating, empowering, and enhancing social entrepreneurs to bring positive innovations to lives and societies worldwide.
To find out more about SIP and its initiatives, please visit www.socialinnovationpark.org or email info@socialinnovationpark.org.
Penny, President and Founder of Social Innovation Park Ltd, is one of the 34 founding members of the New Asian Leaders by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum. She has also been honored as one of the 237 (out of 8,000 worldwide) founding members of the prestigious The Forum of Global Young Leaders (YGL). She was the youngest elected female Member of Parliament in Singapore, representing the Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency in 2001.
Monday, February 15, 2010
REPLICATING THE MAHAVILACHCHIYA EVILLAGE CONCEPT
by Nandasiri Wanninayaka (Delegate/Sri Lanka, Summit 2008)
Having provided ICT and English education since 1998 to the children of Mahavilachchiya, a village in Anuradhapura, 245 km from Colombo in Sri Lanka, Horizon Lanka is looking for innovative ways to expand its services and bring the benefits of ICT to the adults in the village as well.
The Model eVillage project was officially launched in January 2005 in hopes that by providing parents and other adults in the village with an education in ICT and Internet accessibility at home and at ICT centres, the community will enjoy an improved quality of life through informed decision making.
Recognizing early on that the support of the local community would be intrinsic to the success of such a concept, one of the first steps Horizon Lanka embarked upon was the strengthening of relationships already established within the community.
Horizon Lanka began a series of training sessions and workshops aimed at introducing the community to the concept of an eVillage and familiarizing them with ICT usage and its benefits.
As predicted, since the introduction of the Model eVillage, Mahavilachchiya has seen endless benefits to its community. For instance now, at the click of a button, farmers are able to access agricultural information, weather forecasts, crop prices and market information. They use this to make informed decisions about when to harvest crops and at what price to sell their produce.
The unemployed are able to access information from the multi-media library and the Internet, which significantly broadens and speeds up their employment prospects. The ICT skills learned at the training sessions and practiced regularly at home have been invaluable in securing gainful employment for themselves. The communication link between villagers and others across the country and the world have been enhanced. Presently, with Internet-enabled computers at home and the knowledge on how to use it, families can talk to relatives abroad using webmail and IP telephony services like Skype, all without any cost to themselves.
Perhaps the greatest success of the Model eVillage concept launched by Horizon Lanka has been in transforming village students into IT professionals. Public schools in rural areas have to make do with the barest of resources, which means subjects like ICT are often overlooked. By providing children access to computers and the Internet, they learn to use these tools to improve their standard of work and put them in a competitive with students from urban schools. To ensure that more children in the village benefit from the novel experience, Horizon Lanka has been providing more public schools, temples, and other institutions with computers and Internet access.
Access to bank accounts through the Internet and communication via email have also significantly reduced the inconvenience of travelling to Anuradhapura town to conduct business transactions. Horizon Lanka has made it possible for villagers to do so at home, saving them time and travel costs. Something which has been near impossible in the past is the ability to disseminate information quickly, which is of utmost importance especially in times of crises like national disasters, war or drought. It is hoped that the introduction of ICT will facilitate the flow of information to rural areas. Public information suppliers from NGOs and the government now have better access to rural communities. The community will begin to feel less isolated and become more interested in what is happening to the rest of the country.
Mahavilachchiya became the first rural village to benefit from mesh technology in 2006. Mesh technology has given the whole community wireless access to the Internet from their homes. Since its inception, Horizon Lanka's eVillage concept has furnished over 100 families with used desktop computers. Following up on the unprecedented success achieved in Mahavilachchiya, Horizon Lanka is now able to share its experience, taking ICT to the rural communities of Sri Lanka. The foundation provides consulting services with respect to launching and setting up rural level ICT centers throughout the country. Similar projects are now being replicated island-wide.
But the downside of all these is that, though Horizon Lanka did all these almost impossible tasks, now it is facing many financial problems to take its work forward, and hope those who have the means will chip in to take Horizon Lanka's journey forward.
Wanna is the CEO of Horizon Lanka Foundation. He has found a way to bring modern technology to isolated communities, link villagers to outside networks through the Internet, and use alternative education (with emphasis on the English language) to foster teamwork, creativity and self-esteem among students. He initiated Sri Lanka's first village-level outsourcing venture and is working to establish an e-commerce facility so farmers can avoid middlemen and sell their products at market prices.
Having provided ICT and English education since 1998 to the children of Mahavilachchiya, a village in Anuradhapura, 245 km from Colombo in Sri Lanka, Horizon Lanka is looking for innovative ways to expand its services and bring the benefits of ICT to the adults in the village as well.
The Model eVillage project was officially launched in January 2005 in hopes that by providing parents and other adults in the village with an education in ICT and Internet accessibility at home and at ICT centres, the community will enjoy an improved quality of life through informed decision making.
Recognizing early on that the support of the local community would be intrinsic to the success of such a concept, one of the first steps Horizon Lanka embarked upon was the strengthening of relationships already established within the community.
Horizon Lanka began a series of training sessions and workshops aimed at introducing the community to the concept of an eVillage and familiarizing them with ICT usage and its benefits.
As predicted, since the introduction of the Model eVillage, Mahavilachchiya has seen endless benefits to its community. For instance now, at the click of a button, farmers are able to access agricultural information, weather forecasts, crop prices and market information. They use this to make informed decisions about when to harvest crops and at what price to sell their produce.
The unemployed are able to access information from the multi-media library and the Internet, which significantly broadens and speeds up their employment prospects. The ICT skills learned at the training sessions and practiced regularly at home have been invaluable in securing gainful employment for themselves. The communication link between villagers and others across the country and the world have been enhanced. Presently, with Internet-enabled computers at home and the knowledge on how to use it, families can talk to relatives abroad using webmail and IP telephony services like Skype, all without any cost to themselves.
Perhaps the greatest success of the Model eVillage concept launched by Horizon Lanka has been in transforming village students into IT professionals. Public schools in rural areas have to make do with the barest of resources, which means subjects like ICT are often overlooked. By providing children access to computers and the Internet, they learn to use these tools to improve their standard of work and put them in a competitive with students from urban schools. To ensure that more children in the village benefit from the novel experience, Horizon Lanka has been providing more public schools, temples, and other institutions with computers and Internet access.
Access to bank accounts through the Internet and communication via email have also significantly reduced the inconvenience of travelling to Anuradhapura town to conduct business transactions. Horizon Lanka has made it possible for villagers to do so at home, saving them time and travel costs. Something which has been near impossible in the past is the ability to disseminate information quickly, which is of utmost importance especially in times of crises like national disasters, war or drought. It is hoped that the introduction of ICT will facilitate the flow of information to rural areas. Public information suppliers from NGOs and the government now have better access to rural communities. The community will begin to feel less isolated and become more interested in what is happening to the rest of the country.
Mahavilachchiya became the first rural village to benefit from mesh technology in 2006. Mesh technology has given the whole community wireless access to the Internet from their homes. Since its inception, Horizon Lanka's eVillage concept has furnished over 100 families with used desktop computers. Following up on the unprecedented success achieved in Mahavilachchiya, Horizon Lanka is now able to share its experience, taking ICT to the rural communities of Sri Lanka. The foundation provides consulting services with respect to launching and setting up rural level ICT centers throughout the country. Similar projects are now being replicated island-wide.
But the downside of all these is that, though Horizon Lanka did all these almost impossible tasks, now it is facing many financial problems to take its work forward, and hope those who have the means will chip in to take Horizon Lanka's journey forward.
Wanna is the CEO of Horizon Lanka Foundation. He has found a way to bring modern technology to isolated communities, link villagers to outside networks through the Internet, and use alternative education (with emphasis on the English language) to foster teamwork, creativity and self-esteem among students. He initiated Sri Lanka's first village-level outsourcing venture and is working to establish an e-commerce facility so farmers can avoid middlemen and sell their products at market prices.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Presidentiables face young leaders on iVote
Youth issues take centerstage as student leaders, young executives and entrepreneurs meet the 2010 Presidential candidates at iVote: The Presidential Youth Dialogue on February 9, from 9 am - 4 pm at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium of the RCBC Plaza, Manila, Philippines. Hosted by Asia Society Philippines, the organizing body of the Philippines 21 Young Leaders Initiative, and IPVG Corporation, iVote aims to present a picture of the presidency as envisioned by the young leaders themselves. The youth comprise almost 60% of the voting population, and are increasingly involved and vigilant on issues relating to electoral politics and the public agenda.
Unlike other presidential fora that take on the debate format, iVote is structured as a dialogue between the 2010 Presidentiables and leaders of the youth sector. Each candidate is allotted a 30-minute session with the audience, first to answer a series of questions based on issues identified with or deemed important by the youth. This will be followed by questions from the audience, and may range from specific policy responses to social issues, to more irreverent questions that reflect the personality and character of the candidates.
iVote recognizes the youth sector's pervasive online presence and penchant for social networking. IPVG will be livestreaming the forum in its entirety, via the Asia Society global website. An edited version of the program will be broadcast by QTV 11 on March 20.
iVote is spearheaded by the Asia Society’s Philippines 21 Young Leaders, the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines, YouthVote Philippines, National Movement of Young Legislators, and other organizations of young leaders.
The event is free and open to the public. To register, please contact Tieza Santos (7524374, tiezas@asiasociety.org.ph) or Patricia Vega (8108983, patriciav@asiasociety.org.ph).
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About Asia Society and Philippines 21 Young Leaders Initiative
Asia Society is the leading global and pan-Asian organization working to strengthen relationships and promote understanding among the people, leaders, and institutions of the United States and Asia. One of Asia Society’s key global initiatives is leadership, in particular the development of a core network of the most promising and upcoming leaders across the region through the Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative and its local counterpart, the Philippines 21 Young Leaders Initiative. The program enables young changemakers to learn from and collaborate with each other on creative solutions to the region’s most pressing social concerns.
Fellows include Cora de Ungria (eminent DNA scientist and 2008 TOWNS awardee), Ivan Henares (heritage advocate and award-winning blogger), Mark Ruiz (co-founder, Microventures, Inc./Hapinoy, WhyNot? Forum), Ching Jorge (Bato Balani Foundation programs head and YouthVote Philippines lead convenor), Jaime Enrique Gonzalez (CEO, IPVG Corp.) and Efren Peñaflorida, Jr. (co-founder, Dynamic Teen Company and 2009 CNN Hero of the Year).
About IPVG Corporation
IPVG is a leading ICT investment company that is publicly listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE Ticker Symbol: IP). Its subsidiaries operate in the following business segments: (i) Communications (IP Services and Internet Security); (ii) Content (On-line gaming and Mobile solutions), and (iii) Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). IPVG presence is established in the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Panama, United Kingdom and USA.
For more information, visit www.ipvg.com.
Unlike other presidential fora that take on the debate format, iVote is structured as a dialogue between the 2010 Presidentiables and leaders of the youth sector. Each candidate is allotted a 30-minute session with the audience, first to answer a series of questions based on issues identified with or deemed important by the youth. This will be followed by questions from the audience, and may range from specific policy responses to social issues, to more irreverent questions that reflect the personality and character of the candidates.
iVote recognizes the youth sector's pervasive online presence and penchant for social networking. IPVG will be livestreaming the forum in its entirety, via the Asia Society global website. An edited version of the program will be broadcast by QTV 11 on March 20.
iVote is spearheaded by the Asia Society’s Philippines 21 Young Leaders, the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines, YouthVote Philippines, National Movement of Young Legislators, and other organizations of young leaders.
The event is free and open to the public. To register, please contact Tieza Santos (7524374, tiezas@asiasociety.org.ph) or Patricia Vega (8108983, patriciav@asiasociety.org.ph).
###
About Asia Society and Philippines 21 Young Leaders Initiative
Asia Society is the leading global and pan-Asian organization working to strengthen relationships and promote understanding among the people, leaders, and institutions of the United States and Asia. One of Asia Society’s key global initiatives is leadership, in particular the development of a core network of the most promising and upcoming leaders across the region through the Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative and its local counterpart, the Philippines 21 Young Leaders Initiative. The program enables young changemakers to learn from and collaborate with each other on creative solutions to the region’s most pressing social concerns.
Fellows include Cora de Ungria (eminent DNA scientist and 2008 TOWNS awardee), Ivan Henares (heritage advocate and award-winning blogger), Mark Ruiz (co-founder, Microventures, Inc./Hapinoy, WhyNot? Forum), Ching Jorge (Bato Balani Foundation programs head and YouthVote Philippines lead convenor), Jaime Enrique Gonzalez (CEO, IPVG Corp.) and Efren Peñaflorida, Jr. (co-founder, Dynamic Teen Company and 2009 CNN Hero of the Year).
About IPVG Corporation
IPVG is a leading ICT investment company that is publicly listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE Ticker Symbol: IP). Its subsidiaries operate in the following business segments: (i) Communications (IP Services and Internet Security); (ii) Content (On-line gaming and Mobile solutions), and (iii) Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). IPVG presence is established in the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Panama, United Kingdom and USA.
For more information, visit www.ipvg.com.
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