Canadawatch special issue Launch                     Canadawatch special issue editors  

York University student Barinder Kalhe who is also a project coordinator of the India-Canada Project at York University, was invited to become host of the event.

​Kalhe started thanking ICCC for their support for the launch of the special issue of Canadawatch. He also thanked Dr. Kundu for her continuous hard work to bring out this publication. He said that their project is known as CIPRI and they are with York University’s Research Centre on Asian Studies.  Dr. Kundu, he said, is Director of CIPRI and Professor Bazley, CIPRI’s primary investigator and Professor Dodman is co-investigator with CIPRI.

Barinder said CIPRI’s goal is to become the premier research hub on Canada-India studies with an aim to promote academic activities, conduct policy oriented research and come out with regular research publications. He said today we are here to officially launch the Canadawatch’s special issue on “Mapping Pathways for Canada-India Collaborations: Preserve, Share and Explore”. This is the first publication of its kind. This special issue is part of the joint research project conducted by the scholars and academics of CIPRI and aims to highlight existing research and collaboration between Canada and India.

Barinder introduced the authors and speakers, Sheila Embleton,  Professor York University, who also headed from Indo-Canada Shastri Foundation in Canada; Dawn R Bazely, Project Investigator CIPRI, Professor, York University;  Maria Joao Dodman,  Co-Project investigator CIPRI, Professor, York University;   Dr. Nivedita Das Kundu,  Director CIPRI, York Centre for Asian Research, York University. Barinder also introduced the panelists:  Dr. Vandana Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal trade, government of India;  Mr. Bala Menon,  Editor, Weekly Voice;  Mr. Prashant Srivastava,  Director- South Asia Programme, Seneca College;  and Ms. Alyssa Brierley,  Graduate Associate, York Centre for Asian Research, York University.  Barinder then introduced the Keynote speaker of the event, Professor Ashwin Joshi,  Director MBA Programme, Schulich Business School, York University.

Maria Joao Dodman, was then invited to present her key remarks about the publication. She said today's event is to showcase and celebrate research initiatives of York Centre for Asian Research and Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies at York University. This special issue highlighted Mapping new pathways for Canada-India Collaborations: Preserve, Share and Explore. The York University's Asian Research aims to conduct quality research, to maintain bilateral relationships with India and establish dialogue with Indian communities, and highlight its role in Canada’s multicultural mosaic. Academics and policy makers have been involved in the success of this publication. In this publication interdisciplinary approach has been adopted by the authors to encompass various fields of social sciences, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).  CIPRI recognized the need of this publication to reach to the community for the overall development of Canada-India academic cooperation. She added more future efforts were needed to get community involvement in such projects.
​
​The next speaker, Dr. Nivedita Das Kundu was invited to speak. Dr. Kundu thanked all the speakers, panelists and authors, who had spared their valuable time to participate in this event to encourage to conduct future collaborative activities on Canada-India.

​She extended her thanks to the President, board of directors and office administrators of ICCC for agreeing to host this event at ICCC premises and for their cooperation and help. She also extended her gratitude towards the Directors of Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies and York Centre for Asian Research at York University for their continuous support and encouragement. She also thanked the United Services Institution of India, the Consulate of India in Toronto for their valuable support in various ways for this publication and also for CIPRI's research activities. She then extended her thanks to coordinators from Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies and York Centre for Asian Research for their unceasing support. She said she could not overlook the dedication of the CIPRI student team and extended her gratitude towards them.  She added that these young students are the future of our nation and they are the main drivers, who would carry forward the knowledge and develop the connectivity and maintain people to people contact. Therefore, we should always encourage them to get involved in such activities. She also extended special thanks to all the speakers and also to Professor Ashwin Joshi, who agreed to be the keynote speaker and launch the special issue of Canadawatch.

Launch of special issue of Canadawatch by Ashwin Joshi

                             Sheila Embleton                                                                     Dawn  Bazley

She said some of these international students, become ideal immigrants but the main concern is that the Canada-India collaboration on education front is becoming more superfluous due to several factors. Personal touch in the relationship between the two countries, which makes the collaboration strong, has been replaced by the advanced technology in both countries like skype; facetime etc. which has given rise to superfluous interactions. This issue cannot be overlooked and has to be resolved.

She added that frequent trips of the faculty between the countries is the need of the hour and added that primary experience gained by personal relationships cannot be replaced by technology. However, there are some major hurdles for the faculty members to visit, such as difficulty of visa due to strict security concerns. Sometimes it is easy to get tourist visa, but this does not always serve the purpose. Also multiple entry visas are not always granted. Visa for research purposes or to attend important conferences is also problematic.  Also, the ability to travel to the India for educational collaboration on a short notice is hindered due to delay of visa approval. All these barriers have to be deeply looked into, to improve educational research collaboration between the two countries. Prof. Embleton also mentioned that frequency and affordability of the flights and more of connecting flights, have to be taken into consideration. Other barriers that exist, she pointed out, are not recognizing the three year degree programme completed from India by Indian students, which is of high quality if done from reputed Institutions. This should be compared to the 4 year degree program in Canada in the same stream. Indian students who may be proficient in their English language and literature are required to take tests in Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOFEL), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), English as a Second Language (ESL) etc. to be eligible for visa grant. This is another impediment and time consuming. 

Prof. Sheila mentioned that insufficient amount of availability of grants for faculty as well as, for research students for research collaboration between the two countries is another concern. In the last few years there had been tremendous increase in the quality, quantity as well as, in various subject grant applications. But many had been declined due to the lack of grants. This leads to the loss of opportunities for the deserving candidates and hampers academic research collaboration between two countries. She said augmentation of the research grants is an essential step.

Dawn R. Bazley,  who was next invited to speak, said she approved of Embleton’s views on building personal relationships between the two countries as an important step in furthering the bilateral relations, cooperation and collaboration. She had been working on green energy for three years. She had been to Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan in India from Jan to March last year. Visva-Bharati, a University of national and international repute located in Birbhum district of West Bengal, was started by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore as an unique institution of learning. In addition to her research in Environmental Science, as a visiting professor, Bazley said, she also taught about the ecotourism, Canadian biodiversity, and about southern Ontario forests. This allowed her to compare ecotourism of Canada to India and found some similarities between ecotourism of Canada and India.  Prof. Bazley said that she decided to work with her students to develop a strategy to present a paper on ‘Teaching Ecotourism & Stakeholder Engagement Methods’ both at the conference and to the Ministry of ecotourism. They had a conference (Open Space Technology) to explore student stakeholder opinions, thoughts and ideas on ecotourist destination and what strategies should be developed by Shantiniketan for teaching ecotourism.
​
One of the things not traditionally done in India, added Bazley, which is done in Canada is student engagement with their professors.  In Canada the professors come to the level of students to work with them. And she tried to develop this strategy while in Shantiniketan. Prof. Dawn not only succeeded in allowing ecotourism students to participate in the workshop conducted by her but was also successful to allow participation of the fine arts students, who would look at ecotourism from an artistic perspective. She said, she realized that personally visiting the University in India made things move faster, both with the students and the with the faculty.
​
While in Shantiniketan,  Bazley realized that development of technology in the promotion of tourism was very important. But there were some ethical issues involved with the use of technology in the tourism front. This was an important issue to be solved at present time. She also talked about Canada’s challenge in the use of technology in policy decisions.
 
The first speaker in the panel discussion on the topic “Exploring Pathways for Canada-India Collaborations”, was Ms. Alyssa Brierley. Prof. Bazley was moderator for the Panel discussion.

Brierly talked about Food Security issues as her research is based on Canada-India comparative studies. She worked in India for her research. She talked about the food security issue and how it applied to Canadian context both in academic and in policy terms. She talked about academic and policy learning for Canada and the right to food case in India.
​
​After Alyssa’s presentation, the second panelist, Vandana Kumar was invited by Dawn Bazley to give her presentation and  share some of the perspective which can deepen ties between the two countries. Dr. Vandana started her presentation mentioning that both the countries have great potential.

She said the two countries continue to engage in bilateral dialogue and cooperation in diverse subjects like in foreign policy, in trade and investment, energy sector, counter terrorism, security, education and in agriculture. But trade between the two countries, she said, needs to improve. She mentioned in her presentation that India is one of the fastest growing economy in the world and a top investment destination. With its large Indian diaspora in Canada, the total investment between 2014-2018 was 258 billion US dollars. She said India was the 3rd largest country in the world and around 900 million people had so far participated in recent elections there, out of them 85 millions were new voters, and 15 million were voters between the age of 18 to19. She added Canada has strong Indian Diaspora and has great skills and at present Canada has around 1.2 lakh Indian students. In the last two years, continued Ms Vandana, India had progressed a lot in the fields like Adhar, Jan Dhan, Mobile phones, Digital India, Startup India, Goods and Services. She explained that Aadhaar Card is a unique identification number issued to every resident of India. An Aadhaar card is as significant as a PAN card for an Indian citizen, and can be used as an identification proof too. She added that there are at present 1.2 billion Adhar accounts.
  
Dr. Vandana mentioned that a lot of reforms have been made in the sectors of policy, law (1400 laws scrapped), banking and its massive infrastructure, as it is evident by 1 billion bank accounts, 1.19 billion mobile phone users, 481 billion internet subscriptions. With its fastest growing ecosystem, India is also a good destination for start-up companies. Provision of funds of 1.6 billion, presence of 2027 patents and trademarks, and easier compliance with self-certification have further expanded the scope of business with India. She said several factors like regulatory and legislative changes, process engineering, building of trust by continuous verification, and reduction in fees had enhanced ease of doing business in India. Dr. Vandana said in sectors such as political stability, currency stability, high quality products, anti-corruption, low cost of production, strategic location, respect for IPR, as well as, its massive infrastructure lot of improvement took place. India topped as an investment destination with potential areas of collaboration including; Infrastructure push, economy, investment in banking, food processing, education; top sectors for investing by Canada is renewable energy, food processing, IT & BPM, construction etc.
 
India’s friendly and welcoming environment for investment, present both at the Central and State level, largely due to the several industrial associations, advisory boards, business strategy of long-term partnerships, facilitated India to be successful in several fronts. India had also been the proud recipient of prestigious awards from United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. These were some of the guidelines for foreign investors in India. She mentioned in her presentation that India had started to pay more attention to the areas lagging behind such as taxing system and this work is in progress.  Vandana Kumar added that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a great strength for Canada and it can revolutionize economy.
​ 
After Vandana's presentation,  Bazely invited   Bala Menon to give his presentation. ​ ​Menon’s presentation topic  was "apathy and ignorance". He said that ignorance is the main hurdles in the Indo-Canada Cooperation. Besides these, hostility, acceptance of mockery and false exaggeration, selling of sensational news like rape, random murders, caste system, riots etc.  were the other issues which caused great harm to the Indian diaspora in Canada. 

After Menon’s speech, Bazley, commented that there was a need to have regular communication between Indians and Canadians to build up a frame work which would be mutually beneficial to both countries.
​​
The next speaker on the Panel was Prashant Srivastava. He presented some of the successful partnership experiences between Canada and India. ​He said India holds the topmost place for Canada for business in all sectors. Srivastava said that Seneca's International partnership programme has close linkages with India. It is also mutually beneficial and has potential for revenue generation and enhances Seneca brand internationally with increased international mobility. Interaction was based, added Srivastava, on the criteria of what can be imparted rather than what we can get. He added that India is a large subcontinent; it is a country with different modalities in education system and there is a need to get a broad vision of all the modalities in order to evaluate the best one.

Prashant Srivastava said that Seneca College strives to build a long term successful partnership, whether it is on government level, or with private sectors, or with not-for profit sectors, revenue driven, regional, program, credential or brand-driven. He said it is essential for us to deal with complicated educational system in India as one model cannot fit all, with each state having its own State Board with a separate Education Governing Council and budgets.  Some working models fail due to lack of follow up of some MoUs signed by Indian institutions for marketing purposes. Some of Partnerships which had been successful were those which focus on clear learning outcomes like short-term training programs; sticking to small number of partners and proliferating with the same institution.

For example National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM)'s partnership with government as an apex training institution  for  centralized  and  uniform  training of  Indian Civil Servants had been successful in training more than 300 participants. The success was due to its focus approach, and follow ups with frequent communication. Prashant Srivastava also mentioned in his presentation that India is a country of many cultures and languages, but there is unity in diversity in their culture. To work with India requires more patience. He said, the focus should be what to give, rather than what to get. Srivastava summed up his talk by highlighting the benefits of successful partnerships like increased brand awareness, tacit marketing, exposure to multicultural communities which not only strengthens bilateral relationships but also facilitates experimentation and innovation. He said that the skilled workers in India’s education sector provide Canada with amazing opportunities.

Dawn Bazley who was moderating the discussion thanked all the four panelists and also opened the floor for question and answer from the audience. There were few questions for all the panelists which were all answered duly. Prof. Bazely concluded by saying that the discussions were extremely fruitful and added that it would be a pleasure for CIPRI to involve all the panelists for future advisory council meeting on improving Canada-India relations.​

​​The event came to an end with refreshments and networking.


​(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)

​

​#​UnitedNations; #hateSpeech; #UNAllianceofCivilizations; #UNClimateSummit

United Nations, May 14 (Canadian-Media/UN): On a three-day visit to New Zealand, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres paid his respects to the victims of the horrific mosque attacks in Christchurch, where dozens of Muslims were gunned down in two separate incidents during Friday prayers on 15 March, UN reports said.

Image Credit: MUN Photo/Mark Garten: The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, lays a wreath at one of two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, where worshipers were shot dead in March 2019. (May 2019)

Calling for solidarity to  counter the recent upsurge in hate speech, the UN chief visited both Linwood Mosque, where he laid a wreath, and Al Noor mosque. On 15 March, a lone gunman killed 51 people at the two places of worship while livestreaming the attacks on social media.
​
At Al Noor mosque on Tuesday, Mr. Guterres told the Muslim community that while there were no words to relieve the hurt and sorrow and pain, “I wanted to come here personally to transmit love, support and total and complete admiration.”

He said that like so many around the world, he had been moved by the poignant stories of compassion and grace from Christchurch. 

“But in many ways, I was not surprised. This community reflected a spirit that I have always known to be deeply embedded in Islam – a faith of love, compassion, forgiveness and mercy,” he said.

He recalled that as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, he had seen witness the generosity of Muslim countries opening their borders to people in distress in a world where so many other borders are closed.

“This is in line with what I regard as the most beautiful prescription for refugee protection in world history. It is found in the Surah Al-Tawbah of the Holy Quran: ‘And if anyone seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he can hear the words of Allah. Then escort him where he can be secure,’” quoted Mr. Guterres. 

He also recalled that during a visit to Cairo last month, he had been honoured to meet the Grand Imam, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, and had thanked him for his recent interfaith meeting with Pope Francis in the United Arab Emirates. The declaration signed by the two leaders calls on people of faith to recognize and respect one another and work together for the good of humanity. 

“We must stand together in this period of difficulties,” said the UN chief, adding that: “Hate speech is spreading and public discourse is being coarsened. Social media is being exploited as a platform for bigotry. We must all show solidarity in response to this dangerous upsurge in hatred.” 

There is no room for hate speech

The Secretary-General spotlighted two recent initiatives he has set in motion two initiatives, respectively to protect holy sites and to address hate speech. 

He has asked the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Moratinos, to develop an Action Plan for the UN to be fully engaged in support of safeguarding religious sites.

Meanwhile, Mr. Guterres has also asked his Special Advisor for the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, to bring together a UN team to scale up our response to hate speech and present a global plan of action. 

“Hate speech is spreading like wildfire in social media. We must extinguish it,” said the Secretary-General, declaring: “There is no room for hate speech – online or offline.”

 Again quoting the Holy Quran, he said: ‘We … made you into races and tribes so that you may know one another.’ 

Thanking the Christchurch Muslim community “for doing what you’re doing to help us better know each other – and see our shared humanity,” Mr. Guterres said: “In these trying times, I am here to say with a full heart: You are not alone. The world is with you. The United Nations is with you. I am with you.”

The Secretary-General's visit to New Zealand is part of a tour of the Pacific Island States in which the urgent issue of climate change figures strongly. On Wednesday, he will address the Pacific Islands Form, being held this year in Fiji, before moving on to stops in Tuvalu and Vanuatu. 

Mr. Guterres is convening a major UN Climate Summit to be held at UN Headquarters in New York in September.

#ThomasPiketty; #present-daywealthinequality; #prehistoricMediterranean; 
#anthropologicalarchaeology; #ThomasLeppard; #societalhierarchies; #FloridaStateUniversity


Florida (U.S.), May 11 (Canadian-Media): A theory by Thomas Piketty, a renowned economist, on present-day wealth inequality explains a lot about how smaller-scale societies in the prehistoric Mediterranean developed, research of a professor from Florida State University (FSU) suggests, Science X Newsletter reports said.

Thomas Piketty/Facebook

While progress of economic conditions can slow the rate of wealth inequality and low-growth can accelerate it, says Piketty's theory. ​

In a new study, Thomas Leppard, FSU Assistant Professor of Anthropology argues that certain hierarchical Mediterranean societies from about 3500 B.C. to 1000 B.C. fall into this low-growth context described by Piketty .

Leppard's research is published in the journal Current Anthropology.

The reason Mediterranean societies could not reach the levels of societies in richer environments throughout the Old World, argues Leppard, was due to their development in zones that were not prime for agriculture provided opportunities. 

Similarly In  high-growth environments of larger, urban societies located in Mesopotamia, or near the Nile and the Yellow rivers,  income inequality was slow to occur, suggests Leppard.

"We know that agriculture was, to an extent, vital for the emergence of urban and 'state' societies," Leppard said.

Piketty's theory, says Leppard,  illustrates how very different conditions can drive similar social outcomes, and this challenges some current models in anthropological archaeology on how societal hierarchies developed.

"Ultimately, if very different processes can drive the appearance of societies that appear structurally similar, we're going to have to start thinking about multiple pathways to societies that we like to think of in one category," Leppard said.

​(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
​

​

Toronto, May 10 (Canadian-Media): A Special Issue of Canada Watch “Mapping Pathways for Canada-India Collaborations- Preserve, Share and Explore” would be launched by The Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies and the York Centre for Asian Research, at 924 The East Mall, Etobicoke from 3 pm - 5 pm, media reports said.

Every body is cordially invited to this event. The agenda for this event is attached.

This Special Issue of Canada Watch is part of the research conducted by members of the Canada-India Project for Research and Innovation (CIPRI) with the aim to highlight existing research and collaboration between Canada and India.

The members have used an interdisciplinary approach in their articles to highlight comparative perspectives from Indian and Canadian academics, scholars and policy makers.

To articulate the factors underpinning success, as well as to identify hurdles and challenges, these articles also throw light on ways to enhance the scope of cooperation and engagement between the two nations.

Besides recognizing future possibilities and emerging opportunities between Canada and India, this publication also strives to bring together ideas to develop appropriate and relevant policies to changing and challenging circumstances.

The event will be followed by networking and High Tea.

Please register here.


​(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)

#French-LanguageEducation; #Ontario; #PrioritiesandPartnershipsFund; #LisaThompson 
​
Ottawa, May 9 (Canadian-Media): An investment of  $19.41 million in several projects and initiatives would be made by Ontario government to support students, parents and teachers in French-language schools to help provide healthy, safe and accessible learning environments for students, media reports said.

This investment is part of the new $330 million Priorities and Partnerships Fund (PPF) to promote high impact initiatives that directly support students in the classroom.

"We continue to take action to protect what matters most to Franco-Ontarian families by putting them first," said Lisa Thompson, Minister of Education. "Every Franco-Ontarian family in this province should feel supported when it comes to ensuring their child has access to a meaningful and modern education."





​



​

PPF funding will support a wide range of projects and initiatives including: assisting French-language school boards to implement initiatives in French-language schools in Ontario, engaging students to develop their sense of belonging to the French-language school system and their community; supporting six French-language school boards; Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) meetings organized regionally by French-language school boards to support SHSM programs in schools, share expertise and encourage networking among school boards; Funding for Council of Trustees' Associations (CTA) to promote the success of French-language students with special needs. 

"Education for Francophone students in Ontario is imperative, and I am proud of the work our government is doing to support students and families in our French-language education system," said Sam Oosterhoff, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education. "We will continue to work with our education partners to ensure French-language education continues to thrive in our province."

​

Works from the estate of Montreal’s Arnold and Blema Steinberg are headed for international auction this month amid a debate about how much authority the federal government should have over keeping art in Canada. A new law allows Ottawa to block the export of important art older than 50 years; some of the major pieces from the Steinberg collection only turn 50 this year. (for subscribers)
Sotheby’s is billing the art, including two pieces by U.S. abstractionist Mark Rothko, as the most important collection of colour-field painting ever to come to auction. The estate is also selling off Canadian art by the likes of Jean-Paul Riopelle.

#UN; #culturalAgency; #UNESCO; #SDGs; #UNICEF; #UNDP


Exclusion and deep inequality will forever thwart “long-lasting peace and sustainable development”, a high-level official from the United Nations (UN)  cultural agency said on Thursday at the 5th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue.

Image Credit: Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Azerbaijan: Night time view of Baku, Azerbaijan.

If societies are not inclusive, they will be weaker, less resilient and more vulnerable to violence”, Nada Al-Nashif, Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), told the High-level Panel at the UN-backed conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.


She underscored the need to not only fight against social, economic and political inequalities, but also to change mindsets, which aligns perfectly with UNESCO’s mandate “to build the defenses of peace in the minds of men and women”.

While the agency’s mission “has not aged a day”, she acknowledged that “we have to follow a fast-changing world”.

According to Ms. Al-Nashif, this puts in question the relevance of old institutions to tackle current challenges, such as violent extremism, the migrant and refugee crisis, and the rise of hate speech in social media.

Citing events “from Sri Lanka to Libya, and in many spots in-between”, she said that the UN will be strengthening the role of diplomacy and dialogue.

“This calls for revitalized partnerships – from Member States to the private sector, from universities to civil society – so that we can work together to build innovative projects for inclusion, to scale our impact on the ground”, she asserted.

A new focus must be concentrated on building resilience, preventing conflict, learning lessons and empowering individuals with new skills that pay “particular attention and support” to young people.

“In a world where ignorance of ‘the other’ is on the rise, we must more than ever find new ways to empower young women and men as change-makers in their communities, providing them with the necessary skills and intercultural competences to become engaged global citizens, who promote peace in their everyday life”, she underscored.

According to Ms. Al-Nashif, a UNESCO priority is to promote girls’ education, because “access to and the quality of educational opportunities for girls remain major issues”, constraining their transformative power to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.

“The Baku Forum is an outstanding opportunity to reaffirm the principles and practices of inclusive dialogue for more effective and more impactful multilateralism”, she concluded.

A passion for tourism“Tourism is my passion”, said Manuel Butler Halter, Executive Director of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), it is “a matter of the heart”.

“I believe that tourism is a facilitator of intercultural understanding and peace” because it makes people more open-minded, he said, adding that meeting people from diverse backgrounds and different cultures “helps us to see ourselves from a different perspective”.

It also fosters trust because “we realize that despite the cultural difference, all humans really are the same”, he continued.

Tourism is a facilitator of intercultural understanding and peace. Meeting people from diverse backgrounds and different cultures helps us to see ourselves from a different perspective – UNWTO Executive Director Manuel Butler Halter

Finally, the UNWTO official credited tourism for making us “more creative because learning about other cultures forces us to think differently and consider new ideas”.
And so, Mr. Halter deduced that “the more people travel, the more inclusive our societies become”.

He did, however, acknowledge that uncoordinated tourism can harm the environment, which is why UNWTO promotes sustainable tourism, in line with the SDGs.

Because “tourism by its nature”, has links with many fields, from trade and social development to environmental protection, security and health, Mr. Halter expressed certainty that it could “directly or indirectly contribute to all of the 17 SDGs”.
Highlighting SDG 8, on decent work and economic growth, he said that globally, one-in-10 jobs is connected to the tourism industry. With tourism also accounting for more than 40 per cent of half of the poorest countries’ GDPs, he stressed “I think it is key to include locals in the value chain”.

Economy, youth and exclusion

Evinj Hasanova, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister of Economy, spoke about how the young nation has reduced poverty from almost 42 per cent to five per cent.

“This is less than in some developed countries with more economic resources and GDP per capital”, she told the panel.

Inspired by the comprehensiveness of SDGs, she spoke at length on how her government has nationalized the goals, including by creating a high-level Council to coordinate their implementation.

“And we have started the process with the UN residential office,” she said. 

For his part, Aaron Greenberg, Senior Regional Advisor for Europe and Central Asia, Child Protection at the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), underscored the importance of investing in early childhood development.

Noting that the investment does not have to be in monetary terms, Mr. Greenberg stressed that children must be raised in a way that prevents them from suffering psychological disorders later in life that would perpetuate a cycle of violence and poverty

“I do not believe there is any other way that is surefire than investing in younger children today for getting equitable outcomes in the future”, he stressed.

Meanwhile George Bouma, Head of Sustainable Development in the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Istanbul Regional Hub, spoke about underlying causes of inequalities that are creating “a crisis of opportunities”.

He painted a picture of exclusion and mounting inequality fueled by an increase in populism and flawed political systems globally, attributing rising disenfranchisement to political, economic and social factors.
​
“The private sector has a role to play in creating jobs and moving people from the social welfare system to more productive employment”, he said.

#UN; #WorldPressFreedomDay; #UNESCO; #freedomofexpression;   #AudreyAzoulay

United Nations, May 2 (Canadian-Media/UN): At a time when disinformation and mistrust of the news media is growing, a free press is “essential for peace, justice, sustainable development and human rights”, said the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, in his message for World Press Freedom Day, marked on Friday, UN reports said.

No democracy is complete without access to transparent and reliable information, said António Guterres, describing unfettered journalism as “the cornerstone for building fair and impartial institutions, holding leaders accountable and speaking truth to power.”

This years commemorations which began on Thursday across the world, are focussing on the powerful role that good reporting plays in championing democracy and free elections, when disinformation is becoming a larger problem in even the world’s oldest and most sophisticated democratic systems.   

“Facts, not falsehoods, should guide people as they choose their representatives”, said the UN chief, noting that “while technology has transformed the ways in which we receive and share information, sometimes it is used to mislead public opinion or to fuel violence and hatred.”

According to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), almost 100 journalists were killed going about their work in 2018, with hundreds imprisoned. A total of 1,307 journalists were killed between 1994, and last year.

Mr. Guterres said he was “deeply troubled by the growing number of attacks and the culture of impunity…When media workers are targeted, societies as a whole pay a price.”

Facts must win out: UNESCO chief Azoulay

The head of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, said in her message for the day that it was essential to “guarantee freedom of opinion through the free exchange of ideas and information, based on factual truths.”

She said societies which value a free press, needed to “constantly vigilant. We must act together to protect the freedom of expression and safety of journalists”.

A free media is a “prerequisite” for the proper functioning of democracies, she added: “Independent journalism provides an opportunity to present facts to citizens and to form an opinion. Press freedom guarantees transparent societies where everyone can access information”.

Among the commemorative events that got underway on Thursday, were a global conference on “Media for Democracy, Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation” in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, jointly organized by the Government and the African Union Commission, together with UNESCO; and a conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut, on the same theme, organized by the local UNESCO office in partnership with the Ministry of Information.
​
A high-level event takes place at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday where the Secretary-General and President of the UN General Assembly are due to speak, followed by an expert roundtable