Today is the second and final day of the International Workshop on Shared Societies: “Can the Economics of Shared Societies Support More Resilient Economies and Global Sustainability?” hosted in the Maastricht School of Management.
LIVE STREAMING – http://research.msm.nl
LIVE TWEETING – join the debate in Twitter using the hashtag #SharedSocieties
We want you to be part of this debate!
Aside from tracking the live stream coming to you direct from the Club de Madrid’s International Workshop hosted alongside the Maastricht School of Management, perhaps our readers will also have picked up from this morning’s global press, news of the unfolding crisis looming over migrants from Sub Saharan Africa and the Maghreb perilously crossing the Mediterranean in search of greater economic opportunities.
The Guardian has today published a string of articles that serve as a frank wake up call to the international community. Unequivocally, now is the time to stop buck-passing, and to act to curb the risks taken by destitute migrants hazardously crossing the Mediterranean. If European actors can organise themselves to address the tragedy of the Costa Concordia, collectively we can and must do more to assist those crossing the waters from Europe’s southern neighbourhood.
The Shared Societies Project is committed to fostering greater economic and social cohesion; it is one of the central tenets of this initiative and is enshrined in Clause V of the SSP’s 10 Approaches and Commitments. The events documented by The Guardian reinforce the belief that multilaterally the international community must continue to endeavour to tackle head on the economic disadvantages faced by those discriminated against, who out of desperation resort to such perilous journeys across the Mediterranean.
Drastic action needed to prevent more migrants dying in boat tragedies
Migrants left to die after catalogue of failures, says report into boat tragedy
Migrant boat tragedy – interactive
Migrant boat disaster: those responsible ‘could face legal action’
Migrant boat disaster: who was responsible?
Migrant boat disaster: Spain challenges NATO over distress call claim
Club de Madrid and the Maastricht School of Management are currently hosting an international workshop on the theme of Shared Societies: “Can the Economics of Shared Societies Support More Resilient Economies and Global Sustainability? Changes and Opportunities in an Interdependent World”.
Live streaming available through this link: http://research.msm.nl
Join the debate on Twitter using the hashtag #SharedSocieties!
Welcome to this fantastic Shared Societies Conference!!! We are in Maastricht to discuss the following topic – Can the Economics of Shared Societies Support More Resilient Economies and Global Sustainability? From the event we hope to be able to paint to you a better picture of the challenges and opportunities that confront us in the effort to secure a more interdependent world for all.
You can follow this Maastricht School of Management and Club de Madrid International Workshop via live streaming available on http://research.msm.nl and also via live tweeting form the event using the hashtag #SharedSocieties.
We cordially invite you therefore to join us, and join the live debate on March 29-30, 2012, at the Maastricht School of Management, Maastricht, The Netherlands!
The Shared Societies Project enjoys a broad diaspora of followers who subscribe to this blog, however, for those readers presently resident in London, they can over the course of this week head down to the Human Rights Watch Film Festival which runs until the end of this month.
This initiative is a fantastic forum for which courageous individuals on both sides of the lens can empower audiences with the knowledge that personal commit can make a difference. Screenings of an array of intriguing films can be seen across the English capital at the Curzon Mayfair, the Curzon Soho, the ICA and the Ritzy Cinema.
For an in depth of 2012′s Human Rights Watch Film Festival, have a peruse over the event’s official programme below!
Human Rights Watch Film Festival
The head of the ILO Employment Sector, José-Manuel Salazar, has delivered a frank wake up call to the international community, warning of the risks posed by a lost generation due to the growing youth employment crisis.
Presently, 75 million young people remain unemployed. Putting this crisis further into perspective, a staggering 150 million young people are not working or studying, which represents a phenomenal waste of human capital for our societies.
So what risk does this disenfranchised generation pose to social cohesion? According to Mr Salazar, a grave one. Socially excluded youth are more likely to engage in risky behaviours including substance abuse, crime, violence, joining gangs, drug trafficking, and other threats to social cohesion and peace in the community.
Clearly, the international community most re-engage and multiply its efforts to tackle spiralling youth unemployment. In the run up to annual International Labour Conference in June, the ILO is hosting a series of innovative Global Youth Consultations in some 45 countries during March to listen to and consult young people in anticipation of a major Youth Employment Forum in Geneva in May. Check out the timetable of these events below and continue lobbying hard your elected representatives to address the youth job crisis NOW!
ILO Global Youth Consultations
Cast your eye also over José-Manuel Salazar’s top policy recommendations for addressing the global unemployment crisis.
In relation to the advent of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), in a letter dated 21 April 1947 Aldous Huxley prophetically remarked to his brother Julian, then Director General of UNESCO, to
“…think of what ninety nine percent of the human race want – food, shelter, a secure family life and to be left alone by bosses and busybodies. Unfortunately the one percent who are interested in power and ideals and ideologies are the ones who call the tune.”
Huxley’s prescient remarks speak volumes about the present struggle for economic equality, and the notions of what Occupy other 99% activists are attempting to highlight through their discourse today.
Kicking off a string of economically orientated posts this week, Kemal Derviş, former Minister of Economics in Turkey, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Vice President of the World Bank, breaks down the economic argument of what the current state of inequality means for the man / woman on the street.
Drawing upon his own work and that of the likes of Raghuram Rajan, Joseph Stiglitz, Michael Kumhof and Romain Ranciere, in a podcast and op-ed originally published on Project Syndicate, Kemal Derviş breaks down the current analysis on economic inequality and what needs to be done to address this. Check it out below!
The Finding Ways to Walk Together initiative in South Africa which started last year is a partnership between the Shared Societies Project of the Club de Madrid, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) and Idasa as local partners, and a core group comprising the Letsema Circle, Dynamic Stability, the Harold Wolpe Memorial Trust, and the Africa Centre for Dispute Resolution of the Stellenbosch University School of Business.
The initiative aims to build a critical analysis of the quality and impact of current dialogue efforts; what the cumulative effect of these dialogue efforts is; and how dialogue can achieve system level impact. Where is dialogue working and not working and why? How can we improve the quality of conversations and interaction in order to jointly tackle the huge challenges such as inequality and improving the standard of education?
Initially designed as a one year initiative, the initiative set out to convene four regional dialogues and a national level dialogue which is planned for the 25-26 of July 2012.
The first of the series of dialogues was held in the Western Cape in October 2011 which was an open-ended dialogue about the quality of dialogue in South Africa. Our most recent was held in the Eastern Cape on the 2nd to the 3rd of March with a specific focus on education. The Eastern Cape dialogue brought together learners, teachers, principals, civil society, business, and academia. The highlight of this dialogue was bringing and amplifying the voices of the learners which are so often left out in mainstream dialogues.
The next series of regional dialogue will be held in Limpopo on the 29th of March which will focus on unemployment and poverty; and a Free State youth dialogue will be convened on 31st May – 1st June.
A national dialogue will be convened on the 25-26 July 2012 in Johannesburg to bring together the recommendations from the regional dialogues.
Sanka Chandima Abayawardena, a political activist from Sri Lanka born and raised during the conflict, has published a very interesting article reproduced by Open Democracy about Sri Lanka titled “Reconciliation in Sri Lanka means the youth must lead the way“. As we can read there, “he is a non-interventionist critic of separatism based on ethno-identity and a firm believer in local solutions for sustainable peace”, which means that, why not, he is interesting for the Shared Societies Project.
He argues that “international calls for justice in Sri Lanka which are insensitive to domestic public opinion further alienate a youth population suspicious of Western intervention and determined to develop their country”.
We encourage you to read and discuss the role of youth in social cohesion and national reconciliation!
The author also recommends to read the following articles published by Open Democracy
Finally, here you have a video interview with Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka with Al Jazeera’s program 101 East:
Better together: social cohesion, prosperity, and shared societies
By Javier García Toni
Imagine a society in which everyone is comfortable and feels at home. Imagine a society that respects the dignity and human rights of its members, and offers them all the same opportunities. Imagine a tolerant society that integrates minorities and respects the diversity of the many groups that constitute it. Sounds good, right? Well, this is exactly what the Club de Madrid envisions an inclusive society to be: a cohesive, stable, and secure society. It was for this reason that 5 years ago, the Club de Madrid began The Shared Societies Project, and launched 10 commitments to achieve it.
An inclusive society is characterized by its ability to provide economic benefits to the region that hosts it: harnessing the talent, potential, and capacity of all of its members to create a prosperous and secure community. In this way, it tries to create a productive internal dynamic that maximizes the economic contributions of all the individuals within it, regardless of their gender, race, religion, language, or any other social attribute.
The greatest enemy of shared societies is social conflict, which is not simply a problem for the South. The headlines we often read speak of ethnic clashes in Africa and Central Asia, persecuted minorities in the Middle East and Asia, and social conflicts in Latin America… But there is also inequality, poverty, marginalization, xenophobia and discrimination in the North.
Globalization and the economic crisis have accentuated these conflicts and brought to light the populism and exclusive nationalism in many places in the world. Without doubt this is a problem that presents enormous challenges that have to be confronted with clear and strong political leadership in favour of cohesion and social integration. Every leader responds to situations differently, but what is common to all leaders is their need for tools and options to meet these challenges.
Through its work on the ground, the Club de Madrid has offered these tools and options to democratic leaders facing such problems, and has had many successful experiences in countries such as South Africa, Kyrzgstan, or Peru.
This translation is a fragment of an article published by the Spanish specialized magazine Política Exterior. You can read the full article (in Spanish) clicking here.
Javier García Toni is Communications Assistant for Club de Madrid and he is also part of the Shared Societies Project Team. Follow him on Twitter: @JGToni
You can see also this video summary of the Shared Societies Project available on Shared Societies TV