AASGON advocates for Change at the UN

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China Balance of Trade 2

MDGs and Action for the Disabled 5

UN—The Future We ALL Deserve 7

US-China Cold War 10

Better Start in Labour Market 11

Participatory Governance 13

Japan to Broadcast 4K Program 14

A F R I C A A S I A S C H O L A R S

G L O B A L N E T W O R K

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Autumn 2013

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Boosting efforts to tackle

global economic, social and environmental chal-lenges the UN General Assembly has established a new High-level Political Forum, to replace the United Nations Commis-sion on Sustainable Development (UNCSD). Recognising the need for an improved and more effective institutional framework that will effectively guide sustainable development towards 'the future we want', the General Assem-bly should be commended for acknowledging its shortcomings, and boldly making reforms ‘action for change’ in meeting set agenda for post MDGs through its replacement of the UNCSD which was established in December 1992 to ensure effective follow up of the Earth Summit.

We are simply not doing enough to meet the fundamental challenges of our time: to end extreme poverty in this generation and significantly narrow the global gap between rich and poor, without inflicting irrepara-ble damage to the environmental basis for our survival,” said General Assembly President Vuk Jeremić in his review of progress made over the last

13 years.

Describing the Forum, a major step forward in implementing 'The Future We Want',” the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls on all Countries to do their utmost to

realize the Forum's potential.

In his remark on the newly established UN High level Political Forum on SDGs, Abdul ‘Dewale Mohammed the Foun-der and Executive President of the Africa Asia Scholars Global Network (AASGON) reiterated that “The step taken by the General Assembly will invigorate action towards the process of learning from some of the misrep-resentations and inactions of the past decade. The Forum he agrees ‘must be more than just a meeting place – it must be the place where government, the corporate and civil society gener-ate the momentum for change’. He however cautioned that the change of the Commission on Sustain-able Development should not merely be a replacement of a ‘old wine in a new bottle’ but a forum that is ener-gised in line with the challenges of the 21st century thus igniting the spirit of Rio+20 . Continued on page 4

ACCSEP ‘14

Mandela—the China Connection 19

Nigeria’s Space Mission 20

Fashion 2013 23

Aliko Donates N10 Billion 25

Youth Unemployment 28

Cameron’s £1 Million Prize 30

AASGON Promote University Polo 32

NEPAD May Fail 36

Aid for Trade Initiative

Aid for Trade flows result in lower trade costs and improved

trade performance. OECD-WTO analysis shows that $1 in Aid for Trade funding increases exports from richer developing countries by $8, and by as much as $20 from the poorest countries.

The impact of Aid for Trade funding is even higher for exports of parts

and components, underscoring the benefits value chains offer to

developing countries. To take full advantage of the development opportunities afforded

by trade, the report suggests that future aid for trade flows be directed at programmes

to improve trade-related infrastructure and improve the business environment. Donors

and developing countries should also put in place frameworks for results-based man-

agement of aid for trade programmes, based on a menu of trade-related targets, as

well as indicators to measure performance.

Mandela and the China connection

It's the spirit of the times,

China has not been left behind in the global Mandela adoration. On July 18, for instance, Chi-nese author Li Yong, who has written a book about Mandela, spoke glowingly at a charity event hosted by the South African embassy in Beijing.

In the words of Li Yong "Mandela is the greatest person alive on this planet."

For more on Bob Wekesa’s report go to page…19

In this Issue:

Social Investment

and Philanthropy

CHINA

Page 2

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China recorded a trade surplus of 178.18 USD

Hundred Million in July of 2013. Balance of Trade in China is reported by the General Administration of Customs. China Balance of Trade averaged 54.54 USD Hundred Million from 1983 until 2013, reaching an all time high of 404 USD Hundred Million in Novem-ber of 2008 and a record low of -319.81 USD Hundred Million in February of 2012. Since 1995 China has been recording consis-tent trade surpluses. From 2004 to 2009 China’s annual trade surplus has increased 10 times. Yet, as the global demand is slow-ing down and import of commodities for vast infrastructure projects and consumer goods is growing, there has been a significant de-

cline in trade surplus. In the last few years, the biggest trade sur-pluses were recorded with the United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Vietnam and Singapore. The biggest trade deficits were recorded with Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, Germany, South Africa, Japan and Brazil. The new Chinese loan of $1.5 billion to Nigeria brings to a total of nearly $15 billion China’s investments and loans to the country. The bi-lateral trade relation between the two countries has advanced over the years. With Nigeria’s imports from China accounting for over a third of its total trade in West Africa, the country is potentially earmarked as the largest market for China’s trade in

Africa. However there is a chronic and growing trade imbalance between the two countries in favour of China. Nigeria can reduce the vast trade imbalance by increasing its non-oil exports to China, whose exports to Nigeria are currently estimated at $3 billion, while Nigeria’s exports stand at $1 billion.

In order to change the world for the better, it is not enough to simply give money and hope that things change. Innovation, effective collaboration, careful stewardship and accountability are key to delivering effective change through social investment.

Like strategic commercial investment, suc-cessful philanthropy and social investment also require skills, information, and strate-gies. These can be learned. By encouraging a planned, strategic and businesslike approach

to private and corporate giving, the field of philanthropy and social investment offers career opportunities and the fulfilment that comes with making a difference.

According to Swinburne University of Tech-nology, Australia, a national leader in educa-tion and research in relation to philanthropy, ‘strong commitment to transformative educa-tion that can unlock potentials and demon-strate social change is vital’

In a statement by the Centre for Social Impact

(CSI) “In global philanthropy today we are

seeing the emergence of a generation of

philanthropists who value impact and effec-

tiveness over intentions.

These philanthropists

are beginning to

demand rigorous

evidence bases to

underpin their invest-

ment allocation deci-

sions. And in doing

so, they confront the

problem of the gap

between the theory

of social impact measurement and the enor-

mous practical difficulties in measuring social

value in the real world setting”.

President Obama has named 16 recipients of

the Presidential Medal of

Freedom. President Bill

Clinton and Oprah Winfrey

are among the brightest

stars.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the highest civilian honour in the US.

Thinking forward

Science, technology and innova-tion are changing the world, and in many ways Swinburne is

helping shape the future. Visit http://www.thinkforward.com.au/

China‘s trade imbalance with Africa Soars

US Highest Honour…..

UN Global Compact

gear up for action...... Following series of related discussions with the UN on Post MDGs, representatives of Global Compact LEAD Multinational Corporations have proposed Ten Sustainable Development Goals: 1. End poverty and increase prosperity via

inclusive economic growth 2. Quality Education For All 3. Achieve women’s and girls empower-

ment 4. Universal Health Coverage 5. Good Nutrition for All through Sustain-

able Food and Agricultural Systems 6. Water and Sanitation for All 7. Sustainable Energy for All 8. Build Peaceful an stable societies 9. Modernise infrastructure and technology

A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors

(such as individuals or organizations) and a complex set of the dyadic ties

between these actors. The social network perspective provides a clear

way of analyzing the structure of whole social entities. The study of

these structures uses social network analysis to identify local and global

patterns, locate influential entities, and examine network dynamics.

Social networks and the analysis of them is an inher-ently interdisciplinary academic field which emerged from social psy-chology, sociology, statistics, and graph theory. Georg Simmel authored early structural theories in sociology emphasizing the dynamics of triads and web of group affiliations. Jacob Moreno is credited with developing the first sociograms in the 1930s to study interpersonal relationships. These approaches were mathematically formalized in the 1950s and theories and methods of social networks became pervasive in the social and behavioural sciences by the 1980s. Social network analysis is now one of the major paradigms in contemporary sociology, and is also em-ployed in a number of other social and formal sciences. Together with other complex networks, it forms part of the nascent field of network science.

Overview

A social network is a theoretical construct useful in the social sciences to study relationships between individuals, groups, organizations, or even entire societies (social units, see differentiation). The term is used to describe a social structure determined by such interactions. The ties through which any given social unit connects represent the convergence of the various social contacts of that unit. This theoretical approach is necessarily relational. An axiom of the social network approach to understanding social inter-action is that social phenomena should be primarily conceived and inves-tigated through the properties of relations between and within units, instead of the properties of these units themselves. Thus, one common criticism of social network theory is that individual agency is often ignored although this may not be the case in practice. Precisely because many different types of relations, singular or in combi-nation, form these network configurations, network analytics are useful to a broad range of research enterprises. In social science, these fields of study include, but are not limited to anthropology, biology, communica- tion studies, economics, geography, information science, organizational studies, social psychology, sociology, and sociolinguistics.

Courtesy wikipedia.org/wiki/Social net-Page 3

Social

Network

History

In the late 1800s, both Émile Durkheim and Ferdinand

Tönnies foreshadowed the idea of social networks in their

theories and research of social groups. Tönnies argued that social

groups can exist as personal and direct social ties that either link

individuals who share values and belief (Gemeinschaft, German,

commonly translated as "community") or impersonal, formal, and

instrumental social links (Gesellschaft, German, commonly trans-

lated as "society").

Durkheim gave a non-individualistic explanation of social facts, arguing that social phenomena arise when interacting individuals constitute a reality that can no longer be accounted for in terms of the properties of individual actors. Georg Simmel, writing at the turn of the twentieth century, pointed to the nature of networks and the effect of network size on interaction and examined the likelihood of interaction in loosely-knit networks rather than groups.

Major developments in the field can be seen in the 1930s by several groups in psychology, anthropology, and mathematics working independently. In psychology, in the 1930s, Jacob L. Moreno began systematic recording and analysis of social interac-tion in small groups, especially classrooms and work groups. Inanthropology, the foundation for social network theory is the theoretical and ethnographic work of Bronislaw Malinowski, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, and Claude Lévi-Strauss.

A group of social anthropologists associated with Max Gluck-man and the Manchester School, including John A. Barnes, J. Clyde Mitchell and Elizabeth Bott Spillius, often are credited with performing some of the first fieldwork from which network analy-ses were performed, investigating community networks in south-ern Africa, India and the United Kingdom. Concomitantly, British anthropologist S.F. Nadel codified a theory of social structure that was influential in later network analysis. In sociology, the early (1930s) work of Talcott Parsons set the stage for taking a relational approach to understanding social structure. Later, drawing upon Parsons' theory, the work of sociologist Peter Blau provides a strong impetus for analyzing the relational ties of social units with his work on social exchange theory.

By the 1970s, a growing number of scholars worked to combine

the different tracks and traditions. One group consisted of soci-

ologist Harrison White and his students at the Harvard University

Department of Social Relations. Also independently active in the

Harvard Social Relations department at the time were Charles

Tilly, who focused on networks in political and community sociol-

ogy and social movements, and Stanley Milgram, who developed

the "six degrees of separation" thesis. Mark Granovetter

and Barry Wellman are among the former students of White who

elaborated and championed the analysis of social networks.

You can’t track what you don’t measure, and what you don’t measure rarely gets done. Simply if you can’t measure it, obviously you can’t manage it!

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From cover page

As part of stimulating structure for SDGs, the UN by decision of the General Assembly went on in January 2013 to inaugurate a 30-member Open Working Group (OWG). Mandated by the Rio+20 Outcome document, OWG is to prepare a proposal on SDGs for consideration by the Assembly at its 68th session (Sept. 2013 – Sept. 2014). The first session of OWG on SDGs was convened in March with Ambassadors Csaba Körösi of Hungary and Macharia Kamau of Kenya appointed as Co-Chair. Recalling the Rio outcome, the President of the 67th session of the General Assembly, Vuk Jeremić, in welcoming the Group highlighted the agreed criteria for SDGs, and said that the OWG should aim to establish new forms of engagement to ensure that a balanced and coherent proposal could be submitted to the 68th session of the General Assembly. In support of Vuk Jeremic’s appeal some members of the OWG acknowl-edged that “current models for development are unsustainable and that the SDGs must represent a new development agenda that respects the physical constraints of the planet and can also lift the poorest people out of poverty”. In Abdul ‘Dewale Mohammed’s judgement, to uncompromisingly avoid the inactions of the past decades, the UN and its member states need to be steadfast than ever before and urgently step up their acts and be exception-ally proactive in addressing the 8th of the MDGs (agenda) ’Develop a Global Partnership for Development’. Governments across board, he emphasised need to adopt ‘a partnership that enables, a transformative people-centred and planet-sensitive development agenda realizable through the equal and transparent partnership of all stakeholders is effected.’ In mobilizing the UN system to support global, regional and national strate-gies to effectively address the building blocks of sustainable development, certainly changes is imminent within the UN and model of governance, if we the world is to concretely address the problem of poverty and inequality.

Therefore In line with UN’s determination, to ensure post MDGs are sufficiently attained and to avoid past mistakes and carry along other key stakeholders, the inadequacies of the defunct UNCDS which led to member states resolve at the Rio+20, to establish the high level political forum as a replacement for UNCDS followed with the installation of the 30-member Open Working Group (OWG), should be widely shared among the civil society, which obviously as key partners, need not only to know the rationale and kept informed of other institutional changes to be effected within the UN cadre, but brought along to complement the work of the UN.

ITU of Japan Celebrate WTISD 2013

May 17 marks the anniversary of the signing of the first

International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union. With over 260 participants in attendance the ITU Association of Japan (ITU-AJ) recently celebrated the World Telecommu-nication and Information Society Day (WTISD) in Tokyo, Japan. Awards were presented to prominent figures in the fields of standardization and international cooperation. At each year’s celebration, the ITU-AJ holds an award cere-mony to recognize those who have furthered the aims of WTISD by helping to raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, and by finding ways to bridge the digital divide.

Yasuo Suzuki, President of ITU—AJ remarked that ‘ICT is an indispen-sable means of coping with matters that have become global concerns such as global warming , cyber security and juvenile protection The most honourable “2013 Minister’s Award”

was presented to Mr. Seiichi Tsugawa, the current chairman of ITU-T SG3, for his outstanding contributions to the ITU and Japan’s ICT industry during his career of over 30 years in this field. This year, the ITU-AJ introduced a new award called the “Special Achievement Award”, which was presented to Dr. Toshio Watanabe, chancellor of Takushoku University, for his distinguished achievements as a leading economist in the field of development economics. Founded with the aim of ‘facilitating peaceful relations, international cooperation among peoples and economic and social development by means of efficient telecommunica-tion services, the International Telecommunication Union, a specialised agency of the United Nations since 1932, stands as the world’s oldest international organisation.

“We need to invest more in our

people, our scholars and students.

That is why AASGON’s work is so

strategic and vital in our endeavour to

overcome the massive difficulties that

confront our continents”

- Ambassador Yuri Thamrin Director –General

Africa Asia Pacific Affairs Republic of Indonesia

UN to Make

Further Changes...

MDGs and Action for the Disabled

While the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) represent a concerted effort to address global poverty, there

is a striking gap in the current MDGs and their inclusion of persons with disabilities. The estimated 1 billion people worldwide who live with disabilities are still excluded from equitable access to resources such as education, employment, healthcare and social and legal support systems. As a result persons with disabilities experience disproportionately high rates of poverty and inequality. With the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006, some progress has been made in improving the situation of persons with disabilities. However, in spite of such gains, disability remains largely invisible in most mainstream development processes, including the MDGs. Greater efforts are needed to ensure that development processes include persons with disabilities to help realize the overall objective of the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in our diverse society. In 2011, the General Assembly decided to convene a one-day high-level meeting of the General Assembly on disability (HLMD) at the level of Heads of State and Government on 23 September 2013, the Monday before the start of the general debate of the sixty-eighth session. Under the theme: “The way forward: a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond”, the HLMD will comprise of a plenary meeting and two consecutive informal interactive round tables. The outcome is expected to boost the inclusion of people with disabilities in governance and policy implementation in the UN Sustainable Development Agenda. Page 5

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Sustainable Development

In 1987, the United Nations released the Brundtland

Report, which included what is now one of the most

widely recognised definitions: "Sustainable develop-

ment is development that meets the needs of the

present without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs."

According to the same report, there are two key

concepts: the concept of 'needs', in particular the

essential needs of the world's poor, to which

overriding priority

should be given;

and the idea of

l i m i t a t i o n s

imposed by the

state of technol-

ogy and social

organization on

the envi ron-

ment's ability to

meet present

and future needs

However the field of sustainable development

can be conceptually divided into four general

dimensions: social, economic, environmental

and institutional. The first three dimensions

address key principles of sustainability, while

the final dimension addresses key institutional

policy and capacity issues.

Sustainable devel-opment refers to a mode of human development in which resource use aims to meet human needs while e n s u r i n g t h e sustainability of natural systems and the environment, so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come.

More recently, it has been suggested that a more consistent analytical breakdown is to distinguish four domains of economic, ecological, political and cultural sustainability. This is consistent with the UCLG move to make 'culture' the fourth domain of sustainability. Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social challenges faced by humanity. As early as the 1970s, "sustainability" was employed to describe an economy "in equilibrium with basic ecologi-cal support systems. "]Ecologists have pointed to ‘The Limits to Growth’ and presented the alternative of a "steady state economy" in order to address environmental concerns.

Wangari Muta Maathai Memorial (1 April 1940 – 25 Sept. 2011)

For her contribution to sustainable development,

democracy and peace Wangari Muta Maathai in 2004 became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. A Kenyan environmental and political activist, Maathai was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya. In the 1970s, she founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights. In 1986, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award. Elected member of Parliament served as assistant minister or Environment and Natural Resources in the government of President Mwai Kibaki between January 2003 and November 2005. An Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council, in 2011, Maathai died of complications from ovarian cancer.

"development that meets the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs."

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UN High-level Political Forum

Embraces the ‘Future We All Deserve’

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) constitutes an ambitious agenda to significantly improve human lives and their environment. The goals set clear targets for reducing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women and children.

In light of weak and often faltering macroeconomic performance, vulnerabil-ity to negative climatic shocks, fertility rates and population growth that outpace those of other regions, and a devastating combination of poverty, continued civil conflict, and the effects of HIV/AIDS, realizing the eight ‘Millennium Development Goals’ - Eradicate extreme poverty

and hunger; Achieve universal primary education; Promote gender equality and empower women; Reduce child mortality; Improve maternal health; Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; Ensure environmental sustainability; Develop a global partnership for development - has been a particularly challenging task in Sub-Saharan Africa, in Asia and the Pacific. Though not quite significant, over the years in association with the international community, there has been progress in Asia, the Pacific and some parts of Africa in implementing the continents development plans. However progress in implementing sustainable development has been extremely disappointing since the 1992 Earth Summit, with poverty deepening and environmental degradation worsening in the developing countries. By any account the 2002 Johannesburg Summit did not provide clear cut solutions to aid the fight against poverty. Reaffirming its role in global governance, the shortfalls supposedly led to the decision in last year’s outcome document of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) of the UN General Assembly to scrap the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) established 21 years ago, and replace it with a High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Providing political leadership, guidance and action-oriented recommendations the Forum is expected to meet urgent global economic, social and environmental challenges through reviews of progress in the implementation of related commitments and enhance integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental.

Emphasising the need for an improved and

more effective institutional framework the

General Assembly decided that the High-

Level Political Forum (HLPF) should

provide a dynamic platform for regular

dialogue and for stocktaking and agenda-

setting to advance that process. In line with the Assembly resolution, the Forum is scheduled to

convene annually at the ministerial level under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and it will, every four years, bring together heads of State to provide added momentum for sustainable development. Its first meeting comes up in September, during the Assembly's forthcoming 68th ses-sion.

Expectantly the concerns of many and that of Vuk Jeremić, the 67th General Assembly President and that of the Sirleaf, Yudhoyono and Cameron joint Bali Declaration, calling for more decisive action, global partnership and people centred policies in meeting the fundamental challenges of our time, will guide the spirit of the 68th General Assembly and that of the UN High-level Political Forum (HLPF) and the Open Working Group (OWG). About to set another agenda as the MDGs timeline comes to an end in 2015, the UN should in ensuring sustainable development beyond MDG, put in place apposite apparatus that will effectively motivate committed, transparent and far reaching partnerships. Critical as it may possibly be the 8th of the MDGs ‘Develop a Global Partnership for Development’ is considered as the most essential tool for sustainable development post MDGS and therefore requires a more desired and renewed vigour by all proponents of development, particularly members of the HLPF and the OWG who are to display exem-plary leadership. In a shift to infuse corpo-rate models that link long-term business interests with social and environ-mental well-being, Ban Ki-moon’s decision to incorporate the capabilities of private sector’s innovation and investment through coherent multi-sector collabora-tion brings a great relieve and in the interest of the well-being of present and future generations, ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) should be accorded the full commitment it deserves.

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"In the 20 years since the first Rio Earth Summit, the world has largely failed to address some of the most serious environmental and social problems pressing in on us" "We can't afford business as usual. We need to engage the academic and scientific com-munity, and tap into worldwide technological know-how in the private sector and civil society, in order to develop and implement practical solutions"

- Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs head of SDSN and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on global anti-poverty target and Director at Columbia University’s Earth Institute.

With business leaders willing to support global priorities in line with the UN Post-2015 Agenda, outcome of the General Assembly plenary in late September should set the foundation for the most needed change that will bring about ‘The World We ALL Deserve’

Advocates for International Development empowers

lawyers to use their skills to fight world poverty.

Through its pro bono broker and legal education

services it helps the legal sector to meet its global

corporate social responsibility to bring about world development.

A4ID is a global charity that believes the law can, and should, be used

more effectively to eradicate global poverty. Around the world,

development organisations work tirelessly to improve access to

basic services for the poorest people and empower

local communities to tackle poverty.

However very often lack of access to legal expertise reduces the impact of these organisations and in many instances the law itself can act as a barrier to sustainable international developmentA4ID works at ensuring that legal support is available for all those involved in the fight against poverty and that lawyers and development organisations have the skills and knowledge to use the

law as an effective development tool.

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Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) has

been at the forefront of assisting members in developing telecommu-nication and ICT services in the Asia Pacific region. This assistance has many fronts and includes providing forums and workshops dealing with policy and technological issues pertaining to telecommunication/ICT and capacity building (HRD) including training courses on various topics

Applicants willing to seek for Chinese government scholarship should apply

to the dispatching authorities, such as the Chinese Embassy or Consulate in the applicant’s country, a Chinese higher education institution, a research

institute or an academic organization.

Eligible applicants should log on the online application system, ask for the agency number, fill out and print the application form, which should then be

mailed in duplicate to the dispatching authority, the responsible agency for

students scholarship enrolment and admission. Students who do not meet the

language proficiency requirement for the major study shall take 1-2 years’ Chinese language classes before they start the major program.

Some higher education institutions offer courses instructed in English for

graduate students and general scholars. Those who take English taught programs should not take Chinese language classes. Undergraduate students

are required to take classes in Chinese. Students with no prior knowledge of

Chinese language shall take 1 year foundation courses at the assigned

universities. The website for the online application system is http://laihua.csc.edu.cn.

4th APT Workshop on Disaster Management held in Manila

High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) Aim: Facilitate

SDGs Inaugural Meeting Date: 24 Sept. ’13.

Place: UN HQ New York Can Technology Fix Education?

Check Out Tweets from Twitter Town Hall on Education and Technology

Silicon Valley in California was buzzing with tweets for education as

the first ever Global Education and Technology Forum kicked-off with a Twitter Town Hall featuring Gordon Brown, United Nations

Special Envoy for Global Education and Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO. T h e f o r u m w a s l i v e t w e e t e d from @gbceducation with the support of over 100 tech and education executives in the room, along with tech start-ups and on-the-ground education providers joining in via Twitter.

The town hall exposed the international challenges we face in educa-tion, and showed that creative and efficient tech businesses can do their part to solve some of these problems. The conversation was ongoing and went beyond the live town hall with panels touching on topics such as data,teacher training, and student learning experiences. Companies such as Dropbox, World Reader, Palantir, Meraki, Coursera, Econet Wireless, Pearson and Google were challenged in an open discussion to find technological solutions to educate the 61 million primary-school-aged children who are currently not in school. Peter Diamandis even announced the launch of an X Prize for Global Literacy.

We challenge you to hold them accountable and continue the #Tech4Ed conversation online. Help us advocate for the dire needs of millions of children who cannot go to school and are deprived of a quality education.

Quinoa is a grain-like crop

grown primarily for its edible

seeds. It is a pseudocereal

rather than a true cereal or

grain as it is not a a true grass

family. As a chenopod, quinoa is

closely related to species such as

beetroots, spinach and tumble

weeds. Referred to as

‘Superfood’ with high nutritional value, its protein

content per 100 calories is much higher than brown

rice, potatoes, barley and millet. Quinoa is a com-

plete source of protein and calcium.

The Business Council for Africa (West & Southern) introduced Mr

Arnold Ekpe as the Council's first Honorary President at their annual Summer Lecture on 3rd July 2013. The event held at The Royal Over-Seas League and sponsored by FBN Bank, attracted a number of high-profile business leaders, investors, diplomats, members and friends of the BCA. . Regarded as one of the most important and influential African businessmen of his generation, the former CEO of Ecobank gave a passionate speech about his experiences in Africa and the ways in which Africa could move forward as a continent – shifting from talk and ideas to action and growth, stating, “ In Africa, we need to talk less and do more” Recognising Africa’s vast economic potential, Ekpe was also careful to highlight specific danger signs in order to ensure that Africa’s growth story is a sustainable one, focusing on areas such as infrastructure, integration and building strong regional economic hubs. During his speech, Ekpe suggested the idea of an African Investment Bank

where African governments invest capi-tal for regional projects.

“To attract investment,” he suggested, “ Africa

must show confidence. Africa is at a turning

point. We should be taking more steps to

integrate Africa, which means putting the right

infrastructure in place – building Pan-African

railways and enabling open skies”.

Ekpe also highlighted the importance of developing strong African

business success stories: “Africa needs to do more to empower and

support African champions. African champions would be companies

that have a regional mandate, for example Ecobank, MTN in telecom-

munications or Shoprite the retail group, taking a regional approach

to development.” As part of his new role as Honorary President of

the BCA, Arnold Ekpe will act as a figurehead and ambassador to pro-

mote the Council’s mission, values and objectives.

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Do

you

have ... medical concerns

questions or

experiences you

want an answer to

or like to share?

Write to Augusta

“I’ll be delighted to

respond” For your comments

and queries”

Email me at: akada@aasgon.net

Sickle Cell Anemia Treatment The treatment of Sickle Cell disorder will obviously depend very much on the condition of individuals. If they can no longer cope, they are advised to go hospi-tal immediately. At present, there is no known cure for this disorder. Some Sickle Cell disorder patient, espe-cially the ones with Thalassaemia are regularly on blood transfusion every four weeks for the rest of their lives, and daily penicillin, and folic acid to prevent life threatening infections.

When they are Sickle Cell crisis (I.e. severe pain on the joints or particular bone in the body), they are usually treated with heavy painkillers to ease off the pain. Some of the painkillers are co-proxomol, morphine/diamorphine, morphine sulphate, ibuprofen, and diclofenac sodium, dihydro-codeine, and codydramol etc. etc. sickle cell patient is also treated with Antibiotics. These drugs are usually safe and effective in the treatment of bacterial disorders

ranging from minor infections, like conjunctivitis, to life-threatening diseases. Some of the antibiotics have a broad spectrum of activity against wide vari-ety of bacterial. Others are used in the treatment of infection by only a few specific organisms. Some of these antibiotics are penicillins, augmentin-co-amoxilav, clarithromy-cin, and ciprofloxacin. When these patients with sickle cell disorder are hospitalised, they are mainly given these drugs and importantly they are also treated with celine drips. These drips help to increase the fluid in the system, reducing sickle cell crisis. In the United State, it was recently introduced that Sickle Cell disorder can be treated, where the sufferer’s will no longer suffers from Sickle Cell disor-der. This type of treatment will be through cloning (Gene therapy.) Cloning is one aspect of genetic

engineering, the rapidly growing area of scientific re-search that tries to change and control the design of living things. In fact, there was a case 10 years go, where an early gene inherited a defective gene from both parents, giving her a condition that left body un-able to fight infections. She was very ill and left normal red blood cells live above 120 days in the body, sickle cells only live about 5-30 days. Other Symptoms: Individuals with Sickle Cell diseases or Beta Thalassaemia gets tired easily, this is because their red blood cells have a shortened life span and as a result of that they have a low haemoglo-bin and are anaemic they can get breathless even with minimal physical activity and excretion. They are more likely to feel the cold compared to most people. People with Sickle cell disease don’t develop very good immu-nity and therefore prone to picking up infections early. Infections need to be treated promptly to prevent sickling (pain) crisis or other complication.

Is there a Cure for sickle cell disease? Yes. It is called Bone marrow Transplantation (BMT). Bone marrow is obtained from a matched unaffected brother or sister or unrelated donor and transplanted to

the person with sickle cell disease. However, this treatment is not without side effects and the physical, emotional and psychological ef-fects can sometimes cause more distress than the disease itself.

How can Families help? The most important part

a family can play is to learn as much as possible about sickle cell disease so that they can help prevent ill health, recognise symptoms of illness and care and support in the home. The psychological and emotional stress of living with

sickle cell disease can be reduced if the individual gets support, encouragement and feels able to live as normal a life as possible in there own commu-nity. There are specialist sickle cell and thalassaemia centres/services in the Uk. The NHS and run by specialist nurses, doctors and social workers fund them. These centres offer information, advice, and education of the public as well as educate health, allied and other professionals.

Arnold Ekpe shares his vision for ‘Africa – Moving from Talk to Action’.

Page 10

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To prevent another Cold War China’s Presi-

dent Xi Jinping is looking for a “new model of major country relationship” with the United States. “China and the United States must find a new path—one that is different from the inevitable confrontation and conflict between the major countries of the past,” Xi told reporters after his first meeting with President Obama in June.

Welcoming the Chinese leader’s gesture Obama responded “We shared our respective visions for our countries’ futures and agreed that we’re more likely to achieve our objectives of prosperity and security of our people if we are working together coopera-tively, rather than engaged in conflict”.

Raising the issue of cyber-security, which has emerged as one of the most controversial issues between the two nations, the focus on the Cold War by Xi is assumed to suggest a sense of urgency from the Chinese leader. “It’s as if in parenthesis he’s saying, ‘If we don’t get this relationship right now, neither of us is going to like what we’re going to have to do next,’” said Chris Johnson, a former China analyst for the CIA and the Freeman

Chair in China Studies at the Centre for Strategic & International Studies.

They agreed that North Korea must be denuclearized, and agreed on a path forward to apply pressure on the government in Pyongyang, which U.S. officials view as one of China’s first forays stepping in to promote regional calm.

According to the US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Obama said “that the parties should seek to de-escalate, not escalate; and the parties should seek to have conversations about this through diplomatic channels and not through actions out of the East China Sea,” and further encouraged Xi to deesca-late tensions with Japan over the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are believed to sit upon oil and gas reserves claimed by both countries.

With hopes for future cooperation on climate change, both leaders signed off an agreement to limit the release of Hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gas used as refrigerants. To promote stability between the two powers, discussions also centred on the importance of strengthening military-to-military ties, which lag diplomatic and economic relations by more than a decade.

In its report culled from The Diplomat, Zach-ary Keck stressed that it is often argued that weaker Asian nations like those of ASEAN would be the most negatively impacted by a U.S.-China Cold War, as Washington and Beijing would force them to take sides. As

evidence of this, proponents point to the U.S.-Soviet Cold War when the superpowers supposedly divided the world up into opposing spheres of influence.

But this is a misinterpretation of the Cold War, and its further misapplication to the contemporary Asia-Pacific. In fact, smaller Asian countries would be the primary benefactors of a more acute U.S.-China strategic rivalry.

With the exception of the countries that were occupied at the end of WWII, the superpow-ers did not force other nations to choose sides. If anything, the opposite was often true.

NATO is a case in point. Although it’s difficult to recall these days, at the end of WWII the U.S. still had a strong isolationist current among the American people and some elite circles. Consequently, building domestic sup-port for the economic-driven Marshall Plan was difficult, even though the U.S. had always maintained robust trading relations with Western Europe. Ratifying the NATO treaty was even more contentious.

Faced with the threat of the Soviet leviathan, which had just conquered Eastern Europe, the Europeans had no such qualms. As Lawrence Kaplan, an expert on the trans-national alliance, points out, the driving forces behind NATO as it came to exist were Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

In 1948, these five countries signed the Brus-sels Pact pledging self-defence before attempting to rope the U.S. into the treaty’s principle that each nation would automati-cally respond militarily if one of the others was attacked.

Xi takes First Step to Avert US-China Cold War

For The World

We All Deserve

Join the Chain

to Make the Change!

For Details Contact:

AASGON

info@aasgon.net

”We definitely are excited to work with AASGON

not only in cooperation with Sias University but

also with the Association of Universities of Asia

and the Pacific (AUAP) and the International

Association of University Presidents (IAUP)”

- Dr. Shawn Chen

Founder and Executive Chairman,

Sias International University, Henan, China

1st Vice Chairman AUAP and Executive Director IAUP.

UN SECRETARY GENERAL’S ENVOY ON YOUTH,

MR. AHMAD ALHENDAWI WITH THE YOUTH

MECHANISM OF THE UNITED NATIONS DEVEL-

OPMENT ASSISTANCE FRAMEWORK AND THE

UN COMMUNICATIONS GROUP .

On Thursday, July 4, 2013, the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth, Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, who arrived in Colombo earlier that week, met with the UN Country Team, the UN Communica-tions Group and the Youth Mechanism Group of the United Nations Develop-ment Assistance Framework.

Mr. Alhendawi discussed the develop-ment of youth policy in Sri Lanka and the meaningful involvement of youth in the United Nations and issues that are of concern to young people.

akada

Page 11

The global financial crisis

has reinforced the message that more must be done to provide youth with the appro-priate skills and help to get a better start in the labour market. Sharp increases in youth unemployment and under-employment have built upon long-standing struc-tural obstacles that are preventing many youth in both OECD and Key Part-ner countries from devel-oping the skills they need and being able to use those skills effectively through a successful transition from school to the labour market. Action is all the more urgent in the context of a hesitant economic recovery and weak job creation in many coun-tries and at a time when gov-ernments face tight budget-ary and financial constraints. Tackling weak aggregate demand and promoting job creation are essential for bringing down high youth unemployment and under-employment. But while a brighter economic outlook will help, it will not solve all of the difficulties youth face in gain-ing access to productive and rewarding jobs; cost-effective measures addressing struc-tural issues are also needed. Giving youth a better start in the labour market is not only vital for improving their well-being and fostering greater social cohesion but also for boosting potential growth and limiting future social expendi-tures, especially in the context of rapid population ageing in most countries. Thus, action is needed both to bring immediate results in alleviating the current situa-tion of high youth unemploy-ment and under-employment and to produce better outcomes for youth in the longer run by equipping them with relevant skills for the

future and removing barriers to their employment. Particular attention should be focussed on the most disad-vantaged groups of youth, such as the low-skilled or those from migrant back-grounds, who face the great-

est risk of becoming perma-nently marginalised from the labour market along with a range of social problems. Action should be applied across a broad front to improve the provision of basic education and voca-tional training, and social services, and to tackle labour market barriers more gener-ally that are preventing many youth from gaining a firm foothold in the labour market. In line with the OECD Skills Strategy, effective action requires an effort across all relevant ministerial portfolios to ensure that youth acquire the right skills, bring those skills to the labour market and are able to utilise them effectively. However, there are large country differences in the labour market situation for youth and thus policy respon-ses must be tailored to each country’s circumstances. This also opens up the scope for mutual learn ing f rom successful measures and programmes that countries have taken to improve youth employment outcomes. Much has already been tried: some initiatives have deliv-ered good results while others have been disappoint-ingly ineffective. Yet even where successful measures have been taken, every OECD and Key Partner

country could still do more to improve youth outcomes. Therefore, at the latest OECD’s Meeting of the Council at Ministerial Level in May, countries committed to the key elements of an OECD Action Plan for Youth and to taking or strengthen-

ing effective measures to improve youth outcomes. This includes actions to tackle the current youth unemployment crisis and strengthen the long-term

employment prospects of youth. The OECD Action Plan for Youth draws together and builds upon extensive OECD analysis of education, skills and 2 youth-related employ-ment policies as well as a number of international initiatives, including the ILO Resolution on -“The youth employment crisis: a call for action”, the G20 commit-ments on youth employment and the EU Council's agreement on the Youth Guarantee. Following its endorsement, the OECD is working with countries to implement the OECD Youth Action Plan in their national context and provide peer-learning oppor-tunities for countries to share their implementation plans. The OECD also provides a setting to discuss what works and what does not in an international perspective based on country experience and will report on progress to the MCM 20.

OECD Action Plan for Youth —Why Action is Needed

GIVING YOUTH A BETTER START IN THE LABOUR MARKET

Multinational companies have avoided taxation in their home countries by pushing profits abroad to low- or no-tax jurisdic-tions. The G20 asked the OECD to create an action plan to address tax base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). The plan has now been launched. It identifies 15 actions and sets timelines for the implementation.

The OECD has now presented to G20 finance ministers plans for a two-pronged attack on tax avoidance and evasion from

both companies and individuals.

Action Plan Against

Tax Avoidance

Advertise in

akada

Millions read

Contact

akada@aasgon.net

Page 12

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From back page

While NEPAD theoretically promises to

set Africa on a development course, it also imparts contradictions and ambigui-ties, which together raise fundamental questions about its ability to meet its stated objectives. These questions have also become the basis for criticism and pessimism. Let us briefly look at these weaknesses. Although presented as a programme of partnership, the relationship between the West and Africa is criticised for lacking reciprocity, complementarity or symbiosis that characterise genuine partnerships. On the contrary, it is a fundamentally skewed partnership remi-niscent of the relationship “between a rider and a horse” (Ngwane, 2003: 3), or a benevolent and a beggar (Orakwue, 2002). Accordingly, the NEPAD acronym is either often derided as meaning a “new partnership for Africa’s domination or d e s t r u c t i o n ” , o r pronounced humorously as “KNEE-PAD” to depict Africa’s preparedness to stay longer on its knees while pleading for aid (Orakwue 2002). In fact, Asante (2003: 14), describes the partnership more succinctly as a “partnership of unequal partners”. These aberrations underscore the lack of true

partnership between Africa and the G8. Admittedly, much of these negative comparisons and analogies about NEPAD derive from the unending suspicions about the programme’s origins. In contrast to its portrayal as a home-grown project, NEPAD is frequently seen as a construction of the West (Adesina, 2003, Bond, 2003:12).

This critical view argues that a genuinely formulated African programme will eschew the neo-liberal prescriptions embodied in NEPAD, which more or less are the very policies constraining the region’s development (Govender, 2003). Beset with poverty and adversity, more over, a truly formulated African develop-ment programme would evolve people-centred and poverty-targeted policies, which are visibly missing in NEPAD.

NEPAD presents a neo-liberal frame-work, patterned along textbook eco-nomics and ex-pected to work from a classical point of view. But worldwide experience shows that textbook eco-nomics are not writ-ten for economies in decline such as those in Africa, which defy basic neoclassical logic. A neo-liberal pro-

gramme centred on the market, informed by the logic of trickle-down economics and with a plethora of conditionalities such as NEPAD, can at best exacerbate rather than ameliorate poverty. If the origins and nature of NEPAD, along with the partnership it evokes with the West are dubious, the commitment of Africa’s partners to meet aid obligation is an even bigger source of pessimism. Af-rica’s unmitigated past disappointments with western aid deals substantiate this. In 1986, for example, the UN developed a four year recovery programme, the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development (UN-PARRED) 1986-1990. This programme embodied pledges by the international creditor community to provide assistance to Africa. However, the tepid response from the international community condemned UN-PARRED to a premature demise. Again, in 1991, the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF) was adopted under which the international creditor community was to commit 0.7 percent of its GNP as ODA to Africa. On their part, African countries committed themselves to economic and

democratic reforms. However, in return for Africa’s wholesale adoption of SAPs and submission to multiparty elections by the close of the decade, only the Netherlands, and the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden provided 0.7% or higher of their GNP as ODA to Africa. In fact, aggregate ODA to Africa actually plummeted from $28.6 billion in 1990 to $16.4 billion in 2000 (Bentsi-Enchill 1997; Asante, 2003:16). Here, too, donor pledges went unfulfilled. As noted earlier, NEPAD’s acclaimed potential to promote good governance, through the innovative APRM, is another source of optimism. However, this optimism is misplaced. Submission to the APRM is voluntary. Countries which initially signed up can opt out if the process proves intrusive. Moreover, the AU lacks the muscle to compel countries to either sign up to the review process or comply with standards of good governance. This is a major limitation that has left the AU and APRM as a lame leviathan. Four countries – Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius and Rwanda – were reviewed in 2004. How-ever, consistent with the APRM’s lack of compulsion, the review process focused not on whether the stated standards of governance were adhered to, but whether the countries “[were] moving towards these goals” (Africa Research Bulletin, 2004: 15629-30). The incapacity of NEPAD and the AU to generate good governance is also evident in continuous allegations of corruption and nepotism involving top government officials in Africa; grotesque human right restrictions and abuses in Zimbabwe and Swaziland nearly four years after the adoption of NEPAD and the APRM. Nor, have NEPAD and the AU been able to completely stem conflicts and wars in Africa. On the contrary, in spite of successes in ending conflicts in Angola and Mozambique, others have continued to rage. Darfur, Somalia and the Democ-ratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continue to present challenges to the AU, while peace in the Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sudan remain fragile at best. Other disturbing internal tensions, such as in Zimbabwe, continue to test the ability of the AU to restore sound governance practices in the region. .

Continued page 26

Why NEPAD may Fail

The overwhelming neo-liberal orientation of NEPAD is a source

of concern. But this posture is informed not only by the global dominance of neo-liberalism as an ideology, but importantly by the assumption tracing Africa’s crisis to mainly internal factors.

GMU student pharmacists to practice in Africa

The increasing relevance and

importance of South-South Cooperation (SSC) has been stressed in major international events including the UN General Assembly sessions and resolutions.

Guided by the provisions of the Havana Programme of Action adopted by the First South Summit held in Havana, Cuba, 10 – 14 April 2000, the year when the MDGs came to be, this year December 2013 marks a decade when participants at the High-level Conference on South-South Cooperation met in Marrakech, Morocco, to review progress made in South-South Cooperation after 35 years of its formation in Buenos Aires, Argentina . Representing a tremendous force of solidarity, over the years there has been great optimism that South-South coopera-tion, will principally aid developing countries of the South in overcoming their ‘biggest challenges’.

According to Rose Wajiru a member of

Reality of Aid – Africa “It is expected that after the many years, there would be clear evidence of the achievements made through the South-South Coop-eration; and even more critical, it is expected that there would be clear conceptual and policy clarification and clear rules of engagement. A study done by UNDP reveals otherwise”. ..continued on page 19

delegation from the Pharma-

cists Council of Nigeria to

explore the accreditation of

Pharm D program offered by

the University.

Expanding its pharmacy chain

in line with GMC Hospitals’

strategic retail plans, Thumbay

Group is set to establish 10

more pharmacies in the UAE.

The Group which owns GMU

recently inaugurated a new

p h a r m a c y – G M C

To pave way for the registra-

tion of the Gulf Medical Univer-

sity (GMU) Pharm D students

as Pharmacists in Nigeria, GMU

played host to a high profile

South-South to perfect Participatory Governance

Prof. Capon Heads UNU-IIGH senior leadership and manage-

ment experience in public

health research, education and

policy, took office from August

1, 2013.

As part of efforts at collaborat-ing with key partners to develop a Post 2015 African Asian Pacific Joint Health Policy Framework, the Founder and Executive President of Africa Asia Scholars Global Network (AASGON), Abdul ‘Dewale Mohammed last December paid a visit to the UNU-IIGH head office in Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia. T h e A A S G O N P r e s i d e n t (photographed below) was well received by the UNU-IIGH team led by its former Director Tan Sri Dato' Prof. Dr. Salleh Mohamed Yasin.

Prof. Anthony

Capon has re-

sumed office as

Director of the United Nations

University International Institute

for Global Health.

Prof. Capon, the founding con-

venor of the Climate Change

Adaptation Research Network

for Human Health in Australia, a

public health physician and an

authority on environmental

health and health promotion

with more than two decades of

Page 13

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Noted as one of the top 100 compa-

nies making an impact in the Arab

World, the Thumbay Group was in

May featured in the Forbes

Magazine.

Similarly to his contribution to the

advancement of quality health care

and education in the Middle East,

the Group’s Founder and President,

Mr. Thumbay Moideen featured in

June edition of Forbes’ list of Top

100 Indians in the UAE.

AASGON

commits itself to

seeking lasting

solutions to the

complexity of

Africa Asia

Pacific

Under-

Development

and the

UN Sustainable

Development

Goals (SDGs).

AAPUMAC Under Review

The 1st Africa Asia

Pacific University

and Ministry of

Agriculture

Conference

has been

Postponed Till

Further Notice!

Japan tests 4K TV over the internet

A Japanese telecoms company is reported to have carried out tests to try to prove 4K-resolution video can be streamed over the internet to television set-top boxes. NTT West hosted the trial - which is believed to be the first of its kind. A new video compression standard is being used to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted. 4K broadcasts offer four times the amount of detail as 1080p high-definition content. Compressing technologies allow broadcasters to transmit material using much less data than would otherwise be required while minimising the loss of picture quality. With regard to video, instead of sending data describing each pixel of

each frame as if it were a standalone entity, a variety of algorithms are used to analyse how colour is distributed across each image and what changes occur between each frame. This is then used to allow redundant infor-mation to be discarded, providing instead only the information needed to reconstruct a sequence based on an understanding of how each pixel and frame are related to

each other. At present the H.264/MPEG-4 codec is commonly used to broad-cast digital TV - including the UK's Freeview HD and Sky HD satel-lite services - as well as the vast majority of video clips on the web. In January the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN agency, approved a new format to succeed it called the H.265 High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. It allows 4K and 1080p videos to be streamed using roughly half the bit rate, meaning half as much data needs to be transmitted, thanks to the use of more advanced algorithms. The ITU said it should meet the needs of broadcasters for "the next decade". Although 4K ultra-high-definition televisions are already on the market, content is scarce and most owners have relied on the sets' ability to upscale existing HD signals. Japan plans to become the first country to broadcast 4K programming

Page 14

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Japan plans to become the first

country to broadcast 4K

programming over satellite from 2014,

in time for the football World Cup.

For over a century the Union of International

Associations (UIA) has been working to promote and facilitate the work of international organisations. Creating opportunities for learning through networking and good practice, the UIA Round Table will for the first time in history be held in Asia. About 200 participants will converge in Singapore on October 23rd and 24th 2013 to gain practical skills, share knowledge and experience. The UIA Round Table–Europe will be held in Brussels in Novem-ber 2013. For more information on how to participate in either or both crucial roundtables log on http://uia.org/roundtable.

1st Roundtable in Asia

Page 15

The President of St. Paul Univer

-sity Philippines and Chancellor, St. Paul University System, Sr. Remy Angela Junio, has endorsed ACCSEP, the Africa Asia Scholars Global Network’s ‘Academic, Career, Cultural & Summer Exchange Program’. In a statement by Prof. Jeremy Godofredo C. Morales, the Director Innovation, Distance Education, Public Affairs and International Relations, the Chancellor ‘endorses your association and your projects especially that you directly link up persons and institutions’. With its dynamic multi-disciplinary approach to learn-ing, the University, in order to

maximize the benefits brought forth by national and international partnerships, forges ties with diverse institutions of learning. “We wish to invite as many nationalities to our fold so that our new forms of evangelization can touch and transform more lives and make our University an earthly Kingdom of God where truth, peace and love reign” reaf-firm Sister Remy Angela Junio. Expressing his organisation’s plans to develop a lasting and mutually rewarding partnership with St. Paul University the Second Vice President of AASGON, Dr. Albert Barnes said ‘It is indeed a great pleasure to associate with St. Paul

University Philippines which has been acknowledged as providing the 'Most Outstanding Student Services Program' in the Philippines. More so that the institution has been proudly declared by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines as Pontifical Catholic Cultural Centre, which is a viable platform for ‘new evangelization where faith and culture meet’. The St. Paul University Philippines has extended a invitation to the Founder and Executive President of the Africa Asia Scholars Global Network, Abdul ’Dewale Mohammed to visit the renowned university which has had over a hundred years of presence in the popular Cagayan Valley region now

nate by 2015 deaths from top killers: malaria; polio; new paediatric HIV infections; ma-ternal and neonatal tetanus; and measles.

Fully implement the global strategy on women and children's health to save tens of millions of lives, including through the provision of repro-ductive health services to meet unmet global needs.

The UN takes responsibility to

accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals:

Keep the world solidly on track to meet poverty reduction targets focusing on inequalities, making particular efforts in countries with special needs and in those which have not achieved sufficient progress.

Complete the final drive to elimi-

Unlock the potential of current and future generations by putting an end to the hidden tragedy of stunting of almost 200 million children by mobilizing financial, human and political resources commensurate with the challenge.

Stimulate generational progress by catalysing a global movement to achieve quality, relevant and

St. Paul University endorse ACCSEP

UN SET TARGETS — SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Courtesy call on AASGON developmental programmes. Governance explained the AASGON Founder “needs to be more trans-parent and responsive to the needs of the ordinary citizen who are the most populated of the workforce and bedrock of economic growth”. “Its disheartening and regrettable that “Drugs, Weapons and Human trafficking have become tragedies of our time”. Empowerment of the Civil Society, lamented Abdul Mohammed “and its direct or indirect ownership or command of socio-economic devel-opment of communities is key to ameliorate and concretely address the world’s present concerns.

As part of the UN efforts at bringing about ‘Sustainable De-velopment Goals AASGON he stressed, is proposing a num-ber of far reaching stakeholders joint partnership schemes which are being examined for imple-mentation. Referring to the uncontrolled increase in youth unemployment with graduates becoming unemploy-able in the labour market, the AAS-GON chief affirmed that “In today’s world student engagement has become increasingly prevalent and significant and its only through a review of current teaching meth-odology that meets the challenges of the 21st century shall we be able to create the most desired life changes to the development of human capi-tal, wealth creation and sustainable growth” The august visitors thanked AASGON for its commitment to bridging the widening gap between people of developing countries in ensuring world peace and prosperity .

and forthcoming in tackling the challenges of the 21st century paricularly that of global youth unemployment and the shortcomings of the Millennium Development Goals. However he hopes that the UN’s new generation of sustainable development goals built on the MDGs accomplish-ments and deficiencies will take account of the civil society empower-ment and more direct role in public decision-making as well as more deeply engagement in the implementation of

akada

Sr. Remy Angela Junio,SPC

President and Chancellor

St. Paul University Philippines.

The coming

together of Africa

and Asia is not

just for the

benefit or interest

of either of the

region but for the

entire world

at large

The St. Paul

University

Philippines is open

to students from

across the globe.

From back page

universal education for the twenty-first century.

Fume Fighter

Report Veronique Greenwood

Within his first 30 minutes on the job at an

aluminum factory in 1999, metalworker

Michael Buckman inhaled so many

noxious fumes he was sick with bronchitis

for three days. As he recovered, Buckman

wondered whether a commercial welding

helmet could have filtered his breathing

air. “I didn’t see anything out there like

what I was thinking about,” he says. So he

set out to build the WindMaker: a helmet

that can prevent lung damage.

WindMaker draws fresh air from behind

the helmet, pushes it through a HEPA-

rated filter, and then blows it toward the

front, cooling skin while preventing fog on

the glass faceplate. A fan near the chin

helps expel air, blowing away toxic

smoke in the work zone. LED lights on

each side of the faceplate illuminate the

welding job, while a thick shroud de-

flects sparks.

Several companies have expressed

interest in licensing the helmet. Before

anyone can sell WindMaker, however,

the National Institute of Occupational

Safety and Health needs to extensively

test its air-filtering abilities—a costly

process that requires consumer-ready

units. If the device lives up to its claims,

the convenient combination of eye, heat,

spark, and respiratory safeguards could

motivate more welders to protect them-

selves, says Shawn Gibbs, an occupa-

tional health expert at the University of

Nebraska Medical Center. “And that in-

creased use is something welding needs,”

he says.

Buckman already has ideas for high-tech add-ons, including wireless communica-tion devices, solar panels, video cameras, and heads-up displays. Whatever futuristic features make it into the final helmet, Buckman is confident it will deliver on safety. “I got hurt on the job,” he says. “I had to go through that experience to design this.”

Page 16

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2013 Invention Awards:

Reports Charles Q. Choi Cardboard Bike

One day in 2009, Israeli engineer Izhar Gafni sat in a quiet library designing a

machine to extract seeds from pomegranates when his mind drifted to cycling,

his favorite pastime. Gafni admired bikes made from sustainable bamboo, but

their high cost seemed

prohibitive. He wondered, why not make them from cardboard

instead?

Over the next two years, Gafni learned to fold cardboard sheets

into the strongest possible shapes; his experimentation led to

robust structures resembling honeycombs and bird nests. He

then spent another year crafting the material into bicycle compo-

nents. “I almost felt like the Wright Brothers going into unknown

territory,” he says.

The product of his labor is a single-speed bicycle with spokes, rims, and a frame made from card-

board. Varnish protects the glued paper core from moisture, while old car tires serve as puncture-

proof wheels. Gafni used a car’s timing belt as a chain and formed plastic bottles into pedal cranks.

The 28-pound prototype, called Alfa, can safely support a rider nearly 20 times its weight.

Gafni intends to mass produce four models: two 18-pound bikes for adults, assisted by optional

rechargeable electric motors, and two smaller versions for children. He hopes to build each bike for

less than $12 in materials and sell them for no more than $30. Through advertising plastered on

each bike—or enough grant money—people in developing countries could ride them for free. Gafni

can already envision fashioning his cardboard into baby strollers, wheelchairs, and even cars. “You

can do almost anything with it,” he says.

By Elbert Chu

John McGinnis thinks ordinary families

would rather skip the airport and fly them-

selves. So he is trying to reinvent the per-

sonal airplane with the help of his father,

son, and a rotating crew of about two dozen

volunteers. Unlike small aircraft today which

can cost more than a house, McGinnis says

Synergy could be cheaper, quieter, and, at

more than 40 mpg, three times as fuel-

efficient.

McGinnis, a 47-year-old composite manufac-

turer, flew his first airplane in second grade.

Perplexed by the inefficiencies of personal

aircraft, he taught himself aeronautical engi-

neering and fluid dynamics over two

decades. One day, while perusing scientific

studies at a desk in his daughters’ bedroom,

he read a NASA researcher’s paper chal-

lenging a classic aerodynamic drag equa-

tion. McGinnis could see the possibilities. “I

came out of the girls’ bedroom ranting

like a madman to my wife,” he says.

Family Flier

Page 17

akada

AASGON

Power of Persistence Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Will Smith, Rich-

ards Branson and countless others who had succeeded either as entrepreneurs or in other endeavours had done so by being persistent; they never gave up when the road they started out on turned out to be leading to no where with all odds stacked up against them. Despite obstacles and uncertainty, they held on firmly and remained on course until they found success. These are ordinary folks with extraor-dinary faith in their dream and the capabilities to manifest their dreams failure or the threat of failure. A lot has been said and written about persistence; that innate human attribute which provide the energy and desire to "hold firmly and steadfastly to a purpose, state, or under-taking despite obstacles, warnings, or

setbacks". There are two stories in the Bible that comes to mind which attest to the fact that being persis-tent can break barriers and open doors to getting what is desired and acted upon. Abra-ham's persistent pleading with God helped save a city from destruction for the sake of a few "just people" out of the whole population. Abraham started by asking God to forgive and not destroy the city for the sake of "fifty just people" but was able to persuade God to save the city if only" ten just people" are found among the sinners by being persistent . On another occasion Jesus told a story about a man who had an urgent need for a few loaves of bread. The man knocked on his friend's door in the middle of the night but the friend asked

him to go away and that it is late. Jesus went on to say that "If the man does not get up and give [the loaves] to him for friend-ship's sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants" Being persistent has won many a battle and the lack of it has made many to get up from being knocked down and run off in the opposite direction. We all are aware of the power of this attribute but a lot of us still fail to succeed in getting the things we desire because we lack tenacity. Why do some people hold on to a purpose or dream even after failing several times?

Austin Mac-Anabraba

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Page 18

According to Steve Jobs "you have to have a lot of passion for what you are doing because if you don't any rational person will give up

because it is hard.. the ones that succeed

love doing what they do and can persevere when it gets really tough". Those who are persistent eventually find suc-cess because they love what they do and strongly believe in their dream or purpose. The love for their work helps them to focus goals and motivate them to continue to pursue their dream. These individuals never change their focus but are very flexible in their strategy and tactics in pursuing their dreams. All of these people will tell you that they have experienced failures and how they have been spurred on by failures, setbacks and obstacles. According to Steve Chandler, "making the problem your own cuts it by 50%". People who succeed through persistence have the habit of embracing failure and learning from it and these lessons help them to change strategy and tactics but never the dream or purpose. They get up from being knocked down and continue rather than run in the opposite direction.

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Page 19

Mandela and the China connection From front page

Less appreciated is Mandela's link with China. In his best-selling autobiography ‘Long Walk to Freedom’, Mandela reflects: "Like the people of the East, Africans have a highly developed sense of dignity, or what the Chinese call 'face'." This refers to the concept of mianzi, a tenet of Confucianism in which losing reputation is anathema in a harmonious society.

In the mid-1940s, Mandela's African National Congress initiated series of campaigns of defiance against dominant white rule. Although he was one of the ANC leaders, he saw no contradiction in forging alliances with other parties fighting against a common and formidable foe.

One such ally was the South Africa Communist Party, whose ideological bent was toward a classless society. Against opposition from some of his "comrades", the ANC entered an on-off partnership with SACP.

Mandela admits he was "handicapped by ignorance of Marxist

philosophy" at the time.

To rectify that, he immersed himself in the works of Marxist leaders, including Mao Zedong, in his autobiography, Mandela writes: "In Edgar Snow's brilliant Red Star Over China I saw that it was Mao's determination and non-traditional thinking that led him to victory."

He also read works by China's chairman from 1959 to 1969, Liu Shaoqi, and eventually wrote a paper entitled ‘How to be a Good Communist’ as an interpretation of communism in the South African context. That paper would be used against him during the infamous Rivonia trials in the early 1960s.

Mandela's pragmatism is such that while he came away from Marx-ist readings not exactly sold on concepts such as dialectical materi-alism, he saw the value of appropriating some Communist principles into the struggle. He was more in favour of nationalism blending African cultural principles and some elements of Communism.

- continues next akada edition

The Mandela World

Freedom, Justice and Democracy

…... Participatory governance From Page 13

while a substantial increase in the

amount China and India, emerging world economies, invest in Africa and Asia could be foreseen as a new era for south-south co-operation, the impact of the Cooperation in supporting member states in achieving the Millennium Development Goals is hardly recognised, be it in partnership development, regional inte-gration, sharing of good practices, youth employment, information and communica-tion technology, food, agriculture, water, energy, health, education, trade and investment. The inadequacies of many developing countries from meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been clearly that of lack of effective participa-tory governance where the civil society is fully incorporated in policy formulation and implementation. In theory policies clearly state public ownership and people -cen t red

programmes, in reality people running the state of affairs have no clear mandate or better understanding of the effect and workings of participatory governance. There is no set benchmark or appraisal on government’s ability to transfer respon-sibilities as to meeting such vital develop-ment policy. Many civil organisations have become disenchanted and disinterested in govern-ance because promises are hardly kept. It is widely believed that South-South Co-operation must be grounded in the questions of why and how policymakers can come together and share their successes and failures with each other, and, most importantly, set guidelines that allow for investments to directly feed into development assistance so that those living on less than $1.25 day don't get left behind. Providing more options for development Ms. Rebeca Grynspan, UNDP Associate Administrator, stressed at a recent

dialogue with Member States on SSC that in the next Strategic Plan 2014-2017, UNDP is committing to mainstreaming South-South cooperation more effectively as an integral tool for successful develop-ment. “Moving forward we must commit ourselves to leveraging new South-South dynamics into development results” Widely recognized as a key mechanism for the development agenda of countries of the South, to meet expectations of the 21st century, SSC would have to strengthen its ‘Global Partnership and People-Centred policies.

Participatory governance focuses on deepening

democratic engagement through the participation

of citizens in the processes of governance

with the state.

akada

Page 20

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To read or download past editions of your favourite akada

News Magazine and Abdul ‘Dewale Mohammed’s recent

paper presentations log on:

http://www.slideshare.net/KSENCIC/aasgon-presentation

For your events Request a Speaker

from AASGON

Email:

info@aasgon.net

“Wealth is increasingly

shifting to emerging

economies, especially in

Asia. By 2020, the region

could account for half the

world’s

middle

class, and

their con-

sumption

patterns

will be felt throughout the

global economy”

- Homi Kharas. Development expert.

akada

Page 21

The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA)

has confirmed that Nigerian astronauts should be trained and ready for space travel within two years. In July this year, NASRDA’s director general, Professor Seidu Onailo Mohammed, declared: ‘By our road map we are supposed to have astronauts prepared by 2015. Before the end of the year, the recruitment of astro-nauts will begin so that we have them handy and as soon as we get the nod we can pick from that number.’ Nigeria’s space programme started in 2003 but its first satellite lost power and disappeared from orbit. It now has three in space, Nig-ComSat-1R, NigeriaSat-2 and Nigeria-Sat X, the first to be constructed solely by Nigerian engineers. Although it has bought its own satellites, launched on Russian rock-ets, Nigeria has built laboratories which it hopes will produce its own space craft by 2028. However with plans to launch its own rockets by 2028, doubts are mounting, that Nigeria though with the second highest national income of all African countries may not have the capacity to fully utilize the potential of a space craft and its immense economic bene-fits to better the lots of its citizenry. Commending the Nigerian Engineers who constructed the Nigeria

Sat, Abdul ‘Dewale Mohammed, the Founder and Executive President of the Africa Asia Scholars Global Network (AASGON) believes that with the will to succeed Nigeria can borrow a leaf from the United States where the need to retain the unique technical expertise of tens of thousands of workers is highly valued as the future of the space program is considered vital to the economic future of the country. No other government program according to experts, can match the economic impact of space program spin-offs that include applications in medicine, computer technology, communications, public safety, food, power generation and transportation. In the US, MRI testing, flat screen TVs, cordless power tools and solar power are examples of the long-term economic benefits of space technology spin-offs. A robust manned space program, with well-defined missions, destina-tions and deadlines, is considered as essential for NASA and U.S. advancement in science, technology, engineering and medicine. Such advancements inspire continued academic achievement and employ-ment opportunities in these areas for America's youth.

Abdul clarifies that “where Nigeria economy goes in the future could depends largely on its projections in space, and backed with high proficiency, clarity and accountability, set projections can be met. With dedication and commitment, Nigeria or any other countries in Africa or Asia can achieve same for their people as the United States”. With queries as to why the UK government is giving aids to Nigeria which opts for space missions while majority of its people are in abject

poverty, a spokesperson for the Department for International Devel-opment (DFID) was quoted as saying “Our investment goes into health, education and poverty reduction programmes. Nigeria is home to a quarter of the poorest people in Africa. Supporting their Develop-ment will benefit our trade and security”. This official statement literally explains there I s a place for business in philanthropy. With plans for satellites and rocket launches, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa also have their own space agencies. U.S. manned space flight is known to have been on for nearly 50 years. Meanwhile China has announced the launching of its first un-manned lunar lander by the end of this year.

Nigeria can prosper through its own space craft

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Page 22

Until now considered a model in

terms of reducing poverty and inequal-ity, Brazil has recently faced the wrath of hundreds of thousands of protesters from across all sections of society, riling up against inflation while calling for better access to health care, education and other pub-lic services. OECD analyst Horacio Levy explains

Recent trends in poverty and inequal-

ity reduction in Brazil have been

impressive. However, the starting

point was so high that despite all the

promising results there is still a long

way to go. The protests highlight this.

Despite all progress, there is no room

for complacency. Brazil is still a very

unequal country in which the vast

majority of the population does not

have access to public services of a

reasonable quality, particularly

health, education and transport.

The unease with the government

spending on the 2014 Football World Cup and the rise on bus fares shows that there is a strong demand for public resources to

be better used and targeted to people’s needs.

Better access to better quality public services are the biggest challenges facing the emerging middle class. Despite their

increased purchasing power, the emerging middle class finds it difficult (if not impossible) to enter the elite schools, universities

and hospitals (public and private) that the upper middle class and the rich use. Having emerged to a middle class status, this part

of the population now feels empowered to demand access to quality services.

The Brazilian government has recently been targeting more resources to areas mentioned in the protests. Education and health

expenditure as a proportion of GDP have increased in the last decade, respectively from 3.9% to 5.6% and from 3% to 4%,

according to World Bank estimates. However, the quality of services is still very deficient. Further resources and much better

management to reduce inefficiency, waste and corruption, are now required more than ever imagined.

Emerging Youth Unrest

Page 23

Topped with the flamboyant mixing of Western and African culture through fashion at the same time promoting Africa’s rich ethnic culture and interpret-ing it into contemporary designs, Africa Fashion Week London (AFWL) celebrates London’s unique and diverse cultural heritage. With about 20,000 guests from all over the world, 100 designers and models this year’s highly successful AFWL was held at the Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London.

AFWL 2013

Created by Ronke Ademiluyi, Africa Fashion Week London (AFWL) has emerged the biggest African event of its kind in Europe A collaborative fashion exhibition, highlight-ing the industry’s established and emerged African designers, AFWL is at the forefront of capturing the surge of the African inspired trends in the fashion industry. AFWL celebrates the work of African and African inspired designers in the UK and worldwide.

akada

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Page 24

The Global Business Coalition for Education (GBC-Ed) brings

together corporate leaders committed to delivering on the promise of quality education for all of the world’s children. Education is the birthright of every child, the key to expanded opportunity, and a source of prosperity, employment and social cohesion. GBC-Ed members believe that their core business assets, social responsibility and philanthropy, when used in collaboration with government and other stakeholders, can be a powerful tool to achieve these shared goals. Drawing on the activities, resources and innovations of its members, GBC-Ed supports and galvanizes international action to achieve the Education for All and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on education, while preparing the ground for an ambitious post-2015 agenda. Members of GBC-Ed share a concern that failure to accelerate progress in education will undermine economic growth, slow the pace of poverty reduc-tion, prevent innovation and jobs crea-tion, and hinder efforts to achieve wider development goals.

The Global Business Coalition for Educa-tion is an action-oriented organisation focused on three core functions:

Cooperation in corporate support for education. While many compa-nies give generously and effectively to educational projects, much of this activity is at present uncoordinated and suffers from unnecessary duplication, as well as a failure to take advantage of economies of scale or to promote and publicise best practice. GBC-Ed will provide a forum for improving coordination and cooperation. Advocacy for education. When the business community speaks with one voice, politicians listen, and so the Global Business Coalition for Education will pressure governments in the developed and develop-

ing world alike to do more to deliver education for all. GBC-Ed delegations will visit key target countries, like Ethio-pia, India and Nige-ria, to meet Presi-dents, Prime Minis-ters and other sen-ior figures, encour-age them to prioritise education, and explore how the skills and re-sources of businesses can be of assistance. Research on corporate engagement in education.

GBC-Ed will support research initiatives aimed at identifying good practice and strengthening the impact of corporate ef-forts to improve access to education and strengthen learning outcomes. Nearly 50% of the world’s 61 million out of school children come from just seven coun-tries.

The business coalition’s main programme areas focus on these countries.

Nigeria: 10.5 million children out of school Ethiopia: 2.4 million children out of school Pakistan: 5.1 million children out of school China: 4.3 million children out of school Bangladesh: 2 million children out of school India: 2.3 million children out of school Afghanistan: 2.1 million children out of school

Other countries and regions will be addressed by GBC-Ed activities; program areas focus on girls, technology and quality learning.

Education For ALL... GBC-Ed to the rescue

Value of

education

rises in crisis

but investment

in it falls

akada

‘I Have a Dream’ Most acclaimed Speech in History

MLK

akada

Page 25

The number of Nigerians living in poverty is

increasing significantly, revealing a perplex-ing contrast between the nation’s economic

statistics on rapid economic growth and minimal welfare improvements for much of the population, the World Bank has said. “Poverty rates remain high in

Nigeria, particularly in rural areas. These rates declined between 2003-2004 and 2009- 2010, although not nearly as fast as would

be expected from the pace of economic growth in the country,” the World Bank said in its ‘Nigeria Economic Report’ May, 2013. Meanwhile Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote has pledge the disbursement of N10 billion grants to women and youths across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas. According to Aliko Dangote the President of Dangote Foundation, through which the cash transfer intervention is being disbursed to women who bear the greatest brunt of poverty “Our Programme provides a one-off grant that enables recipients to grow or start an enterprise, invest in product assets, improve the health of their families, and or take on new activities that will reduce their

vulnerability and enhance their economic standing. For Africa’s sustainable growth and develop-ment its essential that other wealthy people emulate this great humanitarian gesture aimed at ameliorating widespread poverty through the development of skills, enter-prise and wealth creation. Collectively a better and sustained livelihood can be created for present and future generations. Aliko’s commitment to alleviating poverty is a big challenge and incentive to government and the rich, influential and highly placed in the continent.

More than 900 China Scholarship Council (CSC) grantees from 119

counties attended the first CSC Student

Conference held at Tsinghua University,

Beijing and Southeast University, Nanjing

on June 8th and 22nd, 2013 respectively.

Ms. Liu Jinghui, Secretary-General of

CSC, Mr. Yuan Si, Deputy President of

Tsinghua University, Mr. Pu Yuepu,

Deputy President of Southeast University

and Ms. Tian Lulu, Director of Interna-

tional Student Office of Department of

International Cooperation and Exchanges,

Ministry of Education of PRC presented

the conference in the two cities.

All the students present at the scholarship

conference are now studying at

Shandong University, Tianjin University, Northeast Normal University,

Beijing Language and Culture University, Tongji University, Nanjing

Normal University and Central China Normal University with CSC schol-

arship.

Ms. Liu Jinghui addressed the meeting and emphasized in her speech

that Chinese government has been attaching great importance to the

cooperation and exchanges in education and culture, especially in

student and scholar exchanges.

In the year 2012, CSC sponsored more than 60

thousand students and scholars to study abroad

or in China. By the year 2020, Chinese govern-

ment will admit 500,000 international students to

study in China in total and will offer more schol-

arship. CSC will also provide even better service

to the CSC scholarship students.

International student representatives from the

seven universities above and the two host

universities shared their study and living

experience in China and expressed their sincere

gratitude to Chinese government for the

precious opportunities of studying in China.

Students also had a great time visiting laboratories and science bases

in the two host universities as well as local places of historic interest,

enjoying the cultural shows like Peking Opera and Chinese Kung fu.

CSC indicated that more conferences will be organized in the future to

provide a platform for the scholarship grantees to communicate and

have a better understanding of China and its traditional culture.

The well attended conference was sponsored and organized by China Scholarship Council (CSC).

China Scholarship Council Organizes the First CSC Conference

WORLD BANK INDICTS GOVERNMENT ON POVERTY — ALIKO DONATES N10 BILLION

akada

Page 26

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Living the Luxury in

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Page 27

From back page...

With a promise of creating

thousands of jobs and speed-ier growth on both sides of the Atlantic, the European Union and United States are negoti-

ating the world's ‘most ambitious free-trade accord’

Such a plan was first considered three decades ago but knocked down by France in the 1990s. Europe has now managed to get Paris onside, opening the way to a deal that could boost the EU and US

economies by more than 100 billion dol-lars a year each. between the two rich regions, good exchanged last year alone was worth more than $645 billion.

The EU negotiates currently with four countries of the A S E A N region. The nego-tiations for a Free Trade Agreement with Singapore, was finally concluded in December last year but the talks on investment protection that started only after the Lisbon Treaty

entered into force giving the EU new competencies in this area are still on-going. The negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement continue also with Malaysia and Vietnam. Thailand started bilateral negotiations with the EU only in March this year and the second round of talks is now planned in Bangkok for September 2013. The EU remains open to start negotiations with other ASEAN part-ners and hopes one day to integrate these deals into a global region-to-region trade agreement. As a whole, ASEAN represents the EU's 5th largest trading partner with €212.8 billion of trade in goods and services. The EU is by far the largest investor in ASEAN countries accounting for an average of 17.1% foreign direct investment share during the period 2009-2011. ASEAN as a whole represents the EU's 3rd largest trading partner outside Europe (after the US and China) with more than €206 billion

of trade in goods and services in 2011. The EU is ASEAN 2nd largest trading partner after China, accounting for around 11% of ASEAN trade. The EU is by far the largest investor in ASEAN coun-tries. EU companies have invested around €9.1 billion annually on average (2000-2009). The EU's main exports to ASEAN are chemical products, machinery and transport equipment. The

main imports from ASEAN to the EU are machinery and transport equipment, agricultural products as well as textiles and clothing.

In today’s world student engagement has become increasingly prevalent and significant and its only

through a review of current teaching methodology that meets the challenges of the 21st century shall we

be able to create the most desired life changes to the

development of human capital, job and wealth creation for sustainable

growth..

US –EU Ambitious Free Trade Accord

Page 28

akada

Youth Unemployment Could ‘Scar’ Entire Generation: ILO

In developing regions where 90 per cent of

the global youth population live, stable, quality employment is especially lacking. Developing regions face major challenges regarding the quality of available work for young people. In developing economies where labour market institutions, including social protection are weak, large numbers of young people continue to face a future of irregular employment and informality. Young workers often receive below average wages and are engaged in work for which they are either overqualified or under-q u a l i f i e d . A s m u c h a s t w o -thirds of the young population is under-utilized in some developing economies, meaning they are unemployed in irregular employment, most likely in the informal sect-or or neither in the labour force nor in education or training. The weakening of the global recovery in 2012 and 2013 has further aggravated the youth jobs crisis and the queues for available jobs have become longer and l o n g e r f o r s o m e u n f o r t u n a t e young jobseekers. So long, in fact, that many youth are giving up on the job search.

The prolonged jobs crisis also forces the current generation of youth to be less s e le c t i ve a b o u t t h e t y p e o f job they are prepared to accept, a tendency that was already evident before the crisis. Increasing numbers of youth are now turning to available part-time jobs or find themselves stuck in temporary employ-ment. Secure jobs which were once the norm for previous generations – at least in the advanced economies– have become less easily accessible for today’s youth. The global youth unemployment rate, estimated at 12.6 per cent in 2013, is close to its crisis peak. 73 million young people are estimated to be unemployed in 2013. At the same time, informal employ-ment among young people remains perva-sive and transitions to decent work are slow and difficult. The economic and social costs of unemploy-ment, discouragement and widespread low-quality jobs for young people continue to r i s e a n d u n d e r m i n e e c o n o -mies’ growth potential.

Why NEPAD may Fail From page 12

This belief constitutes the core beliefs of

the International Financial Institution (IFI) on Africa and explains the persistence of the former in prescribing irresistibly neo-liberal and market-based solutions Yet, the generally pauperising effects of SAPs, but also the preponderance of economic crisis deflates optimism about NEPAD. In West Africa, for example, where economic decline and impoverish-ment have been massive, NEPAD is either unknown, considered an exclu-sively South African agenda or a per-sonal Mbeki project. Similarly, Osei-Hwedie (2003) has noted that having just emerged from war, Angola has become more preoccupied with internal reconstruction and develop-ment than with NEPAD. The trajectory of debt and economic decline has rendered countries introverted and largely concerned with finding solutions to internal economic problems. Countries are extroverted only towards potential sources of assistance such as the west. Agyeman-Duah and Daddieh’s (1994) contention that Africa’s foreign policies, particularly towards western countries, are aimed principally at soliciting external assistance, is valid today under NEPAD as it was over a decade ago under structural adjustment. Thus failing to generate tangible relief in a region facing massive socio-economic adversities, NEPAD is hardly a credible programme for long-term development.

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akada@aasgon.net

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Mastercard-FINCA launch $12.7m aid partnership

The MasterCard Foundation

and FINCA International have announced a $12.7 million partnership that will allow the region’s financially under-served people to more easily access savings products and services through the develop-ment and deployment of new technologies.

By making access to savings accounts and services more readily available, it is antici-pated that the number of people creating their own financial safety nets will increase dramatically in coming years. The partnership also

supports expansion of FINCA’s innovative social performance management system, focused on ensuring that FINCA’s operations, products and services are both responsive to client needs and reach the clients who can receive the most benefit.

According to FINCA President and CEO Rupert Scofield, FINCA’s business model has reached a stage to radically expand its footprint and product offerings in the Sub-Saharan Africa, with the goal of bringing a wide range of financial services to over 500,000 previously excluded savers and nearly 300,000 borrowers in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia by 2017.

The partnership allows FINCA to capitalize on technological advancements in the delivery

of financial services, to making the services more widely acces-sible at anticipated lower costs, and with greater safety.

MasterCard $500 million education initiative The MasterCard Foundation will launch a new Scholars Program, a $500 million educa-tion initiative that will enable 15,000 talented, yet economi-cally disadvantaged students from developing countries, particularly from Africa to access and complete their secondary and university education. The program provides compre-hensive financial and academic support, mentoring, and life skills as well as promotes a “give back” ethos so vital to succeeding in a global economy

The Millennium@EDU will enable local OEMs to put together affordable but comprehensive “Education Solution Packs”, including computer devices, soft-ware (operating systems and productivity tools), communication and collaboration cloud services, content, labware, interactive whiteboards, school servers and training programs addressing the requirements for education, learning and inclusion. Providing affordable education solution, Millenium@EDU will make its Solution Packs available to comprehensive national, regional or local initiatives fulfilling an innovative strategy for education, including the development of 21st century skills as critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, collaboration and communication, among others, a connectivity plan, and a socio-economic local initiative adding local value.

Millennium@EDU is a multi-stakeholder initiative, bringing together the world’s largest technology companies along with local companies and other stake-holders to improve access and quality of education and learning, using information, communication and scientific technologies. The companies will provide their high-value products and services at significantly reduced price as part of this initiative and create low-cost but comprehensive “Education Solution Packs” including computer devices, software, content and training programs addressing the requirements for education, learning and inclusion for 15 million children in at least 150 countries. Companies involve, Intel, Microsoft, Pasco, SanDisk, e-Xample and other companies from different continents will provide their high-value products and services for this initiative. Page 29

akada

UNESCO World Conference on

Education for Sustainable

Development (ESD)

10-12 November 2014

Aichi-Nagoya, Japan

AASGON Supporting Effective Partnership & People Centred Development

Policies and Programmes

The 50th General Assembly of the

Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) comes up from 23rd – 29th October, 2013 in Hanoi-Vietnam. Bringing together top experts of the entire broadcasting industry in Asia-Pacific region and the world as well. Participants will converge to discuss and shape the future of broadcast-ing industry in the digital era, and through various platforms and forums, discuss strategies and determine policies of the industry in this most dynamic region of the world. The 50th General Assembly of Broadcasters will be co-organized by the host country’s Vietnam Television (VTV) and the ABU.

Project will broaden financial service delivery channels, strengthen staff capacity, scale up savings, and measure social performance in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia.

Making a difference to Learning

Sias host Water Conference and Scholarship Awards

Page 30

akada

In line with the UN International

Year of Water Cooperation the Sias International University on May 23rd-25th, 2013 organised an International Water Confer-ence in Zhengzhou, Henan, China.

A tt e n d ed by schol-ars, gov-e r n m e n t o f f i c i a l s and corpo-rate repre-sentatives from ad-

vanced and developing countries the’ first Sias Water Summit’, not only highlighted the environ-mental challenges to our planet, but explored how to save our vulnerable planet. Dr. Alan Brown, the Chairman of the Sias Foundation and Prof.

Robert Frank explained the prob-lems of the global water supplies and called on all young people to undertake the social responsi-bilities to im-prove the qual-ity of the daily use of water and the global environment. In his speech, Dr. Jonathan Overpeck, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Professor of Geological Science and Atmos-pheric Science, focused on the climatic challenges to water supply all around the world, such

as changes in precipitation, snow and drought. He expressed his excitement that students at Sias were being exposed to these problems and were now thinking of solutions but not just in the future, “because it really would be these young people who will be in society either as business people, engineers, artists and all sorts of other fields who will be figuring out clever ways to solve these important environmenta l problems, to solve climate change, to solve water manage-ment problems”. In the awards ceremony, various kinds of scholarship awards were received by Sias students and representing the American Kansas State Government, Dr. Edward Hammond donated

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a £1 million prize for

anyone who can “identify and solve the biggest problem of our time”. Speaking at the G8 Innovation Conference in London held recently,

Cameron highlighted the importance of con-tinuing to invest in innovation during tough economic times. “What the world needs most of all right now is growth, and that growth in my view is going to come from small businesses and start-up businesses, more than from the big existing traditional businesses, so the whole agenda of innovation and entrepreneurship is abso-lutely vital,” he said.

The new 'grand innovation challenge' is inspired by the Longitude Prize set by the British government in 1714, which promised £20,000 to the person who mastered the challenge of calculating longitude at sea to help maritime navigation. The problem for the ‘Big Prize’ itself has not been defined yet, but Cameron said that he wanted to “get the nation engaged on what the biggest problems are in science and in our lives that we need to crack”. British cosmologist and astrophysicist Martin Rees will run the exercise for identifying the challenge. “There are so many problems in our world that need that amazing solutions – whether it is a cure for dementia, solving the problem of diabetes, having a flight from Britain to New York that's carbon-free,” said Cameron. “Let's challenge the public and challenge the scientist for which is the great problem we want to crack. I think it's an exciting idea and another example of Britain leading in innovation.”

The £1 million will come from the Technology Strategy Board's budget. Universities and Science Minister David Willetts added that when

people have identified the challenge, other sponsors might come on board. “The Prime Minister has made it clear that innovation is at the heart of economic growth. This competition aims to get the whole country thinking about how to tackle major challenges through innovation,” said David Bott, Director of Innovation Pro-grammes at the Technology Strategy Board.“That is why we are very happy to provide the initial prize money for this new venture. We hope it will gal-vanise the best minds in our country to think about how we can really trans-form our economy – and our lives – for the better.” The competition is open to everyone from individual citizens to academics and businesses. Also at the G8 Innovation conference, the government unveiled its Information Economy Strategy, which aims to generate fresh growth opportunities for some of the UK’s most innovative technology

businesses. Commenting, Sajid Hasmi MBE (pictured left) the Vice President of the Africa Asia Scholars Global Network (AASGON), Director/Treasurer of NAVCA and CEO VAST (Voluntary Action for Stoke-on-Trent) commended the Prime Minister for

admitting to the vast potentials and contribution of small businesses to the larger economy . He however call on government to create incentives and also ensure that banks open up to small businesses. Sajid hopes ‘Cameron’s counterparts in developing countries will launch similar scheme to promote their economic growth’.

$500,000 as scholarship to Sias Students.

In his paper titled ‘Post MDGs and Socio-Political Dynamics – Water, Environment and Sustainable Development, the Founder and Executive President of the Africa Asia Scholars Global Network expressed concerns for the lack of sincere commitment and consis-tency of purpose, concerted drive and interdisciplinary actions from the highest levels of governance coupled with the sloppy coopera-tion of multi-national corpora-tions in despite the exhaustive calls from the academia. Many countries across the globe particularly in the Africa Asia and Pacific region according to him, still grapple with the scare and threats of abject poverty, climate change, water scarcity, environ-mental pollution, devastating floods and droughts among other inflicted hazard to human lives.

American Kansas

State Government, donated

$500,000 as scholarship

to Sias Students.

Solving the biggest problem of our time – Cameron’s £1 million prize

“What the world needs

most of all right now is

growth, and that growth

in my view is going to

come from small

businesses and start-up

businesses, more than

from the big existing

traditional businesses”

Sias Water Summit and Scholarship Award

Increasing GDP Growth and Foreign Direct Investment in

developing countries.

Developing countries such as China, Viet-nam and India have experienced un-precedented economic growth in the last decade. It has been suggested by The Economist that China’s, India’s and Viet-nam’s GDP is forecasted to grow 9.9 %, 8.4% and 6.9% in 2010 respectively as compared to GDP growth rates of The USA (2.6%) and Euro Area (1.6%)

Similarly, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for developing counties has also in-creased over the last 5 years. The World Bank reports that FDI for Vietnam, China

and India for

2009 was at 7.6 billion USD, 78 billion USD and 34 billion USD respectively. These FDI figures are significant when we compared them to Switzerland’s and Ger-many’s FDI in 2009. (24 Billion USD & 36 Billion USD)

Hotel Pipelines in Developing coun-t r ies and job oppor tun i t ies . It is interesting to note that while devel-oped countries (North America and Europe) are experiencing a decline in their future hotel pipeline growth, Asia Pacific and developing countries contin-ues to experience significant growth in their hotel pipeline.

Looking at the developing countries in

Asia Pacific region specifically, we have China leading the charge in hotel devel-opment with approximately 1,049 pro-jects / 292,619 rooms in the pipeline, rep-resenting approximately 68% of the re-gions total rooms slated to be built in Asia pacific. India has 398 projects/66,636 rooms in the pipeline as of the end of Q4 2009 accounting for 22% of Asia pacific’s total projects

A specific example exemplifying the rapid growth in hotel pipeline would be the cen-tral coast of Vietnam. On a short 20 kilo-meters stretch of the central coast of Viet-nam, there are approximately 20 proper-ties (Include both International and Local hotels) scheduled to open within the next 3 years contributing approximately an additional 2,000 jobs.

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Page 31

Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne—the hospitality school

Ecole selects passionate people and educate them to become

responsible leaders in hospitality.

As the world’s first hotel school, the institution in partnership

with the Swiss and international hospitality industry prepares

the leaders of tomorrow. With its philosophy of learning,

combining experience and discovery, Ecole leads to the

mastery of the arts and sciences of hospitality management.

When you enter the world of the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne,

in Switzerland, you immediately feel the energy and enthusi-

asm, a sense of shared purpose. It is a place where everyone is

different yet everyone feels at home. Walk down the main

hallway of the school and you will hear ten different languages

being spoken – a microcosm of the hospitality in the industry

itself.

With more than 100 years of teaching hospitality management,

Ecole steeped in traditions as rich as those of the most vener-

able hotels around the world. Make a visit, and you will find a

young, dynamic institution with ultra-modern facilities.

The young men and women who make up the student body are

learning not only to be successful managers for

tomorrow's international hospitality industry, but also to transmit

the century-old EHL tradition of European hospitality, savoir-

faire and savoir vivre.

There is greater need to strengthen the UN capacities to be effective on each of its three pillars ‘Peace, development and

protection of human rights’.

Page 32

akada

Great Legend Usain Bolt! No Stopping St. Leo - The Golden Boy!

17th August 2013 – Usain St.Leo Bolt won the World Championships 200m title to make it a dou-ble sprint success in Moscow. Six days after taking 100m glory the Glen Mills coached athlete fulfilled his favourite tag to win his favourite event in a world leading time of 19.66 secs. This is now his third consecutive world 200m title after winning in

Berlin 2009 and Daegu 2011. Adding to his doubles in Beijing 2008, Berlin 2009 and London 2012, Usain Bolt completed a fourth global championship sprint double in five years when he won the 200m in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. From his first win in Beijing, breaking Michael Johnson’s Atlanta 1996 World record of 19.32 with 19.30, Bolt has won in Berlin in another World record of 19.19, in Daegu in 19.40, in London with 19.32 and now again in Moscow. Taking in his silver medal behind Tyson Gay in Osaka in 2007, Bolt has now won six medals at 200m in six years – five gold, one silver. Arguably the most naturally gifted athlete the world has ever seen, Usain St Leo Bolt, confirmed his tremendous talents when he realized

his dreams by winning a phe-nomenal three gold medals and breaking three world records at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China .

Bolt became the first man in Olympic history to win both the 100m and 200m races in world record times and then as part of the 4x100m team that also smashed the world record later in the

meet. He created history again and became a legend at the 2012 Olympic Games in London by defending all

three Olympic titles with 100m, 200m and 4x100m victories, the latter in a new world record time of 36.84 secs.

With the mission to create opportunities through education and cultural development for positive change, Usain has set up his own Foundation.

On 22nd April 2013, the World legend, in collabo-ration with Digicel Founda-tion officially handed over a multipurpose sports court to the Sherwood Content community in Trelawny, his birth place.

Amazingly waxing stronger and stronger ...

Organized by the Inter-national University Sports Federation (FISU) and the authorities of the Republic of Tatarstan, the city of Kazan (Tatarstan, Rus-sia), recently played host to the 2013 XXVII Summer Universiade, the second-largest sporting event in the world by participation, after Olympiads.

Over 10,400 university athletes from 162 countries participated in 13 manda-tory and 14 optional sports, making the 2013 Univer-siade the biggest ever in the

history of the event The Universiade has always been a grand event for Russia.

At the four previ-ous Universiades Russia became

the first in team standings.

For the first time in the history of the World University Games, the just concluded 2013 Summer Universiade was not just about sport

– but a great oppor-tunity for partici-pants and guests to enjoy a major cele-bration of varieties of colourful art and culture, beautifully portraying the host nation’s traditions.

During the Summer Universiade, local citizens and visitors to Kazan were introduced

to the ingenious culture of peoples of Kazan and learn a lot about traditions of other countries, as well as experience modern art mas-terpieces.

Cultural institutions, which will modify their working hours to accommo -date visitors at Games time

also contributed to creating a festive atmosphere in the city.

The programme offered art-lovers, fans of the theatre and museum-goers the opportu-nity to plunge themselves in a variety of activities: the Opera and Ballet Festival, the International Sergei Rachmaninoff White Lilac Festival, the Tatar national holiday Sabantuy, theatres and museums, and a circus that ran shows on special schedules.

Centerpiece for the Cultural Universiade was the stunning Universiade Park.

Biggest ever Summer Universiade’13

Coun

try T

RUS 155 75 62 292

CHN

26 29 22 77

JPN

24 28 32 84

KOR

17 12 12 41

BLR

13 13 14 40

UKR 12 29 36 77

USA

11 14 15 40

The 8 Times World Champion

Page 33

akada

Africa Asia Scholars

Global Network (AASGON) has con-firmed its newly-formed partnership with The Polera.

With hopes that in the near future the game of polo removed from the official programme after the 1936 Summer Olympics, will be reinstated in the Olympics schedule, the an-nouncement of AASGON and Polera partner-ship to promote and market the game of Polo in Universities across Africa Asia and the Pacific, came re-cently from Abdul ‘Dewale Moham-med, the AASGON Founder and Ex-ecutive President.

Representing a formal agreement to promote polo games in Africa Asia Pacific by organising regional and international Varsity Polo Cup Championship Games and Carnivals, The Polera-AASGON partnership is a huge step for future Polo Olympics.

Consulting with other key partners, AASGON and the Polera will collectively decide on the format of each Varsity Polo Challenge Cup.

Polo is already a high-level compe-tition within ad-vanced countries and with the suc-

cess of Polo in UK Universities, The Polera and AASGON plan to expand its partnership particularly with the Schools Universities Polo Association (SUPA) and the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) . A bespoke polo HR and marketing agency

offering expert recruitment and marketing solutions for the international polo and equestrian community, The Polera is a multi-functional agency based in London and Bue-nos Aires.

Dedicated over the years to the promotion of polo worldwide, The Polera in working with polo clubs and polo players provides exclu-

sive marketing, sponsorship pack-aging, tours, holi-days, tournaments and high standard quality film produc-tion.

Founded by, Raul Schweizer (a pro-fessional Argentine polo player) and Julie London (a British media and marketing profes-

sional), Polera has years of combined experi-ence within the international polo industry, the media and marketing world.

Polo was played at the 2007 Southeast Asian

Games. Nations that competed in the tourna-ment were Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines. The tournament's gold medal was won by the Malaysian team, followed by Singapore with silver and Thailand, bronze. The recent surge of excitement in south-east Asia around the game has resulted in its popularity in cities such as Pattaya, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. Beijing Sunny Time Polo Club, founded by Xia Yang in 2004 and the Nine Dragons Hill Polo Club in Shanghai, founded in 2005, are among the newly formed clubs in Asia. Polo is not widely spread in West Asia, but still counts 4 active polo clubs in the UAE, one club in Bahrain and The Royal Jordanian Polo Club, in Amman, Jordan. While Schools and Universities Polo are rela-tively unknown in Africa Asia and the Pacific there are over 45 Universities and Colleges represented or involved in Polo throughout the UK. The National Championships attract approximately 350 players. The Schools and Universities Polo Association (SUPA) was established to promote and develop Schools and Universities Polo. Founded in 1991, SUPA acts as a central point of reference for advice, guidance and encour-agement. It organises tournaments, repre-sentative teams and seeks to distribute financial support as far as possible.

Hopes for Polo back in Olympics

– AASGON and The Polera Partnership

“Having the contacts and the know-how to

maximise exposure and promotion of world

polo , we are thrilled to team up with AASGON to

ensure the success of active International Polo

in Africa Asia Pacific Universities”

– Julie London Co- Founder, The Polera

Polo: The Pinnacle of Sports

International Careers & Jobs

Page 34

akada

The International Job Search

Going Global is designed to support international job seekers and professionals with a great array of original country-specific career information. Contents and links on Goinglobal.com provide users with a comprehensive tool kit for evaluating, selecting and moving into a successful career in a foreign country, including resume/CV writing advice, job sources, work permit and visa regulations, cultural advice on more than 40 countries.

Based on Mary Anne Thompson's book The Global Resume and CV Guide, this is a treasure-trove of not only where to look but how to look for new opportunities in various countries. Mary Anne is an expert in this field, and the material in the database and in the book is original country content that is being hand gathered, moni-tored and updated by in-country professional researchers. Some of the content is provided directly on this and other partner sites for free. The Goinglobal.com team is comprised of individuals representing many different nationalities who all have one experience in common—all lived and worked outside of home countries. Goinglobal.com is committed to providing "grassroots intelligence" through its team of in-country researchers. These individuals are in place around the world to monitor and update the career infor-mation and resources that they deliver.

Find a Job or Internship from goinglobal,com

The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) (Arabic: مهرجان دبي السينمائي

( الدولي is an annual film festival held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Each year DIFF presents new and exciting cinema from the Arab world, Asia, Africa and beyond. The tenth edition will be held from December 6 to 14, 2013. The DIFF is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Moham-med Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. It is a not-for-profit cultural event, presented and organised by Dubai Entertainment & Media Organization. Launched in 2004, the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) is the oldest film festival in the Gulf region. It is guided by the credo "Bridging Cultures. Meeting Minds." by showcasing short films and features in fiction and non-fiction narratives from around the world. The festival's prestigious Muhr Emirati, Arab and Asia Africa Awards

recognise outstanding talent from the region, presenting over US $575,000 in prize money to Muhr Award winners. The DIFF has also pioneered several industry initiatives within its Dubai Film Market designed to support and develop the Arab cinema industry. The Market runs concurrently with the festival and is attended annu-ally by over 1,700 delegates from more than 90 countries.

“Economic growth will not reduce poverty, improve equality and produce jobs unless it is inclusive.

Inclusive growth is also essential for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The globalization process, when properly managed, becomes an important ingredient for inclusive growth” - UNDP

The urban middle class

youth is in revolt in Brazil,

Turkey and other fast-

growing countries. Pro-

tests may destabilise

governments in the short

term but could ultimately

strengthen democracy,

argues Helmut Reisen,

former research head at

the OECD

Development Centre

Page 35

The fourth Semi-Annual meeting of

the 2011-14 Triennium convened in Universidad Autónoma de Guadala-jara A.C. (Mexico), Guadalajara, Mexico in March ’13.

IAUP outgoing President Dr. Neal King reported on the many initiatives and partnerships being undertaken to strengthen the role of IAUP as the global voice in higher education. The IAUP President-elect Dr. Toyoshi Satow provided an update on preparations for the XVII IAUP Triennial Conference, to be held in

Yokohama, Japan, June 11-14, 2014. Dr. Shawn Chen, President of Sias International University, who will serve as host of the next IAUP Semi-Annual Meeting, to be held in Xinzheng, Henan, China, September

23-26, 2013, briefed the session on ongoing preparations. With Chinese university presidents from all over China in attendance at Sias University to facilitate development of collaborative relation-ships between universities, the Sias-IAUP September 2013 Semi-Annual Meeting will serve as a forum to further deliberate on the forthcoming XVII IAUP Triennial Conference in Japan. IAUP Semi-Annual Meetings are organized to fill the gap between triennials. Other presentations and discussions included collaboration between the United Nations Academic Impact and IAUP, North American Council Presidential Retreat in Chicago, The Changing Nature of War Conference, and Chairs for Africa program. Attendees also honoured Susan Adams and unveiled the FDU J. Michael Adams Scholarship and J. Michael Adams Leadership Award. The IAUP gathering of higher education chief executives, affords

unique opportunities for the development of international partnerships. The Semi-Annual Meetings also include meetings of the IAUP Executive Committee, the IAUP Board of Directors, the IAUP/UN Commission on Disarmament Education, Conflict Prevention, and Peace, the IAUP/Microsoft Academic Summit Taskforce, the IAUP/CAEL 21st Century Skills Commission, etc. Present were IAUP members from USA, Liberia, Brazil, Bangladesh, Jamaica, Mexico, Japan, Belgium, Austria, Georgia, Spain, Denmark, Chile, China, Canada, Taiwan, France, El Salvador, and Zambia. Strengthening its role as the global voice in higher education, support for sustainable development, peace and international understanding, the Triennial Conference will among other issues seek to reinforce IAUP’s international mission on the quality of education and the pro-motion of global awareness and competence as well as peace and

international understanding through education.

IAUP: Founded in 1964, the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) is an association of university chief executives from higher education institutions around the world. Membership is limited to those individuals who serve as presidents, rectors or vice-chancellors at region-ally accredited colleges or universities. SIAS: Founded in 1998 as the first full-time under graduate university approved by the Degree Committee of the China State Council to grant both Chinese and American Bache-

lor's Degrees, Sias International University is the first solely American-owned University in Central China. Fully accredited by the China Ministry of Education, Sias International University currently has abut 24,500 students enrolment and one of the most beautiful leaning environment and structures in the world.

Ahead of XVII IAUP, SIAS to host IAUP Semi-Annual Meeting

akada

A F R I C A A S I A S C H O L A R S G L O B A L N E T W O R K

Watch Out !!!

AAPBCAC 2014

‘Building structures to building bridges’

Advertise in

akada Take advantage of our

world wide readership

akada@aasgon.net

akada is a publication of AASGON. its contents represent independent judgment. akada offers a forum for free debate and will resist undue political or commercial pressure.

Providing the highest quality in content akada listens to its readers and responds to feedbacks.

Akada c/oAfrica Asia Scholars Global Network,( AASGON), Innovation Centre, Maidstone Road, Chatham Medway, Kent ME5 9FD email: info@aasgon.net Web: http://aasgon.net

Just Can’t

Stop

Golden

Bolt!

For Bolt’s exclu-

sive go to page 32

akada

Street protests are back on the

global political scene. Do these move-ments reflect a frustrated middle class who feel the chill of the global economic crisis? Or are there more profound shifts at play?

More on Page 22

Why NEPAD may Fail

Watch Out !!!

AAPAMBS 2014

‘Building structures to building bridges’

Scholars in Diaspora Call on AASGON

NEPAD has been hailed by its propo-nents for giving Africa a lifeline in development.

This view is advanced against a background of the failure of past approaches to salvage the continent. Optimism for development is also premised on a set of logical assumptions about NEPAD, including its potential to attract aid and investments; to instigate good govern-ance; to address Africa’s perennial conflicts through a new security architecture; and its drive to promote regional integration. However, students of international relations should note the limits of these assumptions. It is noted among other things that NEPAD has failed to address poverty, one of Africa’s most daunting challenges. Also, its heavy reliance on external agencies truncates its ability to generate development given the west’s appalling record of meeting aid obliga-tions to Africa. In addition, there is no

certainty about NEPAD ability to instigate good governance through the APRM. The APRM is a voluntary process devoid of any real mechanisms to compel compliance with good governance practices. These and other inherent limitations of NEPAD rob it of a genuine claim to be a framework for Africa’s long term development. For more on this excerpt from National Open University of Nigeria go to page 12.

The National Space Research and Develop-m e n t A g e n c y (NASRDA) has con-firmed that Nigerian astronauts should be trained and ready for space travel within two years.

Nigeria to launch own rockets

Celebrating the 13th anniversary of the Inter-

national Youth Day a selected group of Africa and Asian Scholars in Diaspora recently paid a courtesy call on Abdul ‘Dewale Mohammed the Founder and Executive President of the Africa Asia Scholars Global Network -AASGON

Welcoming the group, Abdul thanked his guest for their inspiring messages and

support for the work of AASGON on Africa Asia Pacific integration, socio-economic and cultural cohesion. He commended the team for their resolve to join AASGON in promoting the UN post sustainable development agenda and the ‘Bandung Principle’ in order to bring about World Peace’ at whatever cost.

He further assured them that by the UN’s action of replacing the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), with a newly composed High-level Political Forum the General Assembly seems determined to be more proactive …continues on page 15

US –EU Ambitious Free Trade Accord

Negotiations have began for the free trade deal between the US and EU. Supporters argue that the agreement expected to boost both economies will create jobs and establish a “standard setting” bloc that could influence the direction of future world trade talks. Critics, however, argue that it will further erode the European social model and hurt developing nations. - go to page 27 for more

…..See page 20

September 21, the World Celebrates ‘Peace Day’.

To honour a cessation of hostilities now in the Middle East, All Nations must Commit to Peace and avoid WAR at whatever Cost!