Activities...
CPSU
| EU Co-operation for African Development |
Indigenous Rights | UN Co-operation
for Development
Updated:
November 8, 2007
The CPSU runs conferences, dialogues, workshops and seminars. Most of these are held at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, 28 Russell Square, London WC1; some are by invitation only but many are open to the public. The Unit has also run events outside the United Kingdom in conjunction with other bodies. All events listed below have been held at the Institute except where stated.
UPCOMING SEMINARS
Register your attendance by emailing Rachel.Love@sas.ac.uk
Seminar on "Kampala's Commonwealth Summit: A briefing on issues before the leaders in Kampala in November 2007"
Date: Friday 9th November
Time: 09.30-14.00
In view of the upcoming CHOGM in Kampala this November, CPSU will be holding a seminar to discuss the issues which will be facing our leaders at the summit. Our speakers will be addressing the issues of Respect and Understanding, Commonwealth Membership, Climate Change & Small Island States, Gun Culture, Water-related Security & Conflict, Corporate Social Responsibility and Youth Engagement, amongst others. The seminar promises to be interesting and lively, with plenty of time for discussion and questions.
The Policy Brief will be available in advance of the seminar on our website, or hard copy by request.
The pre-CHOGM Policy Brief Seminar
Date: Friday 9th November 2007
Time: 9.30-14.00
The Policy Brief is available here
PAST SEMINARS
Seminar on The Commonwealth Finance Ministers Policy Brief
Date: Thursday 11th October
Time: 12.30-14.30
In advance of the annual Commonwealth Finance Ministers' Meeting, held this year in Guyana, the CPSU is bringing together speakers to analyse and discuss the issues that are on the agenda. The CFMM, which takes place just before Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, will this year focus on the theme of 'Climate Change: The Challenges Facing Finance Ministers'. Implications of climate change particularly on the poorest member states, the possible failure of the Doha Trade Round and current trends in the world economy will be considered.
The Policy Brief is available here, or hard copy by request.
Seminar 'In search of the new Secretary General of the Commonwealth: the McKinnon era reviewed and the prospective candidates assessed'
Date: Tuesday 16th October
Time: 12.30-14.30
In the run-up to the forthcoming Secretary General elections in Kampala, CPSU is holding a seminar to review the McKinnon era and look forward to the future. The seminar will be chaired by Victoria te Velde, and include the speakers Richard Bourne and Stuart Mole. We will be discussing the role of the Secretary General, the politics and procedures of the elections, previous Secretary Generals in their contemporary context, the candidates for this year's election and a youth perspective on the matter and the future of the Commonwealth.
This event is sponsored by the Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
Meeting on 12th July 2006:
Islamic Law and Other Issues Facing Nigeria
As the first in a new series of events designed to generate debate on major Commonwealth issues, on 12 July the CPSU was pleased to host an evening meeting at 28 Russell Square at which a keynote speech was delivered by Governor Yarima of Nigeria's Zamfara State, who is standing for President in Nigeria's forthcoming presidential election. The texts of the welcome speech by Alan Perry, and of the Governor's keynote speech, are available from this website.
Both the speeches, and the lively discussion that followed them, dealt in a calm and rational way with important issues that all too frequently are the subject of unenlightening polemics. In particular:
- the Governor explained his attitude to the introduction of Shari'ah penal law in Zamfara State, argued that the development was in no way a threat to non-Muslims, did not lead to political instability, and that the change had led to a considerable improvement in crime figures in the State
- the Governor explained his attitude to a range of other political and social issues, including in particular the elimination of corruption, the rights of women, democracy and participation, and the foreign policy of Nigeria.
Conferences
- CPSU Annual Summer Conference For Young People, 2nd- 4th July 2007. All For One, And One For All? An Examination Of The Commonwealth And The Challenges It Faces. More details are available.
- Bridge over troubled waters? The Commonwealth challenge to a divided world - CPSU Summer Conference, 6th- 8th July 2005. The conference report is available
- Second Diversity Matters - a commonwealth forum on cultural diversity, London, 17-18 March 2003, organised by the CPSU in association with the Australian Multicultural Foundation and the Commonwealth Foundation. A report of the Conference, 'Forum Report: Second Diversity Matters - a commonwealth forum on cultural diversity' is available on the CPSU Publications page.
- Election Observation and the Commonwealth - November 21st - 23rd 2001. Contact: CPSU.
- Mozambique in the Commonwealth: urban and environmental realities after the flooding in October, 2000. A book based on papers for this two-day international conference will be published shortly. Contact: Edesio Fernandes.
- Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector in the Commonwealth in March, 2000. A report with this title by Niobe Thompson ( ISBN 1855071029 ) appeared shortly after this international conference. Hard copies are still available ( price £10 plus p&p ). Contact: Richard Bourne.
Workshop/seminars
CPSU organises lunchtime workshop/seminars, usually open to all, at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Russell Square. It ran a series on the future of the Commonwealth in the light of the review chaired by President Mbeki, in late 2000; it ran a series on the Commonwealth Harare Declaration a decade later, in early 2001; it also ran a series of four on consecutive Wednesdays in September 2001on the Commonwealth, the Environment and Sustainable Development. There may also be one-off events. These workshop/seminars aim to clarify policy issues, but do not result in publications.
- Reception for Governor Sani Yarima, current political leader of the northern Nigerian state of Zamfara. At 6pm, Wednesday 12th July, at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. For more information, and if you would like to attend, please contact Frank Soodeen
- 'The Commonwealth and International Development: Networking Global Actors', Wednesday 23rd November 2005 . This workshop took place as part of the Commonwealth Peoples' Forum in Valletta, Malta. For more information, see the workshop flier.
- 'The future of
the Modern Commonwealths: Widening vs Deepening?' - pre-CHOGM seminar
sponsored by the CPSU, Round Table, and Institute of Commonwealth Studies,
at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London, 10th October 2005.
For more details, see the seminar programme, and read the aide memoire prepared by Victoria te Velde-Ashworth. - 'Maximising the host country's benefit from a Commonwealth summit', CPSU round table, 1pm to 2.30pm, on Monday 10 January 2005, Menzies Room, ICS, 28 Russell Square, London. Participants included the High Commissioners of Malta and Uganda.
- 'Zimbabwe NGO Bill - Discussion meeting on its implications' A seminar organised by the Catholic Institute for International Relations and Action for Southern Africa, sponsored by the CPSU and Institute of Commonwealth Studies, 29th September 2004, at 10am
- ' "The Responsibility to Protect": the ICISS after 30 months', organised by the CPSU, in association with the United Nations Association, One World Trust, British Institute of International and Comparative Law, and the Institutes of Advanced Legal and Commonwealth Studies, July 13th, 2004
- 'A French View of Commonwealth NGO influence on the Commonwealth.' A seminar by Claire Auplat, CPSU Associate Fellow and PhD candidate at the Sorbonne University, on Tuesday, January 15th, at 1.00 p.m - 2.30 p.m. Contact Richard Bourne.
- 'Pro-Poor ICT Partnerships in Commonwealth Developing Countries'. A Seminar by Keith Yeomans and Xavier Duran, E-Commerce Project, on Wednesday, April 17th, at 1.00pm. Contact Richard Bourne.
- 'Commonwealth
Civil Society after Coolum'. A Seminar by Amanda Shah, Project Officer,
Civil Society in the Commonwealth Project and Claire Auplat, CPSU Associate
Fellow, on Tuesday, June 18th, at 1.00pm. Contact Dr
Manisha Diedrich .
Visiting Fellows - February to April 2005
CPSU has been pleased to welcome two visiting fellows. Miss Omolara Akinyeye, is a lawyer working with the Centre for Constitutional Governance, Lagos. Mr Mohammed Ibrahim is a Programme and Research Officer at the Centre for Democracy and Development, Lagos. Both visited the CPSU for three months under a fellowship scheme arranged by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, designed to help professionals and staff from NGOs. Whilst at the CPSU, they looked at conflict prevention issues, peacebuilding and the role of young people. They visited Northern Ireland, and have produced two reports based on this visit. They also assisted in the new CPSU project to establish Commonwealth Clubs in English secondary schools. The two reports may be downloaded from the links below:
'Human
Rights: a Comparison between Northern Ireland and Nigeria', Omolara
Akinyeye
'Understanding Peace Building
Process in Plural Societies, and Lessons Learnt from Northern Ireland',
Mohammed Ibrahim
CPSU Special Planning Event, Canada House - 18 November 2004
The CPSU held a one-day planning event to review what are or should be the policy issues affecting the Commonwealth over a timescale lasting to 2010. The day was well attended, with representation from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, NGOs, and representatives from the academic community. Discussion covered best-practice for Think-Tanks; an evaluation of problems facing the Commonwealth; and a review of important considerations internationally, for the Commonwealth, and for the CPSU, in the near future. Two reports are available:
A Note prepared by the CPSU in advance of the event
A Report on the day, prepared for the CPSU by James Manor
Reception at Clifton Hall House - 6th February 2004
The CPSU gave a presentation
and reception on 6 February, 2004 at Clifton Hall House, Barbados, to
build support for its work. The evening was chaired by Dame Billie Miller
MP, Barbados Foreign Minister and a member of the CPSU Advisory Board.
Many prominent Barbadians, and regular visitors to the island, were among
the 60 people who came. The CPSU, which is a charity, is raising core
funding for key staff, fellowships, and inception studies. It will remain
largely project-funded. Mr and Mrs Peter Morgan kindly offered their 18th
century plantation house as a venue for the presentation, as their own
contribution.
 |
Far right, Richard Bourne, Head of CPSU with ( second right ) Peter Morgan, former Minister of Tourism, Barbados and host of the CPSU presentation at Clifton Hall, House, Barbados. |
| Richard Bourne with Peter Morgan and guests ( middle left ); in the right background Bowen Wells, former Chair of the International Development Committee, UK House of Commons, talks to Sir Roy Marshall, formerly Barbados High Commissioner to London and Vice Chancellor, Hull University |  |
Commonwealth-EU Co-operation For African Development
2005
'Building cooperation between
the Commonwealth and European Union to support the African Union’s
NEPAD process' Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London, 23rd of May,
2005
Further details and information
on speakers may be downloaded from this link
Updated: November 8, 2007
2003
'First
Nations Peoples in Canada: Pushed to the edge of economic, cultural and
political extinction?' by National Chief, Matthew Coon Come, Assembly
of First Nations (AFN), seminar held at the Institute of Commonwealth
Studies, 8th April 2003.
A meeting on the 'Socio-Economic Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Commonwealth',
Institute of Commonwealth Studies, March 20th - 21st, 2003.
'Americas
& Caribbean Regional Expert Meeting', Hotel Tower, Georgetown,
Guyana, June 23rd-25th, 2003.
'UK
Public Should Challenge Non-Human Trustees', Press Conference held
at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, 30th July 2003.
National Aborginal Community-Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) Delegation
visits the CPSU in London, October 6th, 2003
'Fourth Dialogue on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Commonwealth', Commonwealth Peoples'
Forum, Abuja, Nigeria, December 5th, 2003, CPSU, January 2004.
Indigenous Rights
in the Commonwealth Project Lunchtime Seminar Series - Spring/Summer
2003
Dr Barbara Hocking - 'The Colonisation Experience of Indigenous Peoples in the Commonwealth'. Thursday June 5th, 1.00 - 2.30 pm
Magdalena A K Muir - "Aboriginal rights and participation in coastal and marine management for Australia'. Tuesday July 22, 1.00 - 2:30 pm
Dr Vijay Kapur - 'Indigenous Rights in India'. Tuesday September 9th, 1.00 - 2.30 pm
2002
'South
and South East Asia Regional Expert Meeting', India International
Centre, New Delhi, India, March 11th-13th, 2002.
'Third Dialogue on Indigenous Rights
in the Commonwealth', Institute of Commonweath Studies, June 7th 2002.
'Africa Regional Expert
Meeting', Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC),
Cape Town, South Africa, October 16th-18th, 2002.
'Historic Agreement between
Québec and the Cree Nation', by the Grand Chief of the Grand
Council of the Crees (GCC), Mr. Ted Moses, seminar held at the Institute
of Commonwealth Studies, 21st November 2002.
2001
'Second Dialogue on Indigenous Rights in the Commonwealth', University
of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, October 2001.
'South Pacific Regional
Expert Meeting', Raffles Gateway Hotel, Nadi, Fiji Islands, October
15th-16th, 2001.
1999
'First Dialogue on Indigenous Rights in the Commonwealth', Institute of
Commonwealth Studies, July 1999.
Contact CPSU for a hardcopy of the
report.
Commonwealth-UN Co-operation For Development
2005
'Improving
the UN Development System: Is there a Commonwealth Consensus?'
One-day consultation organised by the CPSU in partnership with the United
Nations University, sponsored by the Department for International Development
UK
United Nations, New York, 1st June 2005
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