For comments and to advertise your events and opportunities, contact deved@developmentinaction.org

News

Development in Action AGM | Sat 3 October 2009 | London

The AGM will be held at the YHA Holland Park this Saturday at 11am. The Agenda includes an overview of DiA’s activities for the past year, nomination and election of the new Committee and Active Volunteers and plans for 2010.

Venue: Holland House, Holland Walk, Kensington, London W8 7QU

Time: 11am

Nearest Tube: High Street Kensington (Circle and District), Holland Park (Central) Nearest train station: Kensington Olympia

For more information, contact info@developmentinaction.org.

Events

Amnesty International UK | www.amnesty.org.uk | Created Equal | Thursday 1 October 2009 | London

Created Equal: Voices on women's rights is a highly accessible introduction to perspectives on women's rights around the world. It will be launched with a panel discussion looking at violence against women worldwide, across every culture and religion and across every social class. In particular, panellists will address the role of men and masculinities and discuss the impact of domestic violence on the whole family and community. Panellists will include the author of the book, journalist Anna Horsbrugh Porter.

Venue: Human Rights Action Centre

Time: 6.30pm for 7.00pm

Price: Free of charge Book online at http://www.amnesty.org.uk/events_booking.asp?ID=1340&#booking

Murder in the name of honour: Rana Husseini | Wed 7 October 2009 | London

Event re-scheduled from June 11

'You can write a bad cheque in Jordan and get a longer sentence than for killing a woman in the name of honour' Rana Husseini Jordanian journalist, feminist and human rights defender, Rana Husseini, has campaigned tirelessly against the practise of 'Honour killing', recieving numerous death threats, At the launch of her new book 'Murder in the Name of Honour' , published by Oneworld Publications, she will talk about some of cases she has documented. Other speakers include: Houzan Mahmoud , Organisations of Women's Freedom in Iraq; Diana Nammi, Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation; human rights lawyer Maryam Samimi and Hannana Siddiqui, coordinator, Southall Black Sisters. Signed copies of Books will be available to purchase on the night.

Venue: Human Rights Action Centre

Time: 7pm-9.30pm 

Contact: heather.harvey@amnesty.org.uk

Price: Free Book online at http://www.amnesty.org.uk/events_booking.asp?ID=1226&#booking

What Not to Wear: Cotton and child slavery | Thu 8 October 2009 | London

This event has been re-scheduled from June when it was cancelled due to the tube strike

Uzbekistan is the 3rd biggest exporter of cotton in the world. Its booming cotton industry generates over US$1 billion annually, but the industry, which largely supplies the European market, is underpinned by a system of state sponsored forced labour, particularly of children. Schools are closed down for the duration of the cotton harvest and children, some as young as ten years old, are sent to the fields to pick cotton by hand for little or no pay. Students who fail to meet their targets or refuse to work are reportedly punished with detentions, beatings or can face expulsion from school. Human rights groups estimate that up to 200,000 children are involved each year. This discussion will focus on what can be done to end the use of forced labour within the cotton industry. Considering the action taken by some retailers to ban Uzbek cotton from their products, why do other retailers continue to use it? How can we as consumers ensure that we are not inadvertently contributing to the problem? Panel: * Lucy Siegle, journalist, author and presenter (chair) * Joanna Ewart-James, Anti Slavery International * Juliette Williams, The Environmental Justice Foundation * Steve Grinter, International Textile, Garment & Leather Workers' Federation * Graham Burden, freelance consultant for Sustex (Sustainable Textile Solutions Ltd)

Venue: The Human Rights Action Centre

Time: 7pm

Price: Free Book online at http://www.amnesty.org.uk/events_booking.asp?ID=1202&#booking

China post 1989 | Mon 12 October 2009 | Guildford

Exiled student leader SHAO JIANG, involved in the organisation of the Tiananmen Square democracy protests, will talk about the situation in civil rights in China since the Tiananmen Square protests. He will focus on the social crisis, state repressive mechanisms, civil resistance and suggestions for future action.

Venue: Guildford Amnesty Group venue, St. Nicolas's Church Hall

Time: 7.30pm

Contact: Marilyn Jarrett jarrett@1square.org

Website: www.amnesty.org.uk/guildford

Price: Free

Waltz With Bashir (cert 18) | Tue 13 October 2009 | London

Directed by Ari Folman. Running time 87 mins

This dazzling animated documentary tells the story of Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon in which the director took part. Folman was in Beirut when the Lebanese Christian militia known as Phalangists murdered 800 Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps - perhaps with the approval of the Israeli army. It was a massacre that caused Ariel Sharon, Israel's defence minister, to resign from his post when an inquiry found him indirectly responsible for the deaths. Whilst the structure of the film takes the form of a traditional documentary, the use of animation makes it both fresh and compelling.

Venue: Human Rights Action Centre

Time: 6.30pm

Price: Free Book online at http://www.amnesty.org.uk/events_booking.asp?ID=1189&#booking

Words on Dignity | Sat 17 October 2009 | Manchester

Even if everything were taken from you, you'd still have the stories that mattered and the poetry that had moved you. With power to change, the written word can quicken the heart and lay bare feeling and experience. On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty John Amaechi, motivational speaker and political activist, shares poems and prose which demand dignity for those enduring the insecurity, exclusion and voicelessness associated with poverty. These works are often full of hope, at times angry, but always inspirational. This event is in support of Amnesty International. See the below table for details of venue, ticket price and website/contact details.

Venue: St Ann's Church, St Ann's Square, Manchester

Time: 3 p.m.

Contact: Manchester Literature Festival 0843 208 0500

Website: http://manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/09-programme/october-17/words-on-dignity/

Price: £6.00 Online tickets: http://www.quaytickets.com/WhatsOn/EventDetail.aspx?EventId=3465

Amnesty International Annual Lecture: Noam Chomsky - 'Hopes & Prospects' | Fri 30 October 2009 | Belfast

The Amnesty International Annual Lecture returns with one of the world's sharpest commentators on international affairs and the struggle for human rights and dignity. Professor Noam Chomsky surveys the threats and prospects of our early 21st century (the growing gap between North and South; American exceptionalism - even under Obama; the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and their aftermaths; the financial bailouts; the raids by unmanned US drones on Pakistani citizens; the Israeli assault on Gaza; the terrorist atrocities in Mumbai) - but finds also a hope for the future of liberty in the 'unprecedented international global justice movements'. Book your ticket now 'Chomsky is a global phenomenon . . . perhaps the most widely read voice on foreign policy on the planet' - New York Times Book Review Noam Chomsky is a professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT and is author of numerous bestselling books, the latest of which, Hope and Prospects, will be published by Hamish Hamilton on 29 October. * Prof Chomsky’s lecture will be followed by a question and answer session chaired by William Crawley * In association with the Human Rights Centre at Queen’s and Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen's * Price: £13 or £10.50 concessions. Book your ticket now

Venue: Whitla Hall, College Park Belfast BT7 1NN

Time: 7.30 pm

Website: http://www.belfastfestival.com/EventsByDate/30thOctober/EventStore/?querystring_cid=157207

Price: £13.00 (£10.50 concessions) Online tickets: http://www.belfastfestival.com/EventsByDate/30thOctober/EventStore/?querystring_cid=157207 ***

London School of Economics: She's Normal. She's an Artist | Tue 6 October 2009

Ruth Maclennan will discuss two works, Capital and Valley of Castles (Hunting Eagles) which she filmed in Kazakhstan in 2007. Capital is set in Kazakhstan's Astana. A woman addresses the founder-ruler of a dream city that promises a glossy but oppressive future by erasing the past. Valley of Castles (Hunting Eagles) follows the artist's journey to the village of Nura in South-eastern Kazakhstan to film traditional Kazakh eagle hunters. After the journey, against a dramatic landscape of snow-capped mountains, the film moves into a different register as the hunter sets the golden eagle free over an empty canyon. This work explores the invention and performance of cultural identity, and the projection of expectations on to people, and on to the cinematic image itself. Capital and Valley of Castles were commissioned for the exhibition Central Asian Project, at Cornerhouse, Manchester, and at SPACE, London. In addition it has been screened at the New York Underground Film Festival (March 2007). It toured to Tengri Umai Gallery in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and to the Tashkent Biennale of Contemporary Art, Uzbekistan, in October 2008. Ruth Maclennan's work includes video installations, photography, bookworks, drawings, live events, and curatorial projects. Her works show the performance of power relations and explore the collision of perspectives-in front of the camera, within social and physical architecture, and through the behaviour of the camera itself. Her video works filmed in Kazakhstan explore how people perform cultural identities, the political dimensions of landscape, and the construction of utopia, as well as the underlying complexities of the encounter between West and East. 

Time: 6.30-8pm

Venue: Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building

Speaker: Ruth Maclennan

Price: Free, no ticket required 

How to be Humanitarian? UN Intervention in Post-Conflict Societies | Wed 7 October 2009

This lecture will examine the challenges of humanitarian intervention in post-conflict societies, focusing specifically on the experience of the UN in Southern Sudan. Lise Grande is deputy resident and humanitarian coordinator of the United Nations, Southern Sudan. 

Time: 6.30-8pm

Venue: Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House

Speaker: Lise Grande

Price: Free, no ticket required 

A lecture by Gordon Bajnai, Prime Minister of Hungary | Fri 9 October 2009

Gordon Bajnai has been the Prime Minister of Hungary since 14 April 2009. Prior to this between 2008-2009 he was a Minister in the Ministry for National Development and Economy. Between 2007-2008 he was a Minister for the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development. Prior to this he was CEO of Wallis Rt., an investment company from 2000-2005. This event is free and open to all however a ticket is required. One ticket per person can be requested from 10.00am on Thursday 1 October at http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2009_09-12/20091009t1300vSZ.aspx from 10.00am on Thursday 1 October. LSE students and staff are able to collect one ticket from the LSESU reception, located on the ground floor of the East Building from 10.00am on Thursday 1 October.

Time: 1-2pm

Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building

Speaker: Gordon Bajnai

Chair: Howard Davies

Price: Free, but booking required at http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2009_09-12/20091009t1300vSZ.aspx 

China—UK Relations in the Changing World | Thu 15 October 2009

The world today is undergoing tremendous development, changes and adjustments. The international community is facing increasing opportunities and challenges. The present international system and structure are not able to cope with this new situation fully and effectively, and reform is the general demand of the world people at large. Both China and UK are global actors of significant importance. How the two countries should behave in handling the situation? It is a fact that China and UK are different in many aspects. Is it possible for the two countries to join hands in perfecting global governance for the general benefits of the whole world as well as their own? The answer should be, yes, we can. Ma Zhengang is President of the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), President of Center for China-US Relations Studies, CIIS, Chairman of the editorial board of International Studies, Chairman of CIIS Academic Committee, Chairman of CSCAP China (Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific), Chairman of China Arms Control and Disarmament Association. After graduating from Beijing Foreign Languages Institute (now known as Beijing Foreign Studies University), he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China (MFA) in 1965. From 1965 to 1967, he studied at Ealing Technical College and later the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Before taking the current position, Ambassador Ma was Director-General of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vice-Minister of the Foreign Office of the State Council, and Ambassador to the UK from 1997-2002. He was granted the titles of Honorary Doctor of University of Middlesex, Honorary Academician of University of Central Lancashire, Honorary Research Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, U K, and Honorary Citizen of the City of London. 

Time: 5-6pm

Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building

Speaker: Ambassador Ma Zhengang

Price: Free, no ticket required

UN Ideas that Changed the World | Tue 20 October 2009

UN ideas have more influence and impact than is generally realized, on economic and social development and environment as well as on human rights and peacekeeping. In this well-illustrated lecture, two of the co-directors of the UN Intellectual History Project will present the findings of a ten-year project and launch the summary volume, UN Ideas That Changed the World. Louis Emmerij has been Special Adviser to the President of the Inter-American Development Bank, President of the OECD Development Centre, Rector of the ISS, The Hague and Director of ILO's World Employment Programme. Both have spent lifetimes in development and written or edited many books and articles. Sir Richard Jolly is an Honorary Professor of the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex. From 1982-2000 he was an Assistant Secretary General of the UN, as UNICEF's Deputy Executive Director and subsequently principal coordinator of UNDP's Human Development Report. From 1972-81, he was Director of the IDS. 

Time: 6.30-8pm

Venue: Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House

Speakers: Louis Emmerij and Sir Richard Jolly

Price: Free, no ticket required

In Conversation with George Alagiah | Fri 23 October 2009

This lecture will reflect on these themes in the context of his work and how the media shapes our identities, individually and collectively, both in the UK and internationally. George Alagiah is a journalist and presenter of the BBC Six O'Clock news and BBC World News. 

Time: 6-7.30pm

Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building

Speaker: George Alagiah

Price: Free, no ticket required

Climate Change Policy: why has so little been achieved? | Tue 27 October 2009

While the scientific evidence for climate change grows, the policy responses have so far had little or no impact on the build-up of emissions. Why does the disconnect between science and policy exist and why has the Kyoto Protocol achieved so little? Dieter Helm is professor of energy policy at the University of Oxford. This event marks the publication of The Economics and Politics of Climate Change, edited by Dieter Helm and Cameron Hepburn.

Time: 6.30-8pm

Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building

Speaker: Professor Dieter Helm

Chair: Dr Sam Fankhauser

Price: Free, no ticket required

Human Rights in the 21st Century by Professor Noel Chomsky | Thu 29 October 2009

Leading thinker Professor Noam Chomsky considers the state and future of human rights. Noam Chomsky is professor of linguistics at MIT. This event is free and open to all however a ticket is required. One ticket per person can be requested from 10.00am on Wednesday 21 October. Members of the public, LSE staff and alumni can request one ticket via the online ticket request form which will be live at http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2009/20090819t1823z001.aspx from 10.00am on Wednesday 21 October. LSE students and staff are able to collect one ticket from the LSESU reception, located on the ground floor of the East Building from 10.00am on Wednesday 21 October. ***

Time: 6.30-8pm

Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building

Speaker: Professor Noam Chomsky

Price: Free, but booking required at http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2009/20090819t1823z001.aspx