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Events for the Week of June 17th - June 23rd

Continue reading for some of the events this week in D.C. concerning Africa.

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MONDAY, JUNE 17th, 2013
Vision, Innovation, and Action to Address Child Marriage
Hosted by: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Location: Woodrow Wilson Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20004
Time: 2:00pm - 4:30pm
Summary: Over the past decade, nearly 58 million girls were married before the age of 18. Child marriage is a truly global problem: In Africa, 42 percent of girls are married before turning 18, but it is also prevalent in parts of Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (in South Asia, for instance, 46 percent of girls are married). Child brides often start childbearing early, leading to complications and producing high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality among girls in developing countries. Married girls are often forced to leave school, negatively affecting their ability to work and provide for their families. The panelists will describe current policies and programs working to support young women and delay marriage whenever possible.
For more information or to RSVP, please visit: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/vision-innovation-and-action-to-address-child-marriage

Staged Reading of Milo Rau's 'Hate Radio'
Hosted by: Georgetown School of Foreign Service
Location:
Georgetown University
37 St NW and O St NW, Washington, DC
Davis Performing Arts Center Devine Studio Theatre
Time: 7:30pm
Summary: Directed by Prof. Derek Goldman, Co-Artistic Director, Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University. The reading will be followed by a discussion led by Prof. Cynthia Schneider (former US ambassador to the Netherlands and distinguished professor in the practice of diplomacy, Georgetown University) with Eva-Maria Bertschy (dramaturge for Hate Radio), Ping Chong and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Michael Pelletier, who will focus on how theater can be used as a powerful tool of cultural and political diplomacy.

Hate Radio brings the 1994 Rwandan genocide to life by reconstructing an hour-long broadcast by the Rwandan radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines, which throughout the genocide interspersed sports reports and the latest music hits with naked racist ideology and incitements to murder. With methodically built-up psychological manipulation, RTLM reached the entire Rwandan population; its broadcast could not be avoided.
For more information or to RSVP, please visit: 
http://events.georgetown.edu/events/index.cfm?Action=View&CalendarID=251&EventID=104238

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TUESDAY, JUNE 18th, 2013
Examining Prospects for Democratic Reform and Economic Recovery in Zimbabwe
Hosted by: U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building
Constitution Avenue and 1st Street, NE, Washington, DC, Room 419
Time: 10:00am
Summary: Panel Event

Panel Two
Mr. Dewa Mahvinga
Senior Researcher
Human Rights Watch
Washington, DC
Mr. Mark Schneider
Senior Vice President
International Crisis Group
Washington, DC
Mr. Todd Moss
Vice President for Programs and Senior Fellow
Center for Global Development
Washington, DC

Panel One
The Honorable Donald Yamamoto
Acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Bureau of African Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC
The Honorable Earl Gast
Assistant Administrator for Africa Bureau for Africa
United States Agency for International Development
Washington, DC
For more information or to RSVP, please visit: http://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/examining-prospects-for-democratic-reform-and-economic-recovery-in-zimbabwe

A Briefing by the Honorable Raila A. Odinga: African Achievements and Challenges: Learning from the Past but Looking Forward
Hosted by: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Location: Woodrow Wilson Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20004
Time: 10:00am - 11:30am
Summary: The former Prime Minister of the Republic Kenya, The Honorable Raila A. Odinga, will discuss the past 50 years, highlighting both achievements and challenges on the continent. He will also share his vision for Africa over the next 50 years, with a particular focus on Africa's future engagements with China and the United States.
For more information or to RSVP, please visit: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/african-achievements-and-challenges-learning-the-past-looking-forward
 
Poverty and Progress: Realities and Myths about Global Poverty
Hosted by: Cato Institute
Location: Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001
Hayek Auditorium
Time: 12:00pm
Summary:
Featuring the author Deepak Lal, Professor Emeritus of International Development Studies, University of California at Los Angeles, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute; with comments by Marcus Noland, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics; moderated by Ian Vasquez, Director, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute.

The greatest reduction in mass poverty in human history has occurred during the current era of globalization. The world's poor are now catching up with the rich at a rapid pace in terms of human well-being. Deepak Lal will discuss how, despite those achievements, confusion about poor countries abounds: the World Bank exaggerates the extent of poverty; the benefits of new development fads including microfinance or randomized testing of projects, are vastly oversold; and discredited theories, such as the need for massive foreign aid to save Africa, have been resurrected. Marcus Noland will draw from his experience working in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East to comment on the book and its view that increased liberalization in the developing world is decreasing the influence of the West's advocates of dirigisme.
For more information or to RSVP, please visit: http://www.cato.org/events/poverty-progress-realities-myths-about-global-poverty

Global Health and the Animal-Human Interface
Hosted by: National Institute of Health
Location: National Institute of Health
9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892
Building 50, Rm 1227/1233
Time: 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Summary: Guy Palmer, DVM, PhD is founding Director of the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, a multi-disciplinary institute with the mission of addressing global disease challenges through research, education, global outreach, and application of disease control at the animal-human interface.  Dr. Palmer currently leads disease control programs in east Africa and Latin America as well as directing laboratory research at Washington State. He heads the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Training Program in Infectious Diseases and Microbial Immunology and holds a NIH MERIT award for research on pathogen emergence. He also serves as an adviser to the Global Development Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the International Training Program on Molecular Epidemiology of Food-borne Pathogens in Eastern Africa, and is a member of the NIH College of Scientific Review.

Dr. Palmer will discuss how animal health interfaces with human health, especially as it relates to disease control and prevention programs in Africa.  He will also talk about the One Health Initiative (http://www.onehealthinitiative.com), a worldwide strategy for expanding interdisciplinary collaborations and communications in all aspects of health care for humans, animals and the environment.
For more information or to RSVP, please visit: http://ned.org/events/civil-society-and-the-quest-for-democracy-in-uganda-threats-and-opportunities

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19th, 2013
Hearing on Human Rights in Sudan
Hosted by: Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
Location: Rayburn House Office Building
45 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC
Room 2200
Time: 10:00am - 12:00pm
Summary: Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) for a hearing on human rights in Sudan and the humanitarian crises arising from the Government of Sudan's longstanding human rights abuses. Ten years since the beginning of state-sponsored crimes against civilians in Darfur, which the U.S. government found to constitute genocide, the human rights and humanitarian situation in the region remains dire. Civilians continue to face violent attacks by government forces, pro-government militias, and armed opposition groups, while humanitarian aid is severely limited for an estimated 2.3 million internally displaced persons.  Some 130,000 Darfuris have been newly displaced in the first months of 2013 alone. This hearing will address the humanitarian crises in Sudan and South Sudan, the human rights violations underlying the crises, and U.S. policy in the region.
For more information or to RSVP, please visit: http://tlhrc.house.gov/

US-South African Scientific and Technological Collaboration: Opportunities for US Industry
Hosted by: Brand South Africa
Location: William Fulbright Center
Hogan Lovells, Columbia Square, 555 13th St NW, Washington DC 20004
Time: 10:00am - 2:00pm
Summary: South African Minister of Science and Technology Derek Hanekom and Dr Bernie Fanaroff, director of the Square Kilometer Array South Africa radio telescope program, will participate in a symposium on innovation in South Africa and the opportunities it presents for US industry. Other speakers include Amb. Donald Gips, US-SA Business Council, Kevin Smith, CEO Solar Reserve, Mark Schnell, GM Sasol Synfuels and Dr Ashoke Bhattachariya, Dir. Global Health Innovation Systems, Johnson and Johnson.
For more information, please visit: http://www.brandsouthafrica.us/?p=658

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THURSDAY, JUNE 20th, 2013
House Subcommittee Hearing- Ethiopia After Meles: The Future of Democracy and Human Rights
Hosted by: Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations
Location: House Rayburn Office Building Washington, DC 20515
Time: 10:00am
Summary: Panel Event

Panel I
The Honorable Donald Y. Yamamoto
Acting Assistant Secretary of State
Bureau of African Affairs
U.S. Department of State
The Honorable Earl W. Gast
Assistant Administrator
Bureau for Africa
U.S. Agency for International Development

Panel II
Berhanu Nega, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Economics
Bucknell University
J. Peter Pham, Ph.D.
Director
Michael S. Ansari Africa Center
Atlantic Council
Mr. Obang Metho
Executive Director
Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia
For more information or to RSVP, please visit: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-hearing-ethiopia-after-meles-future-democracy-and-human-rights

Women as Agents of Change: Traditional Practices and Community-Based Social Change in Ethiopia
Hosted by: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Location: Woodrow Wilson Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20004
Time: 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Summary: Dr. Bogaletch Gebre is the recipient of this year's King Baudouin African Development Prize. She is a passionate women's rights activist from Ethiopia and has been recognized for her efforts to transform the lives of women through innovation and altering traditional conceptions of a woman's role in shaping her political, economic, and social destiny. She is the founder of Kembatti Mentti Gezzimma (KMG), a community-based organization, which operates with the understanding that people cannot be developed but can only develop themselves as opposed to a linear one size fits all approach. Dr. Gebre organizes intra-communal dialogues that take on cultural taboos and the harmful practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). As a result of her approach, KMG has witnessed the incidence of FGM in Ethiopia diminish from 100% to less than 3% in a span of ten years. Her work has been replicated by international organizations, UNICEF has recommended that KMG's approach to ending FGM be used as a model for other African nations, and the UNDP has commissioned the organization to coordinate the expansion of its community intervention model to confront the scourge of HIV/AIDS.
For more information or to RSVP, please visit: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/conversation-dr-bogaletch-gebre

The Role of Economics in Democratic Transitions: The Case of Tunisia
Hosted by: National Endowment for Democracy
Location: National Endowment for Democracy
1025 F Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20004
Time: 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Summary: What are the elements that shape the outcome of a country's transition from authoritarianism to democracy? All too often policy analysts focus on the political process, while neglecting the vital role of economic reform in determining democratic success or failure. Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring, has made significant strides towards developing democratic consensus; however, two years on, the country's continued struggle with economic stagnation, high unemployment and lack of entrepreneurial opportunities poses serious challenges to its transition. Drawing upon his experience in business and civil society in Tunisia, Dr. Mondher Ben Ayed will discuss why tackling these economic questions is essential for Tunisia's future stability and success
For more information or to RSVP, please visit: http://ned.org/events/the-role-of-economics-in-democratic-transitions-the-case-of-tunisia

 

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The Africa Program works to address the most critical issues facing Africa and US-Africa relations, build mutually beneficial US-Africa relations, and enhance knowledge and understanding about Africa in the United States. The Program achieves its mission through in-depth research and analyses, public discussion, working groups, and briefings that bring together policymakers, practitioners, and subject matter experts to analyze and offer practical options for tackling key challenges in Africa and in US-Africa relations.    Read more