Archive for category: News

We are delighted that 3 exceptional WIP Class of 2015 students: Lucy Jones, India Fahy and Gary Cooke are joining the CDPB for the Community Service and Advocacy phase of the programme.

For the past 20 years, WIP has supported the peace and reconciliation efforts in Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Identifying young people with a commitment to service and a track record of leadership, we build their skills through work experience, educational opportunity, and hands-on citizenship both at home and in the US.

Through these efforts, WIP is building the next generation of leaders that will achieve a peaceful, stable and prosperous future for Northern Ireland and Ireland.

 

LUCY JONES | UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK | LAW

Lucy is a final year law student at University College Cork, with a passion for International Law. In 2014 Lucy founded “Know Offence”, a campaign which aspires to help students affected by sexual violence. She previously interned for the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. She is passionate about access to justice and has volunteered for the American Red Cross providing legal advice for urban disaster survivors. She also travelled to Mexico City to volunteer for the refugee community centre Casa Refugiados. Lucy loves to debate. She served on the committee of the Philosophical Society and has represented her society internationally. She is currently an oralist on Ireland’s Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court team.

 

INDIA FAHY | LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS | LAW

India is a second year Law student at the London School of Economics. She is a founding member of the newly formed Integrated Education Alumni Association, aimed at promoting the importance of integrated education to the Northern Ireland peace process. She is focused on empowering young people to shape the future of Northern Ireland, having written a column entitled ‘Class Re-Act’. This culminated in her receiving an Outstanding Contribution to Public Service Award. India remains interested in regenerating Northern Ireland and has helped to organize a number of events on the subject. India also has an avid interest in human rights, having served on both the Youth Advisory Panel and Active Members Sub Committee of Amnesty International UK.

 

GARY COOKE | UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN | MECHANICAL ENGINEERING WITH BUSINESS

Gary is a master’s student studying Mechanical Engineering with Business. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors for EIL Intercultural Learning and the treasurer for the Mechanical Engineering Society. Gary is a former committee member of the Literary and Historical Society, Europe’s largest student society. He contributed to the society in two different roles: Public Relations Officer for the 159th session and Schools Competitions Officer for the 157th session, for which he received the gold medal for “Outstanding Contribution to the Society”. Gary spent his third year of his undergraduate degree studying abroad in University of California, San Diego. He became actively involved in the UCSD community in his role as “Programs and Marketing Intern” within the International House, with responsibility for a number of community development programs and events.

Twitter workshop at NICVA in collaboration with the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building.

Tuesday, 15 September from 3pm – 4.30pm

Learn from the Twitter’s UK Policy Lead Nick Pickles on the best practices of campaigning on the platform, covering a range of creative ideas and inspirations as well as simple tips and planning tools that will help you reach more people with your messages.

The session will last roughly 90 minutes and will include a Q&A session afterwards.

As numbers are limited, this event is strictly for Voluntary and Community sector organisations with an interest in maximising their use of Twitter.

Register: http://www.nicva.org/node/3011/register

 

Centre for Democracy and Peace Building and the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice at Queen’s University Belfast

invite you to a lecture

Poland and its Eastern Neighbours: Foreign Policy, the EU and NATO

by HE Witold Sobków, Ambassador of Poland to the Court of St James

on Monday, 1 June 2015 from 6.45pm to 8pm

Canada Room, Queens University Belfast, University Road, Belfast BT7 1NN

RSVP no later than Wednesday, 27 May to  r.mcgreer@qub.ac.uk

________________

Until his appointment as Ambassador of Poland to the Court of St. James’s in August 2012, Witold Sobków served as Permanent Representative of Poland to the United Nations in New York and as Political Director (CFSP). Previously, he was in the Department of Strategy and Planning of Poland’s Foreign Policy, with the rank of Titular Ambassador. In 2006 he served as Under-Secretary of State for European Affairs.

Witold Sobków was Poland’s Ambassador to Ireland from 2002 until 2006, prior to which he had been Senior Adviser to the Minister on European Affairs. In

2001 he was Director for Non-European Countries and the United Nations System, having served as Deputy Head of the West European Department since November 2000 when he came back from the UK having acted as Deputy Head of Mission at the Polish Embassy. Before joining the Ministry, Witold Sobków was for 7 years a lecturer at Warsaw University.

He is a civil servant and holds two MAs /summa cum laude/ in English language and literature, and in Italian language and literature, both from Warsaw University. He undertook various postgraduate programmes, e.g. Islamic studies at London University, security in South-East Asia at King’s College, diplomacy/economics/security/political science at Stanford University as well as national and international security at Harvard. He received scholarships to study in Siena, Venice and Perugia.

The key issue being explored by a range of partners at the ‘Towards A Better Future’ Conference taking place at Belfast City Hall today is how to make a positive impact on hate crime and promote Belfast and Northern Ireland as a place confident in the benefits of diversity.

Led by the Belfast Policing and Community Safety Partnership in association with the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building and supported by Unite Against Hate, Department of Justice, and Belfast City Council, the conference will play an important role in facilitating a citywide and regional conversation to promote social cohesion and tolerance.

Set against a backdrop of rising levels of hate crime and in particular levels of racist hate crime in Belfast, the focus of the conference will be to further develop the short/medium term work already underway and to begin the process of exploring how shared outcomes can be achieved.

The conference kicks off with a range of leading specialists in the field of hate crime and social cohesion sharing knowledge and expertise. There will then be sessions in different locations across the city, where delegates have the opportunity to engage directly with communities on how hate crime and intolerance affects them.

As part of these satellite sessions, Belfast and Northern Ireland will also have the opportunity to showcase its existing good practice with a wide and varied range of related case study presentations.

The final conference session will work with all delegates to develop an agreed platform for action going forward and the overall conference report will link to the development of “The Belfast Agenda” which is Belfast’s Community Plan.

Cllr Colin Keenan, Chairman Belfast Policing and Community Safety Partnership said today:

“The ‘Towards A Better Future’ conference will, in my opinion, be the start of a new era of tolerance and respect in our City and across our region”.

“Many immigrants come to Northern Ireland for work and the chance of a better life. That’s why it’s imperative that we, in positions of responsibility, make it our business to make them feel welcomed”.

“This conference will build on the great work of the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building, Queens University Belfast and Belfast PCSP, who jointly published a report dispelling common myths surrounding immigrants in our city.”

“On that point I want to thank all involved in this conference and praise them for their work. Together we can build a better future for everyone”.

Justice Minister David Ford MLA added:

“There is a responsibility on all of us to work towards a truly shared and inclusive society.  My Department’s Community Safety Strategy recognises that a growing diverse society can bring challenges in how some people perceive a problem and react to it.  If unchallenged, prejudices can grow and negative attitudes can be learned.  These can manifest into abuse; intimidation; damage to property; and unfortunately physical injury. 

It is important that we all unite in the message that hate and intolerance are not acceptable and that the society we aspire to is one which promotes equality and will challenge prejudices.  I believe that reducing prejudicial attitudes driving hate is achievable but requires strong leadership and partnership working across the justice agencies, Executive Departments, local government and the broader voluntary and community sector. I therefore welcome today’s conference which makes a valuable contribution to that debate.” 

Lord John Alderdice, Chairman of the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building added:

“The ‘Towards a Better Future’ conference aims to build on the excellent work already undertaken in Belfast and across the region to tackle prejudice and promote social cohesion. Bringing together the right mix of people, at the right time via a number of dynamic sessions we aim to promote wider knowledge of the issues and how to equip policy makers and those tasked with implementation through examples of good practice.”  

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Martin said:

“We take hate crime very seriously and actively investigate all incidents reported to us. Hate crime is wrong on all levels and the PSNI will do everything it can to protect and reassure the growing number of people from different backgrounds and cultures who choose to come to Northern Ireland to live, work or study. We know this type of crime can have a devastating effect on victims and we want to reassure everyone that we are committed to tackling this issue and playing our role in preventing these crimes occurring.” 

In May last year we launched Operation Reiner, a co-ordinated investigation into a series of hate crimes across Belfast. Since then we have made 95 arrests and 46 have been charged.  As this work continues – the message is clear – Actions have consequences. If you choose to demonstrate your hatred by attacking or abusing others we will investigate you and seek to bring you to justice.”

This conference provides a great opportunity to collectively look at what we can do together to tackle hate crime. Police alone cannot provide a solution. It requires a long-term, collective multi-agency response with the range of skills and perspectives necessary to build a safer, more confident society which welcomes diversity.  By building strong partnerships empowered and capable to address the identified issues, we can start to get to the heart of the problem, providing long lasting solutions which increase awareness and confidence in all communities.”