Registration Form with Additional Details (Click Here)
The 4th Annual International
Conference on
An Inter-faith Perspective on
Globalisation
Under the Patronage of
Honourable Dr. A. A. Moody Awori, EBS, MP.
The Vice President and Minister for Home Affairs
The
The Quest for Justice and Peace
18-28 April, 2005
(18-20 April Nairobi, 20-24 Kericho, 24
Convenors:
Dr. Kamran Mofid, Founder-Convenor
and
Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh,
Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (
at
Nishkam Puran Institute (NPI), Kericho
An Invitation to Participate at Africa
and Globalisation for the Common Good Conference
2005: the Year of Solidarity with, and
Justice&Peace for Africa
It is with great pleasure that we inform you of The 4th Annual International
Conference on an Inter-faith Perspective
on Globalisation for the Common Good: Africa and Globalisation for the Common Good-The
Quest for Justice and Peace, held under the patronage of
the Honourable Dr. A. A. Moody Awori, The Vice President and Minister for
Home Affairs of the Republic of Kenya. The Conference will take place
at Nishkam
Puran Institute, Kericho, during 21-24 April 2005, and there will also be
pre- and post- conference activities in Nairobi and Mombasa. The
Conference is convened by Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh, Chairman, Guru Nanak
Nishkam Sewak Jatha and myself.
Further details about this and past symposiums can be seen at our web site:
www.commongood.info
This 4th International Conference on Globalisation for the Common Good
addresses a world quest for international understanding, dialogue, justice and
peace in Africa. A large number of
speakers and delegates from around the globe will contribute to the mission of
the Conference in a unique way. Senior scholars and practitioners have applied
and others are being invited to the conference as plenary and keynote speakers
(a partial list of confirmed speakers - in alphabetical order- is copied below).
Africa, as the British Prime Minister has remarked, remains a scar on the conscience of the world. Our conference is an attempt to address that scar in the year (2005) that has become the year of Africa. In these global and too often troubled times, we need new perspectives and models so that we can find humane answers to the challenges of globalisation, based on a deep respect for the diversity of cultures and religions in our world community. There is a desperate need for new and practical ways of reintroducing spirituality, ethics and faith into the debate on globalisation. Africa has suffered slavery, colonialism, and now is struggling along the path of neo-liberal globalisation. We know that slavery and colonialism dealt Africa a bad hand. Are the same tragedies visiting Africa again? Has globalisation dealt Africa once again a bad hand?
In the eloquent words of the Guardian newspaper Editorial (January 1, 2005), in the 1960s the problem (in Africa) was said to be lack of capital: provide more investment for infrastructure, and Africa would grow. In the 1970s it was exports: sell more products overseas for hard currency, and Africa would grow. In the 1980s "structural adjustment" was the prescription: cut taxes, lower barriers, and Africa would grow. By the 1990s, privatisation and good governance were the buzzwords. Discredited models of development litter the landscape of Africa, its governments being forced to manoeuvre around the shipwrecks of failed policies. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only big region of the world where living standards and life expectancy have deteriorated: by 2000 there were 75 million more Africans in poverty than a decade before.
Furthermore and according to the same Editorial, Africa's poverty is chronic and is likely to remain so into the long-term. The depth of that poverty is brutal, widespread and misunderstood: 34 of the world's 49 least-developed countries are in Africa. Nearly half the region's population lives on or below the $1 a day line. Only three countries - Mauritius, South Africa and Botswana - can genuinely claim to have made progress. Others remain the venues for long-running wars, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world's poorest country. On current forecasts, no sub-Saharan African country will meet any of the UN's millennium development goals. Even those countries with oil and other natural resources are no better off, such as Nigeria and the DRC. Corruption remains rife in many parts of the continent. There are no easy answers, and we should not expect 2005 to produce easy changes, but together our engagement can make a real difference. Africa's poverty should never be used as a reason to do nothing: it is a reason to do more.
Globalisation for the Common Good is proud to be involved in this vital and humanitarian debate. We are also equally proud and honoured that so many dedicated and committed specialists (See the List below) have joined us, so that, in the interest of solidarity and comradeship, justice and peace for all, together with our African brethren, in an international conference on African soil, we can debate on how best to move forward.
In this heart-felt invitation, we invite
you to participate in any ways that you wish. We also invite you to
support us in any form and fashion possible and convenient to you. In
the beautiful and ever-lasting words of Eleanor Roosevelt; “The future
belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”. At Globalisation
for the Common Good, we do believe in the beauty of our dream. We do know
that you share this dream with us. Please join us. It is high time to realise
our dreams together for the common good.
Looking forward very eagerly to your kind response,
Yours Sincerely,
Kamran
Kamran Mofid, PhD
Conference Founder-Convenor
www.commongood.info
Partial List of Speakers:
Hon. Mohammad Ali Abtahi, President, Institute for Interreligious
Dialogue (IID), Tehran, Advisor to President Khatami and
former Vice- President, Parliamentary Legal Affairs, Iran
Prof. Hooshang Amirahmadi, Director, Middle East Centre, Rutgers
University, USA and President, American-Iranian Council, USA
Rev. Prof. J. Baitu, Director, Centre for Social
Justice and Ethics, Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya
Teresa Baldwinson, Justice and Peace Campaigner, UK
Rev. Michael Bos, Director, Al Amana Centre, Sultanate
of Oman
Rev. Dr. Marcus Braybrooke, President, World Congress
of Faiths, Oxford, UK
Prof. Dr. Michael Chege, Advisor to the Minister for Planning
and National Development, Nairobi
Prof. Predrag Cicovacki, Director,
Peace and Conflict Studies, Holy Cross College, USA
Dr. Margarete Czerny, East-West Cooperation, Austrian
Institute of Economic Research, Vienna, Austria
Cliff Edwards of Realign Consulting, UK
Colleen Lyons Fisher, School of Medicine, University
of Pennsylvania, USA
William F. Fore, Adjunct Prof. Divinity School, Yale
University and Founder/Moderator Religion Online, USA
Dr. Markus Glatz-Schmallegger, Catholic Social Academy,
Vienna, Austria
Dr. Lorna Gold, TROCAIRE, Ireland
Wayne Green, Global Affairs Consultancy, UK
Prof. Anthony J.Hall, Founding Coordinator,
Globalisation Studies at the University of Lethbridge, Canada
Prof. Wendy C. Hamblet, Department of Philosophy, Adelphi
University, USA
Dekha Ibrahim, Director, Wajir Peace&Development
Initiative, Kenya
H.E. Dr. Ahmad Jalali, President of 31st UNESCO
General Assembly (2001-2003) and President of the World Heritage General
Assembly
Dr. Judith Rahima Jensen, Director, Educational
Solutions, USA
Prof. Yahya R. Kamalipour, Head, Department of
Communication and Creative Arts, Purdue University Calumet, and Managing
Editor,
Global Media Journal, USA
Jim Kenney, Executive Director,
Interreligious Engagement Project, USA
Prof. Mumtaz Ali Khan, University of Agricultural
Sciences, Bangalore, India
Dr. Audrey Kitagawa, Advisor, Office of the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, UN,
New York, USA
Daniel Lewis, Chief, Disaster, Post Conflict and
Safety Section, Un-Habitat, Nairobi, Kenya
Todd Lorentz,
Centre for Global Negotiations, Brandt 21 Forum, USA
Dr. David W. Lutz, Dept. of Philosophy, Catholic University
of Eastern Africa, Kenya
Sr. Beatrice Mariotti, Headmistress, St. Mary’s
Catholic High School, Dubai
Rev. Prof. John Maviiri, Rector and Vice Chancellor,
Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya
Prof. Ali Mazrui, Director, Institute of Global
Cultural Studies, Binghamton University, USA and Chancellor, Jomo Kenyatta
University
of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Paul McCarthy FRSA, Principal Teaching Fellow, Warwick
Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, UK
Prof. Fr. Peter Milward SJ,
Director, Renaissance Institute, Sofia University, Japan
Prof. Cynthia D. Moe-Lobeda, Seattle University, USA
Roger Montgomery, Bishop, Spirit of Peace Monastic
Community, USA
Ms. Fahimeh Mousavinejad, Manager, Institute for
Interreligious Dialogue, Tehran, Iran
Dr. William T. Muhairwe, Managing Director, National
Water and Sewerage Corporation, Kampala, Uganda
Dr. Mansoob Murshed, Institute of Social Studies
(ISS), The Hague, Netherlands
Dr.H.L. Ndlovu, Dean, Faculty of Humanities,
University of Swaziland, Swaziland, Southern Africa
Hon. Prof. Peter Anyang' Nyongo, M.P. Minister for Planning and National
Development, Kenya
Salome N. Owinyo, PhD candidate, Faculty of
Psychology and Educational Sciences, Catholic university, Leuven, Belgium
Dr. Andreas
Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, Reader in Law, University of Westminster, London,
UK
Dr.James Bernard Quilligan, Director, Centre for
Global Negotiations, Brandt 21 Forum, USA
Rev. Alan Race, Editor-in-Chief, Interreligious
Insight
Prof. Mahmoud Sadri, Department of Sociology, Texas
Woman's University, USA
Jane Samuels, Cultural Development Consultant, UK
Dr. Keyvan Tabari, Attorney-at-Law, USA
Dr. jur.Thilo Tetzlaff, Institute of Global Law,
University College London (UCL), UK
Cemal Ulpak, Secretary General, The Intercultural
Dialogue platform, Istanbul, Turkey
Sr. B. K. Vedanti, Brahma Kumaris, World Spiritual
University (Africa)
Rev. Joseph Wandera, Radboud University of Nijmegen,
The Netherlands
L. Muthoni Wanyeki, Executive Director, African
Women's Development and Communications Network (FEMENT), Kenya
Fr. James J. Waweru, AMECEA Justice and Peace
Coordinator, Kenya
Prof. Lawrence Woods, Department of International Studies,
American University of Sharjah, UAE
More to be listed
For frequently updated information on the
conference please visit the website:
For an introduction to Kericho and Nishkam Puran Institute see:
http://www.commongood.info/kericho.html
For the Registration Form:
http://www.commongood.info/registration2005.html