Diva International

Francis Blanchard: A personal tribute

admin — 2010-03-08T17:15:43Z

On learning of the death of Francis Blanchard on 9 December 2009, my first thought was about the passing of a gentleman and diplomat whom I had the privilege of knowing as Director-General through most of my working years in the ILO. I was in the lower ranks and felt a strong connection to the human qualities of this man of the people.

Typical was the speech he delivered on 29 May 2009 at the ILO 90th anniversary lunch where he talked about Albert Thomas, first Director-General of the ILO, and his hope for the future. The sincerity and clarity of his words with precise and concise manner of delivery were the hallmark of Francis Blanchard during his years as Director-General from 1974 to 1989.

Tributes from near and far about his life and work are long and varied. The present tribute is linked to my experience as a member of the Staff Union Committee later to become its General Secretary and Chairperson. I was new to the Committee and our meetings were not always easy. As gentleman and diplomat, he showed great patience lending credence to his position as Director-General of the ILO.

The integrity of the international civil service was foremost in his mind and members of his Cabinet would be encouraged to help find collective solutions to staff-related issues. I witnessed his diplomacy and skill in pleading support for staff issues in front of the ILO Governing Body and through the wider bodies of the United Nations system.

A notable example was the debate about Office closing between Christmas and New Year. There had been lengthy negotiations through several sessions of the ILO Administrative Committee in exchange for other claims by the Staff Union Committee barred within the context of the UN Common System. After detailed consultation within and outside the Office, justified as budgetary savings, he obtained approval of the Governing Body for the annual Office closing between Christmas and New Year. While still an “exceptional measure” it has allowed generations of ILO staff to benefit from the provision resulting from a negotiated settlement under Francis Blanchard.

A more personal example is his intervention to approve my appointment to an administrative position for which I had been selected through the joint ILO Selection Board. The relevant chief had opposed the choice with arguments of ‘conflict of interest' due to my elected functions as a serving Officer of the Staff Union Committee, finally overruled.

His action strengthened still further my connection to the human qualities of this man of the people whose life and work was devoted to the cause of social justice and to whom by these few lines I would like to pay a very personal tribute.

Ita Marguet

AID FOR TRADE Interview with Patricia Francis, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre

admin — 2010-03-02T17:02:13Z

Q: You were appointed Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC) in June 2006. What do you consider are your main achievements since taking office?

I would say refocusing the organization –– to bring everybody to one place –– which was a very difficult thing to do. ITC was fragmented, and now we're working more in unison. I believe one of the most important things we've achieved is that now we all share a common vision. We had a lot of conversions about a common vision and it was underpinned by focusing on poverty alleviation –– the foundation of all our work. As a technical organization, we are always working with numbers and sometimes there is a disconnect about what this is contributing to –– in other words, to poverty alleviation. So just getting everybody committed to that principle was a big step.

A key area of focus for us which goes hand-in-hand with alleviating poverty, is building capacity.

These are key components of our credo “export impact for good”, and here “good” has a triple meaning: there must be a positive impact from the exports that we help facilitate; we should be choosy about where we work and what we do; and we should only agree to those arrangements that we believe can have a real impact. It could perhaps be said that some people are working on ‘doing good' and others are working on ‘doing well'. Sustainability means that people do both - these things are very interconnected.

It was very important to integrate that philosophy into ITC because it helps in making choices. If you have to choose between working in country A or country B, you compare these countries to see which one satisfies the greatest number of your criteria; and this helps us to make decisions. I will say that this focus, this concurrence on why we are doing what we are doing and how we do it, is critical in establishing values that people can ascribe to. It means that we stand for something. We are not stealing other people's mandates, but focusing on our own. To be honest with you, I think that this has been a massive achievement.

Q: In December 2005, the sixth WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong created the programme “Aid for Trade”. Could you tell us a little about the project and what exactly ITC does in this context?

We have been engaged with the WTO from the very beginning. Our process has been to bring the private sector's voice into Aid for Trade discussions. When we attended the first set of meetings, we noticed an absence of the private sector. Clearly, if the private sector has not been involved, it will not be concerned by whatever decisions have been made, and will feel alienated from the process.

In subsequent meetings, we have been responsible for introducing the private sector's voice and then making sure that those discussions are brought through to the ministerial level. This has been a very critical and important part of the process. When you look at the road-map note for Aid for Trade, which has just been approved by the General Council of the WTO, you see that the private sector is well represented, where-as it was previously invisible. The main focus for ITC has been to talk about the role of the private sector at every opportunity and we will continue to make sure that the private sector is fully represented.

We've already seen success in the “Enhanced Integrated Framework”, a subset of the Aid for Trade which focuses on least-developed countries (LDCs). We have been very successful in making sure that countries that carry out integrated framework diagnostic studies include the issue of gender. As far as the LDCs are concerned, we believe that our greatest success has been that the issues of women and the environment are now on the agenda of Aid for Trade.

We are also working towards ensuring that trade becomes part of the development agenda set by governments, another Aid for Trade objective. What seems to be happening in most countries is that you have your “trade policy” and your “development policy”, but the two are not connected. In ensuring that trade becomes part of development policy, you then have a more inclusive process. We will pursue this policy and, of course, in terms of setting the agenda we will also provide technical assistance so that countries achieve particular outcomes. Clearly, everything that we do, including our capacity-building work, is directed towards trade, so it is indeed Aid for Trade.

There is now a satisfactory framework which looks at issues that we think are important. There is now a place for the private sector at the table; there is a place for women … and, of course, you cannot think about trade without thinking about the environment, so the environment is also present on the agenda. We believe that the countries, regions and sectors that we are working with will adopt a far more holistic approach, which is critical as we move into the twenty-first century.

Q: Since the financial turmoil last year and the tremendous decrease in international trade, what has been your main focus to get countries out of this situation?

The financial crisis has limited governments' financial resources. It's a question of setting priorities on where to spend that money and, of course, every minister believes that his needs are the most important! The question is, therefore, what is the lowest level at which we can sustain ourselves during this period, and how can we prepare ourselves for when it is all over –– because it is also about preparing for a new period of growth.

This new period will come, but I believe it will not happen as quickly as many people would like.

What are we going to do? In our view it's all about governments focusing on what is going to make their countries more competitive. You should never lose an opportunity like a crisis, as during a crisis you can get consensus on some difficult decisions. Decisions on reforms which need to be taken to ensure a competitive environment, or making companies focus on the things that are critical for their own survival.

Inter-regional trade is very important in these times, particularly in Africa. This does not mean that inter-regional trade does not exist currently, but that the mechanisms for inter-regional trade do not exist. This is because trade is aimed at third countries–– that is the colonial legacy. While you may have strong historical trade agreements with Europe, you may also have a huge gulf between you and the man next door. Furthermore, the officials at border crossings are often corrupt and conditions are particularly difficult for women. We have seen that women are the greatest victims of the cross-border trade: they pay higher tariffs than anybody else because they are not properly informed; they have to pay the greatest number of bribes; and then you have people who take advantage of women in other ways … so they are quite vulnerable.

At the end of the day, we believe that facilitating inter-regional trade and the development of inter-regional value chains can also be one of the solutions. Here, we are talking about one country producing raw materials, while another one has energy to process and perhaps to create the final product. If multinational corporations carry out these operations efficiently, local companies have the potential to learn and take advantage of the same processes.

When you look back to the last financial crisis in Asia, it was inter-regional trade that brought them out of that crisis.

We believe that there are huge opportunities for inter-regional trade, particularly for land-locked countries. Rather than thinking about it as an obstacle, it should be viewed as an opportunity, which can yield solutions. Regional economic commissions in various parts of the world are talking about these things, but it is going to be the private sector that will make it happen.

How do you bring down the barriers so that the private sector can get to work? Many of these things do not cost money: they're administrative and can be accomplished with a pen. You do need to change the rules and regulations and that is easier said than done because a culture exists of “we do not want the goods to move next door –– we have this barrier”. The big expense is really to bring everybody around a table, to engage in the level of dialogue and gain commitment. It needs to get down to the level of: Is the customs officer properly trained? Does he know that there is a new set of rules allowing goods to pass across the border without paying duty because there is now a customs union? In many cases no. There are also cases where they do know, but it has become lucrative business to extract money. These are things that countries need to think about. And then, we have to ensure that the private sector knows its rights. Private sector organizations need to be educating their own business community about the opportunities, rules and regulations.

When you put all of these pieces together, inter-regional trade can be a very good opportunity. We have already seen this happening in the services sector. (??)

In Western Africa now you'll see Southern African shopping centres, you see banks from Western Africa. You see the same thing in Latin America. In Central America the retail chains from El Salvador dominate. You see construction companies from different countries, telecommunication companies from Mexico, etc., just spreading out services. You see fewer barriers. Inter-regional trade is moving rather quickly. It would be good to settle some of these matters by completing the Doha Round. We still hope that this can be achieved.

Q: ITC is considered as one of the most efficient trade organizations as it only works with concrete projects. Are there some projects in particular that you would like to highlight?

In Central Asia we have been doing a simple yet very significant thing: trying to establish a value chain for agro business in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan which improves the chances of businesses' success through improved quality.

One of the issues that we face in the developing world, –– either in transition countries or in the least-developed countries –– is to ensure that products are in conformity with international rules and regulations. If you want to get your product into markets, you cannot simply think about the lowest level of quality; you have to think beyond that. Frequently, the infrastructure is not there to support the business community, and entrepreneurs can see this as a penalty. “We have been doing this for the last 100 years –– my father and my grandfather before me –– why do I need to change? This is something that is now being imposed on us by the European Union or the United States to keep us out of the market.”

What we were able to establish in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan was real ownership by the countries themselves and the private sector to make this happen. It has been successful to the extent that we have even been able to use some of the consultants that we have trained and ISO certified in other countries. Not only have they become consultants for their own industry, but they have become international consultants as well. This is something that I would say we have done very well.

Another success was to establish the criteria for the ethical fashion initiative. We brought together the European fashion community and organizations in Africa. We started to work in communities where people had local crafts –– it was not necessarily marketable but people did have a skill. Sometimes in displaced communities these skills have been fostered by NGOs.

We found a group of ladies who had a good tradition of crocheting and we did a handbag collection with Max and Co (Max Mara). The collection of cotton bags was so successful globally that we're now doing more. It is a two-part process: first, we are helping these communities to produce a product sold internationally; and second, we are working with African designers who show their designs in the European market place. It's a joint enterprise with the fashion community in Europe, and, again, highlights how important the involvement of the private sector is.

We also have an ethical fashion sales arrangement with the Co-op here in Switzerland. These are simple arrangements with key shopping chains, but amount to hundreds of thousands of products. We have also developed our Women and Trade Programme. One early success was working with the Ugandan government revise its national export strategy to include a gender component.

National export strategies are a very important part of ITC's work; we help countries examine questions like what opportunities they should be pursuing and how they can build consensus. Consensus begins in these cases by formally engaging the private sector, because all national export strategies are about public/private dialogue. If we have successfully set up a mechanism for a dialogue to take place on a regular basis on a national export strategy, this is a great legacy for us. We are now working on this with Liberia, which is a very difficult situation but we are making steady progress. We have also been working in Jamaica, Grenada, Ecuador, in Africa and South-East Asia. We are very proud of this work.

I would also like to mention our trade intelligence work. Earlier, we used to call this expertise trade information, but now we are moving to another level where we recognize that countries need to be able to understand what is happening in the global market place. We have the tools, which build the capacities of institutions so that they can do the work themselves. The World Bank has recognized the importance of these tools by contributing resources to the ITC to make them freely available to all developing countries.

However, now that tariffs are going down, non-tariff measures have appeared as the new way of inhibiting trade. Together with UNCTAD, we have launched a pilot programme in six countries to develop a network of private sector and public sector institutions to monitor what is going on in trade.

We have also been looking at things the ITC has done in the past with trade support institutions and bringing those practices back into our work. For instance, the ITC used to focus on building capacity for chambers of commerce, sector associations and quality organizations. But when working with them, they made very clear requests of us: could we help them with very practical information on how to improve their services and quality. We now have a benchmarking scheme being developed in conjunction with the trade support institutions from both the developed and the developing world.

Q: The World Trade Centers Association is an association of more than 300 centres working in nearly 100 countries. What do you do in collaboration with them?

We have had a history of working with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) over many years, and we actually run programmes together in many parts of the world. We also work with some World Trade Centers in some countries, although we do not have agreements as such. Some are run for profit, so this may become a point of difference between us. We have very good relationships with world trade centers in parts of the world where they are the partners of choice. In some cases, the World Economic Forum (WEF) is our partner. In Africa, WEF is the agency bringing the private sector together and ITC will join forces with them because they are working with large corporations. We are working with small and medium-sized enterprises.

On the other hand, there are many places where we are working with the ICC. The World Trade Centres have not been part of our strategy, except where they have been the key player in a particular country. Of course, when we go into a country we approach a myriad of organizations and we want to work with strong people. So we may sign a memorandum of understanding with them, as we have with the ICC and the World Economic Forum.

Q: Finally, Ms Francis, you have now been at the head at the ITC for three years and, if my information is correct, you have just been appointed for a second term. Where would you like to see the organization three years from now?

Recalling my last interview with you, I still think I would like to see the ITC as a centre of excellence. I think we are close to this goal. Certainly, I hope that by the time I am out of here that it will no longer be a question –– it will be well recognized. We will be known as a partner of choice within the context and framework of our core competencies.

If I can go back to one of the first questions you asked me about the core competencies of the ITC, I would like to see flagship programmes in each one of our main areas. This has already been well established with respect to our trade intelligence where we are doing publications in conjunction with WTO, UNCTAD, the World Economic Forum and the World Bank.

We have a new programme next year on accession in least developed countries, and here we are working within the Enhanced Integrated Framework. I believe that this is going to be a very successful programme as well.

In trade support work and bench-marking we would like to see ourselves as a world standard And in the area of national export strategies, this is now becoming so widely accepted that we are being asked to join the World Bank to put together the diagnostic studies. By the time I leave here, this will also be one of the things for which ITC will be well-known.

It's all about focus. It's about keeping our eyes on what we need to do, building the right kinds of partnerships to do it, and then ensuring the quality. That's what I would like to ensure: good management and quality of services to our customers.

New article

admin — 2010-02-28T17:26:44Z

REFLECTIONS …

“A new decade…”, observed my colleague, who misses nothing! Reviewing the past ten years, one could state that the most unforgettable event was perhaps September 11, 2001. Whether we like it or not, this incident has had a tremendous impact at the international level. It created an atmosphere of fear that we have been living with now for almost ten years. The war on terrorism that resulted from this incident has led to increased xenophobia, racism and extremism of all kinds. Some people have even gone so far as to talk about before and after 9/11. “Are they wrong?”, my observant colleague asked.

Right-wing political parties all over Europe are now currently using fear of the foreigner to turn the “white” population against the “others”, something that in the long run will only reinforce the feeling of “us” and “them”. Some people are even prepared to argue that “we” are different from “them”, because we have different perceptions. But when you look at it, is this really the case?

Multilateralism has also been suffering because of this. In times when you need good leadership from international organizations to handle world affairs, we have seen the opposite, leaving the field open to those with strong opinions to impose their views, like: “You are either with us or against us!” “Keep the foreigners out!” Mutual trust has been affected and one could even say that nobody trusts anybody any more. And yet our whole global society is based on trust to some extent. What is happening and where are we going?

The world is becoming — or has become — a “global village”. But one form of globalization is conducted through dialogue with a view to equity and preserving cultural identity, and the other form of globalization threatens to bring about the hegemony of the powerful with cultural homogeneity. Somewhere in the middle there are a group of individuals crying with all their might: “The preservation of our cultural diversity is an immense wealth for humankind”. It may already be too late for those cultures feeling themselves under threat and fighting for survival. Unfortunately, dogged resistance may only increase isolation and exclusion.

Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM, once said: “The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer.” So in the beginning of the new decade, let us only hope that the fear of the foreigner can be overcome, and that a whole new decade based upon trust and dialogue will emerge.

Marit

Sustainable development in the Geneva region

admin — 2010-02-28T16:18:02Z

We are all familiar with the problems: the gap between rich and poor; the loss of biodiversity; climate change; the decline in natural resources; pollution of the air, water and soil; acres of refuse. It is clear that the world is not working in a way that can be sustained in the long term.

Accepting this situation, the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 launched “Agenda 21”. This is a program to ensure “sustainable development”, that is to say development that meets the needs of the present generation without comprising the needs of future generations.

If everyone on Earth used as many resources as we do in Western Europe, we would need three planets to satisfy humanity. Therefore, if the human race is to survive we must choose goods and services that consume less energy and preserve natural resources. This would mean opting for quality and sustainability and avoiding quantity and excess.

The Johannesburg World Summit in 2002 required us all to become “responsible consumers”. This means adopting responsible patterns of consumption hand in hand with sustainable modes of production. Sustainable living is all about consuming better by using less energy and natural resources.

When shopping, we should ask ourselves such questions as: • Was this product traded fairly? • Did its manufacture damage the environment? • Did its manufacture deplete natural resources? • Was this product manufactured under decent working conditions? • How long will it last? • Can it be recycled?

A product whose sales price reflects these criteria may well be more expensive than its competitors. However, the money that would be saved in buying a cheaper product today may have to be paid back later “with interest” in its impact on the planet.

National governments and local governments are now beginning to have their own “Agenda 21” programs. The Canton of Geneva has produced a dossier of information sheets designed to educate people into adopting responsible and sustainable patterns of behavior. This dossier, entitled “The Geneva Guide to Sustainable Living”, is available free of charge in English from: Service cantonal du développement durable, Quai Ernest Ansermet 18 bis, 1205 Genève. 022 388 19 40; Fax 022 388 19 49; www.geneve.ch/agenda21.

The Guide can also be downloaded from the above website.

John Fox

What indigenous place names tell us by Alfred de Zayas, UHCHR retired

admin — 2010-02-28T15:38:37Z

Alabama, Alaska, Algonquin, Allegheny, Apache, Apalachee, Appalachian, Appomattox, Arizona, Arkansas, Biloxi, Calumet, Calusa, Canada, Caribou, Cayuga, Chatanooga, Chautauqua, Chepanoc, Cherokee, Chesapeake, Cheyenne, Chicago, Chickasaw, Clatsop, Colusa, Comanche, Connecticut, Cree, Dakota, Delaware, Detroit, Erie, Hialeah, Hiawatha, Hopi, Huron, Idaho, Illinois, Inyo, Iowa, Iroquois, Kansas, Kenosha, Kentucky, Klondike, Lillooet, Malibu, Maliseet, Manhattan, Manitoba, Massachusetts, Merrimac, Metoac, Miami, Miccosukee, Michigan, Micmac, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Modoc, Mohawk, Mohegan, Mohican, Monache, Montauk, Muscogee, Nakota, Nanaimo, Nantucket, Napa, Narragansett, Naugatuck, Navajo, Nebraska, Niagara, Norwalk, Ohio, Okanagan, Okeechobee, Oklahoma, Omaha, Omak, Oneida, Ontario, Oregon, Orono, Ottawa, Palouse, Pataha, Pawnee, Pennacook, Pennamaquan, Pensacola, Penticton, Peoga, Peoria, Peotone, Pequot, Poconos, Pontiac, Potomac, Poughkeepsie, Quebec, Roanoke, Sarasota, Saratoga, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Savannah, Sawhatchee, Scituate, Seattle, Sebago, Sequoia, Seminole, Sewanee, Shannock, Shawnee, Shenandoah, Shetucket, Shoshone, Sioux, Sonoma, Spokane, Squamish, Sunapee, Susquehanna, Tacoma, Taconic, Tahoe, Tallahassee, Tampa, Tecumseh, Tennessee, Texas, Ticonderoga, Topeka, Toronto, Tucson, Tuscaloosa, Tuscarora, Tuskegee, Utah, Wabash, Waco, Walla Walla, Wallowa, Wanakit, Wasco, Waupaca, Wenatchee, Wichita, Winnebago, Winnimac, Winnipeg, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yosemite, Yukon, Yuma – what language do these sonorous names speak? What message do they convey to us?

Indigenous names, vestiges of the First Nations who lived and prospered in the rich lands of the Americas, descendants of the early Asians who migrated ten thousand years ago to the continent over the frozen Bering Sea and Alaska, gradually making their way down to what later became Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central and South America. Serious anthropological research estimates that some ten million human beings resided in North America (in the territories North of the Rio Grande) when their lands were “discovered” and claimed by the Europeans. The vast and beautiful continent was theirs, from the Shenandoah Valley to Yosemite. The land was prosperous, full of villages, wigwams, laughter and life. Where are the indigenous of North America now? Where have they all gone? Decimated by European diseases, shot down and massacred at Bear River (1863), Sand Creek (1864), Wounded Knee (1890) and at so many other unknown places of horror. Gone and forgotten, blown with the wind and the clouds. The broken remnants of the Seminole, Dakota, Cree and Pueblo people eke out an existence in their “reservations.” Some do rain dances for the tourists.

What do the names Chapultepec, Chichen Itza, Palenque, Uxmal, Teotihuacan, Iximche, Tikal and Machu Picchu tell us? That south of the Rio Grande the continent was also inhabited by millions of human beings, perhaps as many as 60 million. Their land was not terra nullius. We can still recognize the Aztec, the Maya, the Inca, the Quechua in the populations of Central and South America. From the writings of the Dominican friars Bartolomé de las Casas and Antonio de Montesinos we have learned that the Arawacs, the Siboneyes and Tainos were massacred and enslaved. From the reports of the conquistadores Cortés and Pizarro we know how they dealt with the “Indios”. How many indigenous lives were deliberately extinguished by the European colonizers (migrants with the sword)? How many died of disease and deprivation? Ten million? Twenty million? We even took away their historical identity, since to this day we call the descendants of the survivors “Indian” as if they had anything to do with the Indian Sub-continent in Asia.

Historiography has failed to take into account the many uncomfortable facts that do not harmonize with our positive evaluation of the European conquest of the New World. Indeed, many people still believe that the “clash of civilizations” in the New World was ultimately good for humanity, that Providence ordained it, that the Europeans did a great service to mankind by settling and developing the new American continent, which allegedly was only sparsely populated by backward and uncivilized peoples.

A different historical paradigm deserves testing: Were our ancestors more like "migrants" to new frontiers? Throughout history, migration has been a natural behaviour of the human species, hardly "deviant conduct". Yet, one of the many differences between 21st century migrants and 16th-20th century migrants is that 21st century migrants do not come to destroy our crops, slaughter our buffalo or wipe us out. Basically, all that modern migrants (we often call them "illegal aliens") want is a better chance for themselves and their families. Anything wrong with that? How did our ancestors in Europe live during the "age of discovery"? From every reliable historical source we know that Europe was poor, cities were squalid, overcrowded, hunger, unemployment and disease were rampant. Many of the 16th, 17th, 18th. 19th century migrants — the Spanish, the Portuguese, the British, the French. the Germans, the Irish and other "colonizers" — were adventurers, mavericks bent on getting rich fast; others were simple folk hoping for a new start. The historical fact is that what we know today as North America was a rich land, ecologically-balanced, populated by millions of human beings, minding their own business and posing no threat to Europeans, when in 1492 the Genovese Christopher Columbus made his first appearance, thinking he had found a western route to India.

Whereas the Spanish colonization was bent on exploitation of the natural resources (and labour) of the Americas, the Anglo-Saxon colonizers basically just wanted free land – without the native population. They saw themselves as a “chosen people” who had a God-given right to their “promised land”. They were not keen on enslaving the Iroquois or the Pequots — -nor in Christianizing them. There was little use for the “Indians”, who were perceived as "devils" and "wolves". The Massachusetts Puritans, who also burned witches, killed the very natives who taught them how to survive, while the Reverend John Cotton of the first Church of Boston, and the Reverend Cotton Mather of the Second Church of Boston held their xenophobic, rabble-rousing sermons. In the course of three centuries 98% of the native North American population was not only displaced pursuant to the official policy of "manifest destiny" — it was deliberately exterminated. The founding fathers of the land of the free and the home of the brave, Benjamin Franklin ("the design of Providence to extirpate these savages"), George Washington ("beasts of prey"), John Adams ("blood hounds"), Thomas Jefferson ("merciless Indian savages"), James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson ("the wolf be struck in his den") — all called for the extinction of the American "Indian". All these dreadful historical facts lie sleeping in the archives, if anyone cares to consult them. But History only wants to remember "Thanksgiving Day" and the story of Pocahontas.

What we know as Meso-and South America, was also a rich land, densely populated with some 60 million human beings, with magnificent cities like Tenochtitlán (today Mexico City), capital of the Aztec kingdom, with towns, villages, impressive architecture, aqueducts, sports facilities, science, astronomy, art, and vast agricultural lands producing such wonderful foods as avocado, beans, cacao, cassava, cayenne pepper, jalapeños, maize (mahiz in Arawak language, commonly known as corn), passion fruit, peanuts, pineapple, sweet pimentos, potatoes (papa or patata in Inca language), pumpkin, squash, tapioca, tomatoes (tomatl in Nahuatl language), topinambour (also known as Jerusalem artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus, named after a Brazilian tribe) etc., not to mention tobacco (from the Arawakan or Taino word referred to by Las Casas), hitherto unknown in Europe (until introduced in Spain in 1558 by Francisco Fernandez). As we can read in the writings of the Dominican friar (later Bishop) Bartolomé de las Casas, the Spanish conquistadores brutally aggressed the indigenous population, murdered and enslaved millions of the men, raped their women, and eventually mixed with the survivors to create the "mestizo" society we know in Latin America today. If you travel to Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia — you will see the descendants of the Aztecs, the Mayas, the Incas. Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and former President Alejandro Toledo of Peru, have Spanish surnames, but they certainly also have as many indigenous forefathers (a mucha honra!). So much for the "discovery" of the Americas and for the legal fiction of "terra nullius". It is worth remembering that, far from being xenophobic, the first nations of the Americas received Cristobal Colon with remarkable hospitality. The European newcomers, however, were migrants with the sword. Perhaps the only good thing that can be said for Spanish colonization is that the human rights activities of Friar Antonio de Montesinos ("are these not also men"?) and Bartolomé de las Casas before the Spanish king Fernando de Aragón, and later before Emperor Charles V led to the adoption of the “Laws of Burgos” and of the "New Laws" of 1540 which recognized the human nature of the indigenous population and forbade their ill-treatment and enslavement. The great disputations of Valladolid and Salamanca have gone down in history as a milestone in the development of the concept of human dignity—and human rights. Admittedly, Fernando's and Charles' laws were violated systematically – and with impunity, but this only illustrates the truism that norms and their enforcement are not identical. Yet, if we had no norms, we would be totally subject to the barbarism of the jungle, otherwise known as "might is right". I think that it can be safely stated that the “Christianization" of Latin America and the Anglo-Saxon policy of “manifest destiny” constituted perhaps the greatest demographic catastrophe in the long history of mankind. One cannot help wondering how our world would look like if instead of the Europeans "discovering" America, the Iroquois, the Cree, the Dakotas, the Aztecs, the Incas, the Arawacs had crossed the Ocean to "discover" Europe. Would they have slaughtered the Europeans, as our ancestors slaughtered them? Just a little food for thought.

See: Bartolomé de las Casas, Brief History of the Devastation of the Indies, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992; David Stannard, American Holocaust, Oxford University Press, 1992; Richard Drinnon, Facing West, University of Oklahoma Press, 1997; Frederick Hoxie (ed.) Encyclopedia of North American Indians, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, in particular the entry "Population: Precontact to Present", pp. 500-502 by Russell Thornton, UCLA.

Interview with Dr Max Puig, Minister of Labour of the Dominican Republic

admin — 2010-02-20T15:23:21Z

Q: What is your reason for visiting the United Nations in Geneva?

The reason for my being here today in Geneva is to head the Dominican delegation to the Universal Periodic Review exercise in the Human Rights Council. This exercise was made possible by the work of the Inter-Institutional Commission, whose members come from various government ministries, public institutions and civil society, as well as the invaluable contribution of our Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office here in Geneva headed by Ambassador Homero Luis Hernández Sánchez.

The report describes the human rights situation in the Dominican Republic and, now that it has been submitted to all parties, we await their observations and remain open and receptive to their opinions.

Q: How would you describe the human rights situation in your country?

The Dominican Republic is an old nation, founded in 1844 and has a history marked by dictatorships and the lack of respect for basic human rights. The last government of this type ended in 1961, and since then the Dominican Republic has been moving towards democracy. In this process of democracy building, we have made important progress in the area of human rights. The Dominican Republic is one of the founding members of the United Nations and fully adheres to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We have signed most of the conventions in the field of human rights. While some have not yet been signed or ratified, we are currently examining them in order to do so as soon as possible.

Concerning the international commitment of the Dominican Republic, it should be noted that we have recently voted into law legislation that takes into account the provisions of these conventions. The new Dominican Constitution, to be launched in the very near future, will include many new measures that were not incorporated earlier.

What is equally important to note is that respect for human rights creates a democratic culture. The reason for this is simple: in order to build a democracy, you must also build a democratic culture so that the population consists of citizens with values. The Dominican Republic continues going in the right direction, not only in protecting human rights but also in developing a culture among the population that respects these rights.

Q: How are you going to create this democratic culture?

There are two fundamental ways to achieve this goal: one is through legislation and the other is through education. On the one hand, what are needed are good laws that guarantee respect for basic human rights and are useful for the education of the population from a human rights standpoint. On the other hand, there must be more participative practice. To this end, the Dominican Republic has set up institutions that are increasingly open, with more involvement on the part of the population. We have voted into law legislation that guarantees people's access to public information. It is important that the population knows the law and their rights.

Q: A large part of your population is quite poor and, I believe, not well educated? Despite the fact that the Dominican Republic is one of the countries in the Caribbean region with the highest economic growth, it still has a social deficit –– if I may put it this way. Within this “deficit”, there is a small percentage of the population (representing 11%) that unfortunately still does not know how to read and write. This limits both their economic possibilities and the exercise of their rights. This is unfortunately the case when the population does not have access to an adequate level of education.

In 2008, 43% of the population of the Dominican Republic lived below the poverty line according to official figures from the Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL).

Like most countries in the world, the Dominican Republic is faced with an important challenge. The economic crisis and the state of the world's economy have had, and will continue to have, an important impact on the social environment and employment of our citizens. We did not create this crisis but, like everyone else, we are suffering from it. All countries need to adopt measures to avoid the negative effects of this crisis. Recently, the President of the Dominican Republic convened a Summit of National Unity in order to discuss the world economic crisis and to find solutions.

During the first three months of 2009, hundreds of persons representing all aspects of Dominican society –– politicians, businessmen, intellectuals, trade unionists, NGOs –– held discussions where all the issues were put on the table and everyone worked together in order to obtain consensus on what measures needed to be taken in order to tackle the economic crisis. Once consensus was reached, the Government started to take the appropriate action in the economic sector, as well as in the social sector – including an increased social security system - that favoured the poorest sector of the population. In a period of crisis, there are always people who say that we need to economize by reducing social measures, but in fact we have done the opposite. We say that, since there is a crisis, we need to assist the sectors that are hardest hit.

The Dominican Republic has taken these measures in the economic and social fields and despite the economic crisis affecting the whole world; at the end of 2009 we will have achieved an annual growth rate of 2%. The Dominican Republic is one of a small number of countries in Latin America who have succeeded in this way.

From the perspective of human rights, it is better to maintain economic growth and increase the social benefits to the poorest part of the population. In this context, the Dominican Republic responded by calling everyone to sit down together and adopt the necessary actions. As a result, I believe this has enabled us to stabilize the situation in our country.

Q: As the Minister of Labour, how would you describe the situation of workers in your country? Before I answer your question, I would just like to say the following. The Summit of National Unity referred to earlier was organized by individual sectors, and within the social sector we examined health, social security and employment issues where a member of the government was chosen to co-ordinate the discussions. As Minister of Labour, I was selected to coordinate the discussions in this field and this is one of the reasons why I am here to defend the Universal Periodic Review of the Dominican Republic.

This being said, when it comes to the conditions of workers in the Dominican Republic, first of all there is the question of employment. We have a huge informal sector: which comprises 55% of the total workforce. According to the most recent statistics, unemployment in the Dominican Republic stands at 14.9%. The problem is that unemployment is quite high even in the informal sector. Following the world's economic crisis, unemployment has gone up but not as much as one could have expected due to the measures taken by the Government that made it possible for the workers to exercise their rights. In May 2009, we organized a meeting to analyse work and the right to work. We gathered businessmen, trade unions, workers, etc., and for almost an entire week we discussed the contents of laws regarding work, workers' rights, etc. These discussions were extremely useful. Employers and workers sat at the same table where very specific problems and issues such as work, women's participation and youth employment were examined. As you might be aware, unemployment among the young and women is much higher, so we worked in particular on these issues and also on specific economic sectors in the country in order to improve the situation.

Q: During an economic crisis, many companies use the situation to lay people off. Is this also the case in your country? In all regions of the world the majority of people respects the law, but there are always some who do not. They are a minority and do not represent society as a whole. The Dominican Republic has a very strict policy towards employers who does not respect the rules of the game. For instance, since 2001 we have established a new on-going process for social security system. The law states that all employers have to register their employees, but there are still some employers who do not do so. In these cases, we have to be very strict because, if all employers did not respect the rules, we would be unable to construct a social system. This is something we clearly explained to all employers: we want to build a more egalitarian social security system and if you do not play the game it will not work.

Q: Apart from tourism, what other economic activities do you have in the Dominican Republic? For more than a century the economy of the Dominican Republic was based on the export of basic necessities such as sugar, coffee, cacao and bananas. However, for the past thirty years or so, the fundamental structure of the economy has changed. Today the economic backbone of the Dominican Republic is tourism. We also have industrial production for the export industry, but the economy is also strongly dependent on remittances in foreign currencies from Dominicans living abroad. From this point of view, there is a particular situation resulting from triangular migration. We receive immigrants from Haiti, and Dominicans emigrate at approximately 1 million Haitians have immigrated to the Dominican Republic and some 1 million Dominicans immigrate to other countries. Dominicans living abroad send back important sums of money. Recently, the economy has begun to diversify. Alongside tourism, the communication sector has improved and recently we have experienced a new export culture towards the eastern coast of the United States. The Dominican Republic is the world's largest and most important exporter of organic products, including organic bananas, organic avocados, cacao, etc. There are perhaps more investments required, more expertise, but it is a field where you can earn more. In addition, we are also a significant world exporter of rum, beer, etc. These are the new exports of the Dominican Republic.

Q: There are many complaints about how the Haitians are treated in the Dominican Republic. What do you think about this human rights issue and what can be done to remedy this matter? First of all, I would like to put things into context. Haiti and the Dominican Republic are the only two countries in the world that share one island. There are other islands that are shared but not between two independent countries. It is a special case with a long history. The island measures 75,000 km2 with more than 18 million inhabitants, so there is quite a high population density. There are 9 million people on the western (Haitian) part of the island and another 9 million on the Dominican territory, which is almost twice the size of the Haitian part. In the last years of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Dominican Republic's economy has made steady progress while the Haitian economy has been stagnating. In the present state of economic development, the Dominican Republic's economy is six times greater than that of Haiti. Although the Dominican Republic is a developing country, it was better off than Haiti and, as I said earlier, 43% of the population of the Dominican Republic below the poverty line. However, in Haiti the percentage is much higher, affecting more than 80% of the population. Thus, what is happening on the island is what goes on all over the world when people live in a country that is less developed than its neighbour. There are population movements. There are numerous Haitians in the Dominican Republic. With the Dominican Republic itself facing difficulties in providing health, education and other services to its own population, it could not possibly provide these services to another population. As a result, like any other country in the world, the Dominican Republic has developed rules affecting immigration. Living among the 9 million inhabitants of the Dominican Republic are 1 million Haitians, representing quite a high percentage of the population. In addition, the Haitian immigrants come with little or no education and work in unskilled employment. With this constant flow of immigrants, it is very difficult for the Dominican Republic to reduce its own unemployment figures, guarantee full medical services in its hospitals and provide education to its increasing population. It becomes very difficult for the Dominican Republic, as a developing country with its own problems, to fulfil such tasks.

From the point of view of workers and workers' rights, once somebody has been hired, all their rights have to be respected even if that person is not a legal resident. Take, for instance, the case of a Haitian worker who is working in a factory. As soon as he starts to work, even if he is not a legal resident of the Dominican Republic, the Ministry of Labour protects him as a worker, and he can also benefit from any health facility free of charge in the country. What is the result? With no hospital on the Haitian side of the border, the hospital on the Dominican Republic side serves a long queue of people, resulting in Dominican hospitals serving both sides of the border! However, this is not the real issue. The fundamental goal for us is collaboration between Haiti and the Dominican Republic allowing Haiti to improve its infrastructure and allow its citizens to have access to a better quality of life. We can put it this way: the development of Haiti is in the national interest of the Dominican Republic. If the way of life improves in Haiti, it is better for everyone. The key word here is solidarity, and the policy of the Dominican Republic is to have more and more agreements with the Haitian government. The only way is collaboration.

NUTRITION IN A NUTSHELL? Interview with Huub Verhagen of Médecins sans Frontières

admin — 2010-02-20T14:43:40Z

The Norwegian documentary film “The Famine Scam”, about the so-called famine in Niger in 2005, was awarded the Scandinavian prize for the best documentary film. This documentary basically stated that humanitarian actors like Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) and the media exaggerated the situation and that there was no “famine” in Niger. The image of the Norwegian Section of MSF suffered, because as Jan Egeland said, the UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator at that time, the figures he had received from MSF about the “famine” were even higher than the ones the UN had given out. We therefore met with Huub Verhagen of MSF here in Geneva in order to better understand MSF's stance regarding malnutrition.

Q: What is your function?

I am attached to the general directorate of MSF and I cover different topics. One is to be the liaison person with Swiss civil society and official institutions on the topic of malnutrition. The Swiss section of MSF is supporting an international campaign drawing more attention to the global problem of malnutrition. We are trying to mobilize the international community to address this problem.

Q: What are your comments on the thesis that MSF has been exaggerating the “famine” of 2005 in Niger? People say that MSF did so in order to raise more funds.

The food crisis in Niger of 2005 was characterised by a major increase in the number of patients that we received in our ongoing nutritional programmes. MSF realised that food crises not only occur in acute crisis situations like conflict or natural disaster, but that they are also present in stable contexts.

This insight prompted MSF to raise media attention for this neglected crisis. And since the problem goes well beyond the Niger crisis, there is ever since a clear willingness within MSF to highlight the global problem of malnutrition as a major public health issue.

This motivation has nothing to do with raising more funds, but simply with raising awareness for a forgotten crisis that causes many unnecessary deaths, but that has been considered to be normal because we got used to a under-five-mortality rate of 200 children out of every 1'000 newborn.

In global terms, malnutrition is the underlying cause in 50% of deaths of children under the age of 5 years. That figure is a huge factor in accounting for the child deaths under the age of 5, and especially among very young children aged about 2 or 3 years. At that age, they are extremely vulnerable and depend strongly upon a proper diet to achieve healthy development. Without that proper diet, it is not only death that they are facing but their whole self-defence system breaks down with long-term consequences for their health –– even if they survive. It is a huge public health problem.

Our belief is that malnutrition has not received the attention that it deserves at the international level. This goes beyond simple humanitarian action, because malnutrition has traditionally been associated with acute conflicts and other emergencies, leading to the displacement of populations, etc.

But if you look at the actual figures, the incidence of malnutrition is extremely high even in many stable contexts.

Q: The Norwegian documentary film shows that children were not dying from malnutrition but rather from the complications of malaria. What you are saying is that malaria has nothing to do with it. People get malaria because of malnutrition?

There are different pathologies: malaria, diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections, etc. These young children are far more prone to disease because their immune system is weakened. Their immune system is weakened because they do not have a proper diet. Thus, you can correlate malnutrition with the probability of death. Then, the actual disease that makes the child die is perhaps malaria, but the underlying cause is actually malnutrition in roughly half of the cases of child mortality.

Q: I'm not a medical doctor but I don't see the link between a mosquito bite, the development of malaria and dying of malnutrition. If I went to Africa next week and contracted malaria one way or another …

… you would not die from it. But you might die if you were malnourished and your self-defence mechanism had been weakened.

This is what researchers have been studying. Your intuition may suggest that there is no correlation between these two events. But that correlation is well established by scientific literature. Roughly, half of the child mortality rate in developing countries is a direct result of malnutrition. According to researchers, malnutrition is a topic that merits international attention. Interest in malnutrition has been neglected. That is the reason why MSF is trying to attract international attention to this problem.

You may wonder why this topic has been neglected. There are plenty of very simple reasons. For instance, students in medical schools are taught very little about malnutrition; they do learn about other pathologies, such as diarrhoea and malaria.

But there are also completely different reasons. Countries that are affected by malnutrition are humiliated because it indicates that the government is incapable of feeding its own population. As long as they do not have a solution to this problem, it is also politically difficult to make them recognize the size of the problem. This is on a completely different scale: a very political problem.

Q: Talking about malnutrition as such, and taking the example of people eating too much fast food in Europe and the United States, could one say that malnutrition exists everywhere?

Malnutrition is a clearly defined pathology, but you could say indeed that bad nutrition is typically affecting the most vulnerable, i.e. the poor in any society. What is happening in Western society is a mirror image of what is happening in developing countries. What you see is the most fragile section of the community tending to eat fast food. They cannot afford healthy food and therefore develop problems with obesity.

Q: I do accept to a certain degree what you say, but we also have lots of obesity in Norway, and I do not think it's a problem of poverty.

Socio-cultural factors strongly affect lifestyles. But returning to malnutrition in the developing world, people do not have access to proper food because they do not have the financial resources to purchase it. People know what is good for their health. But to purchase healthy food you need money!

Roughly, what does a balanced diet mean to you personally in terms of food intake?

Q: You need vitamins, protein, minerals, milk products, meat products, etc.

Indeed. But the problem in developing countries is that fragile communities do not have access to such foods. They have to survive on a very poor cereal-based diet, which does not provide a sufficient variety of nutrients. Sources of protein, different vitamins and different minerals are essential in a balanced diet.

The subject has been studied by experts from various organisations. Roughly, there should be forty different nutrients in the diet of a child, especially after breast-feeding has been interrupted. A complement to breast-feeding should be provided from age 6 months to 24 months. This is an important period in children's development and if they do not receive this nutrition at that time their whole development is impaired. Their immune system is weakened, making them more vulnerable to various diseases, such as malaria.

Q: I know that MSF has developed strategies to combat malnutrition.

It is probably interesting for you to understand the evolution of the way MSF combats malnutrition. In the 1970s and 1980s MSF set up small clinics and hospitals in developing countries to receive patients. Among these patients there were malnourished children. These patients were given medical treatment, but the main action was therapeutic milk to raise the nutritional status of these children.

The number of children that we treated was quite small, and the work involved very labour intensive because they were supposed to remain in hospital for several weeks. Very few mothers were able to come to these treatment centres and stay there for the three to four weeks necessary, particularly if they had other children at home. Since 2001, 2002 and 2003 there has been a kind of revolution during which a completely different strategy has been adopted. The children no longer stay in hospitals but are treated by their own mothers at home using therapeutic food. The mothers bring this food home with them from the clinic and that allows their children to regain weight.

Q: So what you are giving these children is in fact high-calorie food?

High calories with forty essential nutritional supplements. This therapeutic food is easy to prepare and does not require any medical supervision — or much less than before. These children are then checked once a week or every second week, instead of spending the whole time in hospital under supervision.

Only a few children with severe complications require hospital treatment. So the advantage of this strategy is that you can treat far more patients because you do not need to admit them to hospital. Furthermore, it does not have any impact on the rest of the family. So instead of treating hundreds of patients, we are now able to treat many thousands of them.

Q: Tell me about the different products?

There are different products for the different types of malnutrition. “Plumpy'Nut” is one that can be described as a ready-to-use therapeutic food. It is a paste based on peanuts. There are others, but this is the one mostly used by MSF and UNICEF.

There are also strategies being developed to prevent children from becoming severely debilitated in the first place, because to treat a malnourished child thoroughly is very costly.

Q: How much does it cost to treat a child with Plumpy'Nut?

For a child, it's a between US$40 to US$60. This covers everything. The product itself is roughly half of the cost, but you also have to take into consideration the consultations and logistics.

There are other products being developed for children who are moderately undernourished, and these products are being tested. This is where the term “ready-to-use food” comes in, because some of these products are meant for communities as a whole. In this situation, we do not talk about therapeutic food but about “ready-to-use food”. This is because some of these children are not sick yet, and to avoid them becoming sick we provide them with supplements to their regular diet containing essential vitamins and minerals. They are not so much in need of the animal proteins and other elements they contain, but they really do need the vitamins and minerals.

Q: The ICRC has taken a different path. They talk about the “home-based development of nutrition”. Can you explain the difference?

This is actually the same thing. What I was just telling you about this strategy of home-based treatment implies that Plumpy'Nut, or an equivalent product, will be used by the mothers to treat their children. It's the same thing.

Q: Wouldn't it be better to give people more health education than to distribute this kind of food product?

The recent school of thought has been to provide health education but, at the same time, we should not assume that mothers do not know what is good for their children. They do, but they simply do not have access to the products.

You can see this very easily in all the Sahel countries. There are hunger gaps –– that's the period before the next harvest. It is a period when there are no fresh fruit and vegetables available. Therefore, people have to survive on a pure cereal diet, and during this period you will see a strong increase in malnutrition.

You cannot uphold the thesis that, for a period of four or five months, mothers suddenly forget how to feed their children, and then after the hunger gap they suddenly remember again. We think, therefore, that the problem goes well beyond knowledge about proper feeding.

Q: Such as?

Proper nutritional intake. This means that those who are really sick, the malnourished children, are going to need therapeutic food. Ideally, the diets of all those children in all those countries where there are nutritional deficiencies need to be complemented. How to do this is, of course, remains a big question. A lot of work is being done about this at the moment. Then we are no longer talking about treating the children but rather about prevention.

Q: I know that MSF is doing a lot of lobbying in the United States Congress about this issue, and in particular for Plumpy'Nut. I have heard the figure of something close to US$750 million mentioned, if I'm not mistaken.

MSF has indeed raised awareness in the United States for the problem of malnutrition; not at the US congress though, but during a conference co-organised with the Columbia University in New York. To be clear though, we are not promoting Plumpy-Nut, but the WHO recommended community-based strategy for treating severe acute malnutrition.

If you take the figures I have given you earlier to treat one child –– i.e. US$40/60, that is the treatment itself, plus logistics, plus consultations, etc. –– you can simply multiply that by the number of severely malnourished children. Studies indicate that there are some 20 million severely malnourished children in the world. If you want to treat these children, the final figure comes close to US$1 billion. The World Bank is working on the figures to tackle malnutrition and they are including many more activities as well, like health education and dietary complements. They then come up with a figure that is ten times higher!

Q: Rather than spending US$750 million or US$1 billion to buy Plumpy'Nut, don't you think that these same funds could be used in a better way to combat malnutrition?

Behind the problem of malnutrition there are several causes. In particular, there are acute crises –– war, displacement, etc. If we encounter malnutrition in a politically stable country, this indicates profound structural problems. For example, it has been identified in Niger that, although there was food available on the market, people did not have the money to buy it. It is as simple as that!

Instead of giving food products you can, of course, give money to the population to buy food. This is an option that Save the Children is investigating. They have some pilot projects in this sense, which seem to be promising.

In the end, what it means is that, if you have structural problems and structural causes, you must have structural answers. Development programmes need to be put in place. At the same time you cannot accept that 3 to 5 million children die every year. You are faced with a medical emergency here, and you must conduct the two approaches – development and humanitarian aid – in parallel.

DUBLIN The College and the City

admin — 2010-02-06T12:01:19Z

One of the oldest cities in Europe, Dublin's settlement spans over 1000 years. The collections of Trinity College Library offer fascinating glimpses of that vibrant history. They reflect the everyday economic, social and intellectual concerns of Dubliners throughout the centuries, whether they were scholars, patriots, rebels, churchmen, politicians, landowners, servants or students.

Since its foundation in 1592, Trinity's identity has become inextricably linked with that of Dublin, and the College's archives illustrate this relationship.

Intended as a celebration of city life, the current exhibition in The Long Room, Trinity College Library, provides a rich view of life in Dublin based on the words and experiences of generations of citizens of, and visitors to, the city. It begins with manuscripts generated by the Anglo-Norman administration when Dublin emerged as the capital of Ireland, progressing through 700 years of change and renewal (1250-1950).

Medieval Dublin

Today Trinity College is very definitely in the heart of Dublin, but it was described in its Elizabethan founding charter as ‘The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, near Dublin', or iuxta Dublinum. It lay outside the walled part of the city, clearly visible in the detail of Dublin from John Speed's map of 1610. During this early period Dublin continued to develop as an important religious and economic centre with a rapidly expanding municipal government.

Rebellion

Ireland's long history of rebellion has left an indelible mark on Dublin. Among the exhibits are extracts from the 1641 Depositions, comprising over 3000 personal statements taken from Protestant settlers in the aftermath of the uprising by the Catholic Irish. During the rebellion of 1798 United Irishmen plotting independence were to be found throughout Dublin.

The papers of the Dublin chief of police for the period, Major Henry Charles Sirr, contain the statements of both informants and insurgents. The advent of photography allowed Dubliners to record momentous events, particularly that of Easter Week 1916, during which British troops occupied the College. Those caught up in the crisis also recounted their experiences in letters and journals.

Tourism

A flourishing tourist trade developed in Dublin during the Georgian period. Guides to the city evolved from early personal travel journals to the more practical guides of the 19th century. Visitors to Dublin, especially those from abroad, flocked to the International Exhibitions of the later 19th century, which were some of the most popular, celebrated, and expensive public spectacles of the day.

As for Trinity College itself, since its construction in 1732, Thomas Burgh's magnificent Library has become one of the city's principal attractions. The 19th century saw a surge of interest in Irish history and antiquities, and the public display of the Book of Kells made the Library a popular tourist attraction.

Culture in the City

Dublin city features strongly in the works of a range of authors, poets and playwrights, as if it were a character in its own right. It has also been an inspiration to artists and craftsmen. Among the exhibits are the exquisite designs created by the Harry Clarke Studio for a number of public buildings in Dublin.

The musical character of the city spans all aspects of Dublin life, from popular street ballads, to the work of prominent classical composers such as George Frederick Handel. It was in Dublin's Fishamble Street in Dublin in 1741 that Handel staged the debut performance of the Messiah oratorio.

Ita Marguet, February 2010

Note: Acknowledgement is given to content of exhibition brochure Dublin The College and The City 1250-1950, The Long Room, Trinity College Library Dublin (5 November 2009 - 3 May 2010).

Nous sommes tous des éducateurs

admin — 2010-02-06T11:48:01Z

Dans le tram, une mère désespérée par les cris de son enfant essaie de calmer son petit avec une agressivité étouffée. Le regard des passagers sera déterminant dans la suite des événements. Si, par chance, cette mère croise un regard compréhensif et un peu complice, cela la rassurera et l'aidera à retrouver sa sérénité.

Ne se sentant pas jugée, elle s'adressera à son enfant sur un ton calme et rassurant et parviendra à le tranquilliser. L'autre scénario possible : elle croisera des regards irrités, exprimant reproche et jugement. Se sentant jugée et coupable de déranger, elle fera tout pour faire cesser rapidement cette situation qui lui semble intolérable.

Elle le fera avec nervosité, impatience et agressivité. Elle obtiendra l'effet contraire à l'effet recherché, son enfant, sentant que sa mère a perdu pied, criera d'autant plus fort.

Par mon regard, je suis responsable du comportement de l'autre

Nous sommes tous susceptibles d'adopter une multitude de comportements se situant entre les plus adéquats et les plus maladroits et la réaction spécifique que nous aurons dans une situation donnée est toujours influencée par le regard des autres qui aura un certain impact dans le choix du comportement que nous allons adopter parmi les nombreux comportements dont nous serions à priori capables.

A tout moment de la vie, chacun d'entre nous exerce des influences sur ceux qui l'entourent, qu'il soit conscient ou pas des émotions qu'il provoque chez les autres par son sourire, par un geste bienveillant ou par un geste de refus, par un regard accueillant ou méprisant, par un soupire d'impatience ou un clin d'œil complice.

La voie royale de l'éducation étant l'exemple, nous exerçons des influences sur les autres en permanence, par notre manière d'être et nos réactions même lorsque nous n'avons nullement l'intention de le faire.

Servir d'exemple - ou de contre-exemple - est le moyen le plus fréquent et en apparence le plus anodin qui permet d'exercer des influences sur les autres, en général de manière involontaire aussi bien de la part de l'émetteur que du récepteur.

A une époque où l'école remet en question sa vocation d'éducateur, arguant que sa fonction est d'enseigner et non pas d'éduquer - et où l'image donnée par les parents - camarades n'est pas toujours propice à les ériger en modèles, les influences venant de toutes parts à tout moment occupent une place de plus en plus importante.

Ainsi, les influences exercées à travers la télévision, internet, des rencontres fortuites dans la rue et tous lieux publiques prennent de plus en plus de place dans la vie des jeunes qui reçoivent de moins en moins de repères clairement identifiables et sont soumis à plus en plus d'influences d'origines diverses et difficiles à contrôler.

Dans nos sociétés de zapping, chacun d'entre nous est exposé à des influences multiples à tout moment de la vie quotidienne et même lorsqu'il s'agit d'interactions fugaces et banales, le regard de l'autre va toujours agir sur nos états d'âme, fût-ce de manière éphémère.

Exister c'est s'exprimer, s'exprimer s'est influencer, influencer c'est éduquer

Les attitudes et comportements sont contagieux et se transmettent rapidement. Ainsi, un mot, un geste ou un regard peut engendrer une réaction en chaîne qui peut devenir un cercle vicieux ou vertueux.

Il est impressionnant d'observer à quel point des collectivités, des peuples entiers peuvent rester passifs voire amorphes dans des situations critiques, et d'autre part à quel point la capacité d'un seule individu à prendre la parole peut renverser le cours des événements et parfois de l'histoire.

Toute personne devient formatrice lorsqu'elle exerce, volontairement ou involontairement, une influence par son comportement, par son attitude ou par sa parole sur une ou plusieurs autres personnes. Tout le monde peut donner des leçons de vie à tout le monde. Et parce que nous avons tous la faculté et le pouvoir de rendre l'autre pire ou meilleur un moment donné de sa vie qu'il ne serait sans notre regard, nous sommes tous des éducateurs.

Judit Varadi

Merci d'adresser vos réflexions et questions à Judit Varadi par e-mail: diva.international@ gmail.com ou info@ecole-varadi.ch ou par téléphone au 022 736 28 74

Interview de Jean-Michel Wissmer à propos de sa pièce “Songe d'une soeur”

admin — 2010-02-06T11:47:59Z

Il s'agit bien d'un songe, ou plutôt d'un rêve, celui d'une religieuse mexicaine du XVIIe siècle, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz; celui aussi de l'auteur de cette pièce, le Genevois Jean-Michel Wissmer; et celui enfin du metteur en scène salvadorien Roberto Salomon.

Q. Jean-Michel Wissmer, comment est né le projet de “Songe d'une Soeur”?

Voilà bientôt vingt ans que Sor Juana me hante : je lui ai consacré ma thèse de doctorat, deux essais, un roman, des cours et des conférences, il ne manquait plus qu'une pièce de théâtre!

Q. La vie de cette religieuse est donc si “théâtrale”?

Absolument, elle est dramatique dans tous les sens du terme. Considérée comme la première féministe d'Amérique, elle s'est battue pour le droit des femmes à accéder au savoir et s'est donc heurtée à sa hiérarchie qui a tout fait pour qu'elle sacrifie sa vie littéraire. La vie de cette femme est un combat marqué par de grandes victoires mais aussi par la frustration face à la misogynie et l'ignorance. Il faut dire qu'elle écrivait des textes très peu recommandés pour un couvent comme des pièces de cape et d'épée, des poèmes amoureux et burlesques et même des satires sexuelles.

Q. La pièce met en scène quelques grands moments de sa vie, c'est donc une pièce historique?

Oui et non. En tant que spécialiste de Sor Juana, j'ai voulu respecter la vérité historique; mais Roberto Salomon, qui est aussi un passionné de cette poétesse (jouée par Silvia Barreiros), m'a tout de suite indiqué qu'il ne voulait absolument pas d'une “pièce de musée”. Le texte s'inspire souvent des propres textes de Sor Juana ou de son confesseur (qui était un homme redoutable - campé par Douglas Fowley Jr.), mais il y a aussi des personnages décalés et un regard résolument moderne.

Q. Comment s'est passée votre collaboration avec Roberto Salomon?

Le mot de collaboration est vraiment celui qui s'impose. Il dit souvent - comme une boutade - qu'il n'a pas l'habitude de travailler avec des auteurs ... vivants! Il est vrai que Shakespeare ou Tennessee Williams ne peuvent pas le bombarder de e-mails ou de téléphones! S'il a mis “à plat” mon texte, comme il dit, pour le retravailler à la lumière des exigences dramaturgiques, il l'a parfaitement respecté. C'est surtout un rythme plus puissant qu'il a introduit grâce aux ... bouffons. Ma pièce comporte en effet un bouffon qui, comme tout bon bouffon, est irrespectueux et se moque de la “Sor Juana-femme savante”, et un narrateur qui explique les événements. Or Salomon a fait également de ce dernier un bouffon, ce qui est très astucieux. Les deux bouffons de cette mise en scène (joués par Naara Salomon et Victor Costa) volent souvent la parole aux autres personnages et leurs facéties rythment toute la pièce. Il y a aussi un adorable petit chien, Amila, qui est celui des Salomon et fait d'incroyables acrobaties sur scène, se prenant pour un taureau de corrida!

Q. Il y a un autre personnage essentiel, celui de vice-reine.

Essentiel en effet. Sor Juana a d'abord été dame de compagnie avant d'entrer au couvent par refus du mariage. Mais elle a toujours gardé son lien avec la cour et les deux vice-reines qui vont s'y succéder (mais qui ne devient plus qu'une dans la pièce, jouée par Margarita Sánchez) n'auront de cesse de la protéger et de promouvoir son oeuvre qui - chose inouïe pour une nonne - sera publiée en Espagne et deviendra un best-seller.

Q. Que vous a appris cette première expérience théâtrale?

La modestie et le respect devant toute l'énergie incroyable investie dans ce projet. Je connaissais l'effort de l'écriture, mais voir la patience, le travail, la volonté des comédiens et du metteur en scène pour faire vivre un texte est quelque chose d'extraordinaire. Des semaine de répétitions, de réflexion, la recherche de décors, d'éléments scéniques, des costumes (qu'il faut adapter, transporter...). On n'imagine pas tout ce travail.

Q. Ce songe - ou ce rêve - aura-t-il pris fin le 7 février, lors de la dernière représentation au théâtre Pitoëff, ou pourra-t-il se prolonger ailleurs lors d'une tournée?

Roberto Salomon, qui dirige le théâtre Luis Poma à San Salvador et vient d'être nommé directeur de la formation culturelle pour son pays, espère bien pouvoir exporter “Songe d'une Soeur” en Amérique latine, d'autant que tous les comédiens sont bilingues. Déjà traduit en espagnol sous le titre de “Sueño de monja”, il devrait intéresser des pays - et en premier lieu le Mexique - où Sor Juana est considérée comme la plus grande poétesse de l'époque coloniale. Donc oui, rêvons un peu!

Jean-Michel Wissmer a écrit trois livres sur Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz :

“Las Sombras de lo fingido. Sacrificio y simulacro en Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz”, Toluca, Instituto Mexiquense de Cultura, 1998.

“La Religieuse mexicaine. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, ou le scandale de l'écriture”, Genève, Metropolis, 2000.

“Emmenez-moi à l'Ange! Un journal mexicain”, Paris, Bartillat, 2006.

La pièce “Songe d'une Soeur. Tragi-comédie mexicaine”. Représentations du 15 janvier au 7 février 2010 au théâtre en Cavale à Pitoëff (52, rue de Carouge à Genève) par la Compagnie théâtrale Roberto Salomon (www.cavale.ch; tel. 079 759 94 28)