The BBC World Service Trust (who is an ALF network member) has successfully concluded a specialised training course in television news production for two television stations in the West Bank and a series of consultations for five local radio stations in the Gaza Strip, as part of the ‘Support to the Palestinian Media Sector’ project funded by the European Union and the Dutch Government.
A one-day conference on ‘Europe and Progressive Islamist Movements: Perceptions of Democratisation in the Middle East’ was held at the University of Birmingham, UK on Friday, 6 March, 2009.
This ESRC project focuses on Egypt and Palestine, two cases from the Middle East which have experienced recent controversial elections and which challenge the EU’s rhetoric on democracy promotion. These two cases offer a huge amount of unexplored data on which this project will draw.
Paradoxes and Contradictions in EU Democracy Promotion Efforts in the Middle East is a three year Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded research project that has been awarded to Dr Michelle Pace, a UK network member of the Anna Lindh Foundation .
The research project came into effect on February 2008 and will run until February 2011. It is under the auspices of the Political Science & International Studies (POLSIS) Department.
To view the British Academy Final Conference Report, go to: http://www.eumena.bham.ac.uk/conferences.shtml
London: 18-27 March 2009
The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival has carved a niche in the busy London film festival calendar as the place to see socially and politically engaged documentary and feature films from across the globe and to meet the filmmakers.
From March 18-27 the respected and popular Human Rights Watch International Film Festival returns for its 13th year in London with nine days of screenings and discussions focusing on some of the most pressing stories of our times.
Out of the many films screened at the upcoming International Film Festival, the following screenings are directly related to the Anna Lindh Foundation’s Thematic areas:
Eden is West: Location: The Ritzy, Brixton Oval,London
Laila’s Birthday: Location-The Ritzy, Brixton Oval, London
Look into my eyes : Location: ICA, The Mall, London
For further information (i.e film reviews, date and time of viewing) on the 13th International Film Festival, go to: http://www.hrw.org/en/iff/london
Morocco is making steady progress in building an effective enterprise policy framework, but could develop further by better coordinating policies and programmes, by implementing measures across the whole country and by developing an evaluation culture.The EU heads of state or government have called for the acceleration of the work to establish the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) permanent secretariat and the resumption of the implementation of projects identified.
Relations between the EU and its partners participating in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) are becoming stronger, and cooperation is expanding in a number of fields.For more detailed information, go to: http://www.euromedinfo.eu/site.168.news.en.5462.html
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) is:
For more Information on the EMHRN, go to: http://www.euromedrights.net/frontpage
EuroMeSco has released five new Papers dealing with interesting issues, from migrants in Israel and flexible multilateralism in the framework of the Euro-Med partnership, to national immigration policies and their development in relation to the Euro-Med process, Tunisia and the Maghreb Union and from Barcelona to the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).
To view these papers, go to: http://www.euromedinfo.eu/site.171.news.en.5416.html
This “impossible dream”, turned successively into an “ambitious project” and a “quest”, lasted seven long years and was made possible by several foundations, associations and corporate entities in Turkey and elsewhere. No less than twenty-three authors offer their comments. The resulting book is monumental not only in size (450 pages, 31 x 29 cm) but above all par the sociological and political meaning of the underlying research.
As a matter of fact, to illustrate through photographs and texts that today’s Turkish population is composed not only of a majority of Sunni Muslims, but also of a multitude of other ethnic and religious groups, was tantamount to political provocation in the country’s current political context.
For more information on Ebru (which is well worth a read!), copy and paste this link: http://tinyurl.com/cf8te4
Empowerment of women remains high on the EU’s global agenda, with European Commissioner for External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner reiterating the EU’s commitment to fight for equality, according to a Commission press release.
The Yacoubian Building is an Egyptian Drama based on the novel by Alaa Al Aswany and set in the early 1990s. The film offers a scathing portrayal of modern Egyptian society since the coup d’etat of 1952. The setting is downtown Cairo, with the renouned apartment building serving as both a metaphor for contemporary Egypt and a unifying location in which most of the primary characters either live or work and in which much of the action takes place.
The Egyptian film sports some of the most renouned Middle Eastern actors such as Adel Imam, Youssra and Nour el Sherif. After premiering at the Berlin Film Festival in 2006, the film opened in Egypt in June. The Yacoubian Building was Egypt’s official submission to the 79th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
It’s a must-watch film, reflecting the truths of modern-day Egyptian society.
Currently it is showing on BBC iPlayer until the 12th of March. To view, go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00j0gnp/b00jcfl2/The_Yacoubian_Building/
One way in which the Anna Lindh Foundation fulfills its mission is by providing grants to civil society organisations, through an annual Call for Proposals to select the best initiatives for intercultural dialogue. The Call is focused on thematic issues in line with each year’s priorities.
For information on guidelines and applications (for short and long term projects), go to: http://www.euromedalex.org/grants/call
A one-day conference on ‘Europe and Progressive Islamist Movements: Perceptions of Democratisation in the Middle East’ will be held at the University of Birmingham, UK, on Friday 6 March, 2009.
The Political Science and International Studies (POLSIS) Department at The University of Birmingham will be launching an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project website on Paradoxes and Contradictions in EU Democracy Promotion Efforts in the Middle East.
The funded research project has been awarded to Dr Michelle Pace, a network member.
The research project came into effect on February 2008 and will run until February 2011.
For more information on the Conference day’s itenary and the research project, go to:
An article about the ALF network meeting, held at the University of Westminister, 16th February 2009 is available to view on the Visiting Arts web-page.
Titled: ‘Anna Lindh Foundation-Gaza Initiative’, the article summarises the day’s events.
To view go to: http://tinyurl.com/b3ozzz
