CSIS & Univ of Miami Launch Global Challenges Series
October 22, 2009
WASHINGTON, October 21, 2009 - The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) and the University of Miami Knight Center for International Media are pleased to announce the launch of a yearlong series of monthly dialogues focusing on today's most pressing strategic global challenges.
"OUR GLOBAL CHALLENGES: A Series of Dialogues on the Most Pressing Global Issues of Our Time," will be a monthly series of panel discussions to be held at CSIS in Washington. The Global Challenges Series will focus on discussions surrounding the 8 UN Millennium Development Goals: Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education; Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women; Goal 4: Reduce child mortality; Goal 5: Improve maternal health; Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability; and Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development.
The series will feature political leaders, innovators, international experts, thought leaders and public figures from around the world. While the panels will be attended by the Washington-based policy community, academia and the private sector, what will make the program unique is the partnership with the University of Miami’s Knight Center for International Media. This nexus between policy and media will include dissemination of the information presented during the Global Challenges Series not just to participants, but to audiences globally via the World Wide Web.
The first session of the dialogue series will be held at CSIS on November 2 from 3:00-4:00 PM and will feature a panel discussion titled “Meeting the challenge of the Millennium Development Goals in Haiti: A progress report from the poorest country in the Americas.”
The panel will be comprised of: Dr. Paul Farmer, the UN’s Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti; Dr. Barth Green, Project Medishare Co-Founder and Chairman of The Global Institute at the University of Miami; and Haiti’s Ambassador to the United States His Excellency Raymond Joseph. Haiti’s experience will be used to inform audiences about several Millennium Development Goals.
The Global Challenges series will be moderated by Mariam Atash Nawabi, an attorney, policy expert and journalist. Nawabi is also the host of America Abroad Media TV’s PUL show- a weekly public interest program, recorded in the United States for broadcast throughout Afghanistan. Nawabi will guide an interactive and informative discussion between guests at each Global Challenges program and facilitate audience feedback.
"The University of Miami School of Communication's Knight Center is committed to developing cross-border communication on the incredible challenges faced by our world," said Sam Grogg, Dean of the University of Miami School of Communication. "These dialogues will contribute mightily to understanding, which will provide the basis for action."
"Our new partnership with the University of Miami's Knight Center for International Media will provide a unique forum to discuss critical issues of global significance," said CSIS President and CEO John Hamre. "We are proud to partner with the Knight Center, as it is ideally positioned to help us explore and shed light on some of the world's most pressing policy challenges."
For more information about this series please contact H. Andrew Schwartz, (202) 775-3242, aschwartz@csis.org
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The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, non-profit organization founded in 1962 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. It seeks to advance global security and prosperity by providing strategic insights and policy solutions to decision makers.
The Knight Center for International Media at the School of Communication, University of Miami, was established in early 2007 with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The Center operates on the assumption that effective communication across national and cultural borders is essential for addressing the most crucial issues of our time. The Center's work focuses on "Anchor Projects" - like One Water - designed to harness the full range of media platforms and knowledge bases over significant blocks of time to advance solutions. These projects focus on underreported issues of global significance and are broadly informed by the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.