New York/USA, 15-17 November 2018

November 14, 2018 02:00 pm - November 16, 2018 02:00 pm
Manhattan College New York
By @Admin

New York/USA, 15-17 November 2018

EVENT ORGANIZER

Being the Blessing Foundation

Global Initiatives in Refugee & Migrant Education

Details

With the global refugee crisis being one of the major challenges facing the human community in our time, the organizers of this second conference want to highlight, yet again, the role and responsibility of universities in responding to this pressing reality through their mission of teaching, research, and social responsibility. This is especially crucial in light of the task to develop a Global Compact on Refugees, as adopted by the United Nations (UN).

The New York conference, hosted by Manhattan College, will also focus on education about migrants and refugees, which is crucial for a better understanding and their acceptance worldwide.

We chose New York City as our venue of choice in light of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (2016), adopted unanimously by the UN General Assembly, in which our countries committed themselves to provide and facilitate educational opportunities for vulnerable people on the move.

The objectives of the conference are to:

better understand the realities of refugees globally, as well as their educational needs;
better understand the concept of the Global Compact on Refugees adopted by the United Nations (UN) and its implications for universities;
devise strategies and foster collaboration in order to increase the number of refugees in university-level courses of study in settlement camps;
identify potential research needs of relief agencies and devise ways of responding;
share best practices on education about refugees and migrants within the university context, as well as ways of engaging university students in social responsibility;
provide an opportunity to further develop the RME Network of over 45 universities, NGOs and not-for-profit organizations, who have joined forces to collaborate on refugee and migrant education.

Programme

See the full program here.

Speakers

Dr Stephen Rasche Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University in Erbil, Iraq. As Iraq has been experiencing its own refugee crisis, Rasche has travelled internationally to advocate for his country and highlight the contributions his university and the Catholic community have made there.
Ashish Gadnis Founder and CEO of BanQu. Highly experienced in social enterprise in extreme poverty and conflict zones, he is an advocate of financial empowerment to eliminate global poverty. Up to 30 thousand people were walked out of poverty holding BanQu’s virtual hand, including migrants and refugees for whom BanQu empowered education.
Joan Rosenhauer Executive Director of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA. Joan leads the organization’s efforts in the U.S. to fulfil its mission – to accompany, serve, and advocate for refugees and displaced people in over 50 countries around the world. She has spent most of her career advocating for social justice.
Kevin Appleby Senior Director of International Migration Policy at the Center for Migration Studies. He has also served as the director of migration policy and public affairs of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops for over 15 years. He has advocated in front of Congress regarding immigration issues.
Archbishop Bernardito Auza Doctor in Theology and Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the United Nations since 2014. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Tagbilaran in 1985 and has been involved in the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 1990.

Along with our keynote speakers, the conference will also feature primary speakers who are scholars or NGO representatives working on the ground with refugees and migrants:

Prof. Michele Pistone Professor of Law at Villanova University. She directs and teaches the clinic for asylum, refugee, and migrant services.
Fr Michael Smith International Education Officer for Jesuit Refugee Service. Fr Smith entered the Australian Province of the Society of Jesus in 1976 and has been a priest since 1984.
Dr Mehnaz Afridi Professor and Director of Religious Studies at Manhattan College. She is deeply involved in interfaith work both as a professor and as the Director of the Interfaith Education Center.
Joan Rosenhauer Executive Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in the USA. She works to serve and advocate for refugees and displaced people in over 50 countries around the globe.
Dr Georgette Bennett Founder of the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees. She is a sociologist by training who has devoted the past 25 years of her life to advancing inter-religious relations.

Video footage of the speeches can be found here:

Day 1

Day 2