DATE: Wednesday, March 30

TIME: 17:30 pm – 19:30 pm

LOCATION: St. Paul’s university, Guigues Hall, 223 Main street, Room TBC/A suivre

1. Opening remarks

2. Addressing Africa’s youth employment challenge. Talk by: Ms. MarthaMelesse, Senior Program Specialist, IDRC, and Professor Gordon Betcherman, School of International Development and Global Studies

Youth employment is one of the most pressing challenges facing sub-Saharan Africa. The continent’s youth cohort will swell by about six million each year for the next decade. If these young people are given skills and opportunities, SSA can enjoy the benefits of a demographic dividend. But if prospects don’t improve, social and economic consequences will be serious. This session will review the main findings from a new IDRC project that studies the trends, opportunities, and challenges associated with youth employment in sub-Saharan Africa.

Biographies :

Martha Melesse is a Senior Program Specialist with the Employment and Growth Program where her work currently focuses on youth employment and entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. She spearheaded a 10-country research initiative on youth entrepreneurship which led to the publication of Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs: Unlocking the Potential for a Brighter Future (2015). Since joining IDRC in 1993, she has worked in various programs covering issues of poverty, trade policy, social policy, and health systems. Martha holds a Ph.D. in public policy from Carleton University in Ottawa with specialization on health financing reform. She also holds a graduate diploma in international development and co-operation from the University of Ottawa and an MBA from the United States International University.

Gordon Betcherman is a Professor in the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa. His research interests are in labor economics, demography, social policy, and the economics of development. His most recent publications are on the impacts of labor market regulation in developing countries, youth employment in sub-Saharan Africa, and poverty trends in Vietnamese fishing villages. Dr. Betcherman was a co-author of the World Bank’s 2013 World Development Report on Jobs. He is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Labor Studies (IZA) in Germany. He joined the University of Ottawa in 2009 after 11 years at the World Bank. Dr. Betcherman holds a PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles.

3. Varia – news from members

Le Groupe de Réflexion sur l’Afrique présente:

<<Le défi de l’emploi des jeunes en Afrique >>

1)    Mot de bienvenue

2)    Le défi de l’emploi des jeunes en Afrique: Ms. Martha Melesse, Spécialiste de programme principale, CRDI, et Professeur Gordon Betcherman, l’École de développement international et mondialisation

L’emploi des jeunes est l’un des défis les plus pressants auquel doit faire face l’Afrique subsaharienne. La cohorte de nouveaux jeunes va gonfler de six millions chaque année pendant la prochaine décennie. Si ces jeunes ont accès au renforcement de leurs compétences et aux possibilités d’emploi, l’Afrique pourra bénéficier de sa démographie croissante. Cependant, dans le cas contraire,  les conséquences sociales et économiques risquent d’être néfastes. Cette présentation passera en revue les principales conclusions d’une récente étude du CRDI sur les tendances, opportunités et les défis reliés à l’emploi des jeunes en Afrique subsaharienne.

Biographies:

Martha Melesse est spécialiste de programme principale à Emploi et croissance. Son travail se concentre sur l’emploi des jeunes et l’entrepreneuriat en Afrique sub-saharienne. Elle a mené une recherche dans 10 pays sur les jeunes entrepreneurs qui a permis la publication du rapport, Les jeunes entrepreneurs de l’Afrique: Libérer le potentiel pour un avenir meilleur (2015). Depuis son arrivée au CRDI en 1993, elle a été rattachée à différents programmes et s’est penchée sur des questions ayant trait à la pauvreté, aux politiques commerciales, aux politiques sociales, à l’équité et à la santé. Martha Melesse est titulaire d’un doctorat en politiques publiques avec spécialisation en réforme du financement de la santé de l’Université Carleton, à Ottawa. Elle a également obtenu un diplôme d’études supérieures en coopération et développement international de l’Université d’Ottawa et une MBA de l’United States International University.

Mme Filiatrault a complété plusieurs affectations sur le terrain, notamment à titre de chef du

programme de coopération à Cuba (de 2002 à 2005) et au Chili (de 1996 à 2000) où elle était

responsable en outre de programmes en Argentine, en Uruguay et au Paraguay. De 1992 à

1994, elle a travaillé au haut-commissariat du Canada en Guyane.

Gordon Betcherman est professeur titulaire à l’École de développement international et mondialisation a l`Université d`Ottawa. Ses domaines de recherches sont: l’économie du travail, la démographie, les politiques sociales et les économies en voie de développement. Il a publié de nombreux ouvrages et articles dont les plus récents comprennent: les impacts de la réglementation du marché du travail, l’emploi des jeunes en Afrique subsaharienne et les tendances de la pauvreté dans les villages de pêcheurs vietnamiens. Dr. Betcherman fut co-auteur de 2013 World Development Report de la Banque mondiale sur les emplois. Il est chercheur à  l`Institute for Labor Studies (IZA) en Allemagne. Professeur Betcherman s’est joint à l’Université d’Ottawa après 11 années à la Banque Mondiale à Washington. Il est titulaire d’un doctorat en économie de la University of California at Los Angeles.

3) Varia – nouvelles des membres

Additional event information / Événement supplémentaire:

1. “Humanitarianism under pressure in South Sudan”: An exchange with Mr. Eugene Owusu/

<<La situation humanitaire sous pression au Soudan du Sud>>: Un échange avec M. Eugène Owusu

Mr. Owusu is the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan. Friends of South Sudan, members of the ASG, members of the South Sudanese diaspora and other guests are invited to take part.

When: Monday March 21, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: University of Ottawa Social Sciences Building (FSS), 120 University Private, Room 4006.

No registration required but space is limited. In English and free.

For background see more at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=17207&LangID=E#sthash.1NgfOvr4.dpuf

Sunday, March 20, 2016
6:30-8:30pm
Pour Boy Pub, (2nd), 495 Somerset St W, Ottawa, ON K1R 5J7
FREE Book Reading Event featuring author H. Nigel Thomas, a native of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The Novel: No Safeguards, which is set in St
Vincent (near Chateaubelair, in Georgetown, in Kingstown) and Montreal, has
received excellent reviews and was a finalist for  Quebec Writers’ Federation
Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction.

—

• When: March 30, 2016
• Time: 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
• Location: Paterson Hall
• Room: 433
• Cost: Free
• Intended Audience: Anyone
• Event contact: Institite of African Studies
• Email contact: african_studies@carleton.ca
• Phone contact: 613-520-2600 x 2220

The Institute of African Studies presents a Brownbag Seminar talk entitled “Perspectives on Canada’s shifting approaches to Africa: 2003 to 2016” with Dr. Peter Henshaw, Privy Council Office.

For poster

Second Call for Papers

International Symposium Border Regions in Sub-Saharan Africa Joensuu, Finland, 7 – 9 September 2016

This meeting is a follow up of the successful Katima Mulilo meeting on Border Regions in Southern Africa held in September 2015. There we touched upon many fascinating issues, related to African border issues.

The symposium aims to bring together scientists who share a common interest in the study of border regions in Sub-Saharan Africa, issues like cross-border economies, border issues, shaping of borders amongst others can be mentioned as topics of interest. The aim is to create an inter-disciplinary forum where researchers from the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences can discuss a broad range of topics. A special focus area will be migration and cross- border mobility, as this has become one of the major issues in recent years. The ultimate goal of the meeting will be to publish a book dedicated to border issues in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa is presently an area of fast economic development, tourism, industry and mining are expanding and changing the region in many ways. The border regions are also the home of indigenous communities, whose traditional ways of life are increasingly under pressure.

The University of Eastern Finland has a long tradition in research in Namibia and southern Africa. The meeting will be organized as part of the project “Oral Histories and Places of Memories” funded by the Finnish Kone Foundation. See:www.uef.fi/katima

The symposium welcomes a diversity of approaches and subjects as well as research in progress.

Your abstract should detail the analytical framework as well the main conclusions (400 words). Please send to:alfred.colpaert@uef.fi

More details on this meeting will be published on our web site (www.uef.fi/katima) as the program evolves.

After reviewing the proposals a symposium program will be made available. Submission deadline for proposals: 15 May, 2016.

Decisions notified by: 30 May, 2016Venue: University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu Campus, Finland.

The symposium will have two days of plenary working sessions, a social event and a one day excursion to the Finnish-Russian border area.

This is a joint event of the Department of Geographical and Historical Studies of the University of Eastern Finland (www.uef.fi), the University of Namibia and the VERA institute (www.uef.fi/en/vera/vera)

Alfred Colpaert, professor, geography alfred.colpaert@uef.fiDepartment of Geography and Historical Studies University of Eastern Finland