Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland and Chinese experts in a number of areas related to human rights paid visits Thursday 10 March to Biel/Bienne and to French-speaking canton Bern Thursday to examine how minority group issues are dealt with in Switzerland. The two countries have been holding regular “dialogue” meetings since 1991 “with the aim of encouraging an improvement of the human rights situation,” the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)notes in a statement issued Thursday evening.
Both areas are on the language divide in Switzerland and face issues of education, training, political representation and other minority problems. The visit included a presentation on a pilot bilingual education project.
“The discussions focused in particular on issues such as the death penalty, torture, the status and situation of minorities in Switzerland and China, freedom of religion, as well as on issues related to detention in the two countries, to the UN Human Rights Council’s Review Conference and the Universal Periodic Review,” the DFA says.
“The parties agreed to continue a number of cooperation projects, such as an exchange of experts in the field of the administration of punishments as well as on the dimension of human rights in the economy.”
China’s delegation included experts in the fields of human rights, justice, public security, the economy, minorities and religions.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The director of Switzerland’s Migration Office, Alard du Bois-Reymond, has told the
Conseil central islamique suisse (CCIS) that it will be excluded from discussions between the federal government and Muslim groups, designed to improve dialogue with the country’s Muslim population. “The participation of the CCIS in discussions with the Muslim population cannot be envisaged given the current situation”, du Bois-Reymond noted, referring to the group’s conservative stance.
Keynote speaker,World YWCA General Secretary Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda
The University of Geneva, together with five co-sponsors, kicked off the inaugural programme of the Geneva Forum on Social Change (GFSC) Friday 5 June. Keynote speakers include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Prize Laureate and Honorary Doctor 2009 of the University of Geneva, World YWCA General Secretary Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, and Speak-it.org Director, Nick Francis.
The Forum combines documentary film screenings, workshops and panel discussions of the complex social, political and economic challenges presented in the films. The event is organized by the University of Geneva International Organizations MBA (IOMBA) Programme. Geneva Lunch spoke with Forum on Social Change Chair and IOMBA degree candidate, Patrick Huber.
GL: Can you provide some background information on how the Forum was imagined and over what time period?
Maverick Architect Michael Reynolds in Oliver Hodge's "Garbage Warrior." Photo courtesy GFSC and Oliver Hodge
Patrick Huber (PH): This came out of an event last year in Monterrey, California hosted by Independent Television Service (ITVS) out of San Francisco. The Forum was conceived in November of 2008 when ITVS approached the University of Geneva about co-sponsoring a film screening and dialogue.
I was approached as president of the Geneva University chapter of the NetImpact network, an industry network of MBA professionals and students interested in promoting corporate social responsibility. Last year the chapter sponsored a forum on sustainable development which created momentum to discuss what other advocacy efforts the network might promote.
