DASICON 2019 “Towards Global Citizenship: Home without Borders”

March 2, 2019

At DASICON 2019 held at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna on March 1st and 2nd, ways to promote and adopt global citizenship in various sectors and regions were discussed with the topic of “Towards Global Citizenship: Home without Borders.”

Annually organized by youth, the students of the Diplomatic Academy, the conference gets together international experts, interested youth and stakeholders from relevant fields to interact and facilitates international dialogue.

This year, the mission was “Finding ways to think and act as global citizens to face future global challenges.” During the two-day conference, the following issues were addressed:

  • Participation in Digital Democracies
  • Change in Conflict Resolution
  • Dynamics in Identities
  • Innovation in Urban Life
  • Disruption in Business

BKMC Co-chair Heinz Fischer delivered keynote address at the conference, and CEO Monika Froehler featured as a panelist in the panel 1: “Global Governance and Global Citizenship​: A New Deal?”

During his keynote, Fischer said that “envisioning future implies remembering lessons from the past,” and that “more than ever before, we are in need of developing global mindset in order to solve the most pressing issues of our time.”

The conference interactively engaged the audience in sharing their opinions on the discussion topics through live polls. Froehler encouraged the audience and other global citizens to

“Think globally and act locally!”

The live-streaming of the event can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/DiplomaticAcademyVienna/videos/359378627983586?sfns=xmo

Photo: Organizers of DASICON 2019

Mentorship Program for Young Muslim Austrian Women in Cooperation with Muslim Youth Austria (MJÖ)

February 21, 2019

On January 16th, the Ban Ki-moon Centre met with members of Muslim Youth Austria (MJÖ), Melisa Boskovic and Nesrin El-Isa, to discuss an upcoming joint project for the empowerment of young Muslim Austrian women.

 

Together, the Ban Ki-moon Centre and MJÖ are collaborating on a mentorship program which will be launched in March this year.

 

Forming personal relationships with established women working in Austria can be especially useful to women coming from a background where they may face discrimination, both in the workplace and in daily life. By pairing young Muslim Austrian women (mentees) with Austrian and international female partners (mentors), the mentorship program will offer the valuable chance to foster interaction, build networks, and to learn from experienced working women in Austria. This will help mentees to grow professionally and personally and will empower them to achieve success in their own careers.

 

The Ban Ki-moon Centre is supporting the project by helping with the planning, providing mentors, hosting a launch event, and facilitating workshops throughout the period of mentoring.

The theme of the mentorship program is “Global Citizens at Work” and will emphasize the importance a maintaining a global perspective both as a worker and as a citizen of the world. In addition to mentoring sessions, the pairs will be encouraged to complete one small project/activity together during the period of mentorship that fits into the framework of “Global Citizenship.”

For more information on the mentoring program, please follow the link to the website of Muslim Youth Austria below.

Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting project!

https://www.mjoe.at/mentoring2019/

BKMC Board members get welcomed by South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon in Seoul

February 20, 2019

Upon their visit to Seoul, South Korea to participate in the Global Engagement & Empowerment Forum (GEEF) 2019, some of the Board members of the Centre were welcomed by South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon on February 15th, 2019. Prime Minister Lee has also welcomed the BKMC Board last year on the occasion of the Centre’s first Board meeting held on the margins of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

During the meeting this time, Prime Minister Lee and Ambassador Choo Jong-youn, who is Diplomatic Advisor to the Prime Minister, were informed of the Centre’s implemented projects with the fund received from the Korea Foundation at the end of last year. Including the GEEF 2019 that took place on February 14-15th, the Centre exchanged its successful ongoing and upcoming projects in close partnership with its partners in Korea. BKMC Co-chair Heinz Fischer, who is former President of the Republic of Austria, and Prime Minister Lee also discussed the peace process in Korea, including denuclearization in the Korean peninsula.

Other BKMC Board members who were present at the meeting were Ambassador Sadiq Marafi of the Kuwaiti Embassy in Vienna, Ambassador Shin Dong-ik of the Korean Embassy in Vienna, Dr. Irina Bokova who is former Director General of UNESCO, Dr. Márcia Balisciano who serves as Director of Corporate Responsibility of RELX Group, and Monika Froehler, CEO of the Centre.

The Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens looks forward to further strengthening its close relationship with Korea throughout pursuing the upcoming cooperative projects with its partner organizations in Korea.

Photo by the Prime Minister’s Office

BKMC strengthens its partnership with UNESCO APCEIU

February 19, 2019

On February 18th, 2019, the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens and its partner UNESCO APCEIU had an official MOU signing ceremony at the APCEIU office in Seoul, South Korea.

The two organizations electronically signed the MOU on October 19th, 2018 and have collaborated on promoting Global Citizenship Education (GCED), organizing experts’ meeting on education, and developing online courses on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and women’s empowerment. BKMC CEO Monika Froehler has also moderated a plenary session of the 3rd International Conference on GCED hosted by the APCEIU in Seoul in September 2018.

The MOU was signed by BKMC CEO Monika Froehler and APCEIU Director Chung Utak in order to work together on further promoting the notion of global citizenship and fostering many collaborative activities, including organizing meaningful workshops and conferences on GCED.

Upon the visit to the APCEIU office, the Centre also had an opportunity to introduce its work and mission to the professors of Kyung-Hee University, who were having a meeting to discuss implementing global citizenship courses as mandatory courses for all students at the university to take starting from this spring semester.

GEEF 2019 Opening Remarks Ban Ki-moon

February 15, 2019

OPENING REMARKS

GEEF OPENING SESSION – Ban Ki-moon
Yonsei University, Korea
14th February 2019

His Excellency Sebastian Kurz, Chancellor of Austria;

His Excellency Heinz Fischer, Former President of Austria;

Her Excellency Helen Clark, former Prime Minster of New Zealand;

Dr. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of UNESCAP;

Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Senior Vice President of the World Bank Group;

Honorable Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul Metropolitan Government;

Her Excellency Lee Mikyung, President of KOICA;

Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA;

Welcome to the second annual Global Engagement and Empowerment Forum on Sustainable Development.

During my ten-year tenure as United Nations Secretary General, one of United Nations’ most important accomplishments was establishing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, known as the SDGs. In 2015, the UN member states showed their devotion and adopted this new vision for sustainable development based on a single principle: “leave no one behind.”

Leaders from all around the world embodied this principle with collective commitment to leave no one behind in the SDGs. These goals are people-centered development that focuses on progression against the existing challenges such as poverty, inequality, public health, gender equality, and many other. Today, the world is changing fast and the journey of achieving inclusive and sustainable development cannot be done alone. That is why leaving no one behind requires a transformation in humanity through communities coming together as one global partnership.

Today, GEEF 2019 continues its momentum from the previously successful GEEF 2018. Last year, GEEF 2018 provided a platform that displayed a global network with thousands of people in attendance. Enthusiastic and dedicated people were witnessed, assembled, and cooperated together to ensure the mutual pursuit of the SDGs.

This year’s GEEF 2019 will serve as a platform that goes beyond simply sharing and extending ideas. As the 17 SDGs emphasize the 2030 Agenda’s five key elements (planet, people, prosperity, peace, and partnership), also known as the 5P’s, GEEF 2019 will offer in-depth discussions of long-term and specific plans to integrate these elements into promoting the concept of sustainability, sustainable development, and social equity.

 

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Please allow me to conclude that achieving the SDGs by 2030 may seem as a never-ending mission. Yet, year 2030 is soon to come. Therefore, a global legacy needs to be addressed for the betterment of our world. The whole process will be a continuing challenge. Currently, challenges remain but progress are shown. Progress is visible but is still uneven. For example, the 2018 SDG Report stated that poverty gap still remains in which there are approximately 38 million more hungry people in the world, rising from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016.

Despite this reversal result, I still believe that we are ahead in the right direction. I am also confident in all of our ongoing efforts and commitments that can ultimately achieve our goals of the 2030 global agenda.

 In this regard, a collective effort is needed to promote a global collaborative partnership among all stakeholders at every level of our society. We must work together. We must all play our parts in this progression to become more effective, cohesive, and accountable. I urge you to take full responsibility, join in our efforts as Global Citizens, and contribute towards building a global community, sustainable cooperation, and a world with a better future for all.

 

 

Photo: Arno Melicharek

GEEF 2019 Welcome Remarks Heinz Fischer

February 15, 2019

WELCOME REMARKS

GEEF OPENING SESSION – HEINZ FISCHER
Yonsei University, Korea
14th February 2019 10:30 – 12:10 

Your Excellency Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz,

My Dear Friend Ban Ki-moon,

Your Excellency Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand,

Your Excellency President Kim Yong-Hak, Yonsei University,

Distinguished friends and students,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure and honor for me to be addressing you today on the occasion of the Second Global Engagement and Empowerment Forum at Yonsei University here in Korea.

I am happy to be back in Korea at this University and want to thank the University for hosting this landmark conference for the second time.

With more than 1,400 participants and a hundred speakers from more than 70 different countries, GEEF 2019 will deliberate the theme: “A Call to Action: Empower People, Share Prosperity.” At the Forum, we have identified pivotal dimensions towards implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda.

Our Ban Ki-moon Centre team in Vienna enjoyed great cooperation with the team here in Seoul in preparing for this Forum. Thank you all for your hard work! It is well invested work to serve the Sustainable Development Goals and to do it in the global interest of peace and in the interest of empowering young people and women.

Looking into the audience in this hall, I see hundreds of young people bursting with potential and energy. This is what we need to carry the message of engagement and empowerment for global citizenship forward.

Youth, namely male and female citizens under 30, now represent over 50% of the world population; the largest percentage in history.

Despite this reality, youth globally remain disadvantaged when it comes to political participation, access to the labor markets, housing, education, and other issues.

At present, about 63 million young people are unemployed and 141 million young people are trapped in working poverty. Additionally, the competition for good education and good jobs is getting tougher and tougher.

Yet youth have better means of communication and activism at their fingertips than ever before. The future of the whole world is dependent on the active engagement and connection of youth worldwide.

Therefore, the Ban Ki-moon Centre focuses its attention on empowering and ensuring that it is YOUR TIME and that YOUR rights are upheld, and that YOU can actively shape the future. This is essential to achieving sustainable development.

Women and girls face additional barriers to their participation and overall prosperity.

The Global Risk Report 2019, published some weeks ago, tells us in addition that 1 in 3 women globally suffer from violence during their lifetime including intimate partner violence. This is not acceptable.

A Global Citizen is not defined by gender, age, race, nationality or religion, but rather by the actions that unite us as human beings.

The Sustainable Development Goals represent this common ground and the shared challenges that we face as humankind.

I am personally impressed by Korea and the speed of its economic growth and development. I am sure this success story can be attributed at least in part to the emphasis on education, the level and room for innovation, and the dedication to learn and to work.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It has now been a year since the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens in Vienna was founded by the initiative of Ban Ki-moon. We have achieved a lot in this first year.

We look forward to 2019 and to continuing to scale and pursue our mission to empower youth and women worldwide to act as global citizens in a peaceful, prosperous, and fair world on the basis of human rights.

We thank all of you for your engagement, energy and inspiration as global citizens of today, tomorrow and beyond.

Thank you!

 

Photo: IGEE

BKMC signs an MOU with the Austrian Chancellery

February 14, 2019

On February 14th, 2019, the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens and the Austrian Chancellery signed an Memorandum of Understanding in Seoul, South Korea on the margins of the Global Engagement and Empowerment Forum 2019.

 

The MOU Signing ceremony was followed by a bilateral meeting between BKMC Co-chairs Ban Ki-moon and Heinz Fischer and CEO Monika Froehler, and the Austrian delegation from the chancellery.

As the youngest head of government in the world, Chancellor Kurz resembles the important role that youth leadership plays to ensure a sustainable future of our planet. As the Centre received fund from the chancellery this year to pursue projects for youth fellowship, this gave the opportunity for the two partners to sign the MOU to work towards the implementation of the SDGs by empowering young leaders.

 

Photos: Arno Melicharek