Speakers
Many captivating speakers have been invited from various conrers of the globe. Here is just a sampling of some:
Edward Dua Agyeman, Auditor General of Ghana
Edward Dua Agyeman has been Auditor-General of Ghana Since 2001. Prior to that, he held a variety of positions, including Deputy Auditor General of Ghana’s Audit Service, Programme Coordinator, European Union Human Resources Development Programme, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Executive Director, Liberian Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Monrovia, Liberia, and Director of Education and Training, Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana). In 2004, he was elected Vice-Chairnan of the Governing Board of English -Speaking Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI-E).
Mr. Agyeman has also taught in various higher educational institutions in the United Kingdom and Ghana. He has published over seven textbooks mainly in bookkeeping, accounts and taxation.
Mr. Agyeman obtained a BA (Hons) in Business Studies at Middlesex Polytechnic in 1973, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management and Finance from City University Business School, London, in 1976. He also holds a Certificate of Education from Garnet College, University of London. Mr. Agyeman qualified as a Professional Accountant (ACCA) at Emile Woolf College of Accountancy, London in 1977 and became a Fellow (FCCA) in 1982.
Akwasi Aidoo, Executive Director, TrustAfrica
Akwasi Aidoo is a sociologist and Executive Director of TrustAfrica, a new African foundation (based in Senegal) that funds collaborative efforts among African institutions to address the continent’s many challenges.
Akwasi Aidoo was educated in Ghana and the United States, obtaining his Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of Connecticut. He has taught at universities in Ghana, the United States, and Tanzania. From 1988 to 1992, he was a program officer at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in West and Central Africa, covering 22 countries.
Akwasi Aidoo is a board member of several non-profit organizations, including Oxfam America, the Crime Prevention Centre of South Africa, AfriMap Project of the Open Society Foundation for South Africa, and the Africa Grantmakers' Affinity Group.
Gerry Barr, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC)
Gerry Barr is President, and Chief Executive Officer, of CCIC, a coalition representing about 100 leading Canadian non-governmental organizations engaged in international development. Before joining CCIC in January of 2001, Barr was the Executive Director of the Steelworkers Humanity Fund, a labour-based non-governmental organization that supports projects undertaken by partner organizations in 13 countries and five regions of the world. From 1998 to 2000, he served as a member of the Steering Committee of the Ethical Trading Action Group, a coalition of Canadian labour, church and social advocacy groups.
Gerry Barr has also been personally involved in a key dialogue process with the Federal government and Calgary-based oil company Talisman Energy about Canada's role in war torn Sudan. He has served on several boards including that of the North-South Institute from 1994 to 2000.
Gerry Barr was named a Member of the Order of Canada by Governor-General Michaëlle Jean in 2006. In addition, Mr. Barr was awarded the Pearson Peace Medal in 1996 for his personal contribution to aid to the developing world, mediation in conflict, and peaceful change through international cooperation.
Michel Chaurette, Executive Director, Canadian Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI)
Michel Chaurette has a track record of more than 30 years of professional involvement in international cooperation. He joined CECI in 1984 as a project officer and later became overseas program director.
Mr. Chaurette has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). He specializes in project management and organizational development. Before CECI, from 1978 to 1984, he was a project manager and deputy director of operations in the Francophone Africa Branch of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). From 1973 to 1978, he also worked at the Office franco-québécois, where he was in charge of internships.
Jacynthe Côté, President and CEO of Alcan's Bauxite and Alumina Business Group
Jacynthe Côté is the Senior Vice President of Alcan Inc. and President and Chief Executive Officer of Alcan's Bauxite and Alumina Business Group. She was appointed to this position in June, 2005.
Jacynthe Côté joined Alcan in 1988 as a Process Analyst at the Vaudreuil alumina works (Quebec). From 1989 to 1991, she was involved in the construction and start-up of a specialty alumina plant as Production Superintendent and remained in charge of the operation until 1994. She then was transferred to the Isle-Maligne (Quebec) smelter as Potroom Superintendent. In 1996, Ms. Côté was named Works Manager of the Beauharnois (Quebec) smelter and in 1999 she was transferred to the Lynemouth (UK) smelter as Works Director.
In December 2000, Ms. Côté was appointed Vice-President Business Planning and Development for Alcan's Primary Metal Business Group and in January 2003 was named Vice-President, Human Resources, Environment, Health and Safety, Alcan Primary Metal Group. Born in Quebec, Jacynthe Côté holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Laval University (Quebec).
Richard Flageole, Canada's Assistant Auditor General
Richard Flageole was appointed an Canada's Assistant Auditor General in 1997.
Mr. Flageole is responsible for a portfolio of departments and agencies including Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Canadian International Development Agency, Citizenship and Immigration, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, as well as Crown corporations such as Defence Construction (1951) Ltd. and the International Development Research Centre. His group is also responsible for auditing small entities.
He joined the Office as an audit trainee in 1977. In 1981, he worked at a major accounting firm in Montreal for 18 months as part of an executive interchange program. He assumed positions of increasing responsibility until his appointment as Assistant Auditor General.
Mr. Flageole has lectured extensively in financial and management auditing at the University of Ottawa, the Université du Québec en Outaouais and the Université de Sherbrooke.
His professional activities include involvement with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, with whom he is the Chair of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. He has also served on the Assurance Services Task Force and the New Assurance Services Board. He has also been a member of the Education Committee of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec and of the Board of Directors of the Financial Management Institute of Canada.
Mr. Flageole holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a specialization in accounting and is a Chartered Accountant. In 1997, he was elected to Fellowship (FCA) of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec (FCA), that organization's highest designation.
Manzoor Hasan, Deputy Executive Director, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC)
Manzoor Hasan is the Deputy Executive Director of BRAC, which has grown from its modest beginnings almost 30 years into one of the largest non-government development organizations in the world. BRAC addresses the challenges of poverty alleviation, rural health care and non-formal education.
In line with BRAC's continued support to education, it established BRAC University in 2001 with the goal of “…providing an excellent broad based education to equip graduates with the knowledge and skills to lead Bangladesh in its quest for development”. BRAC University is accredited by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and approved by the Ministry of Education, Government of Bangladesh. Mr. Hasan is the International Director of the Centre for Governance Studies at BRAC University, and was instrumental in developing the MA Program in Governance and Development.
Mr. Hasan holds a law degree from the London School of Economics and is a member of the English Bar. He practiced civil and commercial law in England and Bangladesh and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London.
Prior to commencing his legal practice Mr. Hasan was a researcher with BRAC and published The Net: Power Structure in Ten Villages (Dhaka, 1980). In 2004 he re-joined BRAC; in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian tsunami he established BRAC – Sri Lanka.
Mr. Hasan was the founding Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) (1996-2003) and then the Regional Director (Asia-Pacific) of TI in Berlin. In 2003 he was awarded the honour of the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for his service to TIB.
Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director, Oxfam International
Jeremy Hobbs became Executive Director of Oxfam International in October 2001. He has served on the Oxfam International Board since its inception in 1996, in his capacity as Executive Director of the Australian affiliate Oxfam Community Aid Abroad. He has wide experience in advocacy, both in lobbying governments and working with the private sector, experience in many aspects of community development, and in NGO management, marketing and fundraising, both domestically and internationally.
Mr. Hobbs was the Executive Director of Oxfam Community Aid Abroad from 1993 until 2001. He provided a strong focus on Indigenous rights and race issues in Australia and on the campaign for the rights of the people of East Timor.
Jeremy was on the Board of the Australian Council For Overseas Aid (ACFOA) from 1997 - 2001 and was a Director of Community Aid Abroad’s subsidiaries Community Aid Abroad Trading and International Development Support Services. He also established Community Aid Abroad’s Ethical Investment Trust and played a key role in establishing Oxfam New Zealand, which was initially a subsidiary of Community Aid Abroad.
Jeremy trained in Social Work at the University of Western Australia, having first completed an Arts degree. Prior to joining Community Aid Abroad he worked in a neighbourhood welfare agency in Perth which specialised in emergency-crisis work and community development, particularly with Aboriginal youth.
Ezra Mbogori, Executive Director, MWENGO
Ezra Mbogori is the founding Executive Director of MWENGO – a reflection and development centre for NGOs in eastern and southern Africa, with offices in Harare, Zimbabwe. He established the MWENGO Secretariat in November, 1993 and has guided the development of the organization to its current status as a network for NGOs in the region. Prior to this, Mr. Mbogori headed up the Undugu Society, an urban poverty-focused organization, in Nairobi, Kenya for six years. Mr. Mbogori has worked in the voluntary sector for more than 20 years. His volunteer experiences, ranging from leadership to advisory roles, include:
- Founding Chairperson of the Kenya NGO Council (1992-1993)
- Member of the Commonwealth Foundation NGO Advisory Committee
- Member, Board of Trustees – The Resource Alliance
- Member, Board of Directors, Montreal International Forum
- Member, Board of Directors, Charities Aid Foundation, South Africa
- Member, Board of Directors, Civicus (2000 -2006)
Ezra Mbogori was educated at the Nairobi University, Kenya and was a fellow of the Kellogg International Leadership Program.
Carolyn McAskie, UN Assistant Secretary General for Peacebuilding
Carolyn McAskie was appointed Assistant Secretary General for Peacebuilding in May 2006, to head up the office created to support the newly formed Peacebuilding Commission of the United Nations. Prior to that, from June 2004 to April 2006, she served as Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of the UN Peacekeeping Operation in Burundi. Her previous appointment (1999-2004) was Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator at the UN Secretariat in New York, serving as Emergency Relief Coordinator a.i., for the period Oct 1999 to January 2001.
Prior to her appointment with the United Nations, Carolyn McAskie had a thirty year career with the Federal Government of Canada, in the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Her last positions were Vice-President for Africa and the Middle East Programmes and Vice-President of CIDA’s Multilateral Programmes Branch, where she held the rank of Assistant Deputy Minister (equivalent to Deputy Permanent Secretary) from 1993 until 1999.
Earlier posts with CIDA include: Director-General, International Financial Institutions; Director-General, Multilateral Technical Cooperation (United Nations and Commonwealth Programmes); and in the Canadian High Commission in Kenya. She has also served in the Commonwealth Secretariat in London as Assistant Director of Finance and Personnel (1975-1980) and as Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives (1986-1989).
Throughout her career, Carolyn McAskie has played a prominent role in multilateral negotiations as a Canadian delegate to the UN Funds and Programmes and in the Governing Bodies of the International Financial Institutions, including the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Global Environmental Facility. She served as a member of the Facilitation Team of the Burundi Peace Process in Arusha (1999) under the late Julius Nyerere, the former President of Tanzania and as Humanitarian Envoy of the UN Secretary General for the humanitarian crisis in Cote d'Ivoire (2003).
Ben Mulroney, National Ambassador, UNICEF Canada
Ben Mulroney, host of CTV’s Canadian Idol and eTalk, was appointed to the role of UNICEF Canada National Ambassador in July 2006. His charisma and appeal to adults, youth and children across the country makes him an ideal ambassador to reach out to Canadians of all ages and engage them to help support every child around the world to grow up healthy, educated and safe. Holding degrees in law and history, and with his family background in politics, Mulroney is well-versed in national and global issues and passionate about leveraging his celebrity appeal to make a difference for the world’s children. One of Mulroney’s first responsibilities as ambassador is to serve as national spokesperson for this year’s revitalized Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign.
In his role as host of Canadian Idol, Mulroney has brought the Idol phenomenon to life for Canadian viewers every step of the way for the past four seasons, from talent auditions across the country to the nail-biting season finale.  A "big brother" to the competitors on the show, Mulroney's good looks and natural charisma have attracted fans in the millions over the course of the show.
In addition to Canadian Idol, Mulroney hosts CTV's eTalk, Canada's number one source for entertainment news. Like Canadian Idol, eTalk is a Canadian television success story - a quality, homegrown program that competes with the best American programming. Mulroney’s eTalk duties also take him around the world, attending red carpet events and interviewing famous celebrities.
Before joining eTalk, Mulroney was the correspondent for Talktv’s The Chatroom where he talked candidly about the entertainment news of the day. In July 2001, Mulroney became the show's co-host, positioning him as the face of Talktv.
From October 2001 to July 2002, Mulroney was entertainment reporter for CTV's Canada AM where he reported from the front lines of the entertainment world. Since 2002, he has covered red carpet arrivals for CTV at the Academy Awards and also has been the co-host of CTV At The Junos, the red carpet pre-show at the Juno Awards.
Off-camera, Mulroney is a columnist for the Quebec-based magazine Star Systeme and contributes regular articles for AskMen.com. In July 2005, Mulroney made his big screen debut playing a reporter in the summer blockbuster, Fantastic Four.
Dr. Samantha Nutt MD, MSc, CCFP, FRCPC, Founder and Executive Director, War Child Canada
Samantha Nutt is a medical doctor with more than 10 years of experience working in war zones. She has helped children in some of the world's most violent flashpoints, working with War Child Canada, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Iraq, Afghanistan, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Iraq, Burundi, northern Uganda and the Thai-Burmese border.
A specialist in Maternal and Child Health in zones of armed conflict, Family Medicine, Public Health, and Women's Health, Sam is also on staff at Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Science Centre and is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Sam holds undergraduate degrees in Arts and Science, and in Medicine, from McMaster University and postgraduate degrees in Medicine and in Public Health from the University of Toronto as well as the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (London University).
Chosen by Maclean's Magazine for their annual Honour Roll as one of "12 Canadians making a difference", she is a role model to many Canadians and has received numerous humanitarian awards for her work in support of war-affected children. Sam was among 12 Canadian women honoured for leadership by Global Television and the National Post on International Women's Day 2002, and was chosen as one of 30 “outstanding Canadian women” profiled by Flare magazine for their 25th anniversary edition in 2004. Sam is a recipient of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Award (Globe and Mail, Report on Business), and has been profiled by Time Magazine as one of Canada’s five leading activists (December, 2005) and by CBC News Sunday as an outstanding Canadian leader (January 2006). Global Television has declared her a ‘Canadian Trailblazer’. In 2006, she was also chosen by Chatelaine readers as one of 12 Canadian woman they would most like to see run for politics.
Sam has written for Maclean’s Magazine covering war-related issues and frequently appears on Canadian television and radio as an expert commentator on war and its impact on civilians. She is also a keynote speaker on the impact of war and on public engagement in global issues, inspiring others to make a difference. Most recently, Dr. Nutt received Honorary Doctorates from McMaster University, Brock University and Niagara University for her work promoting human rights, and her role in delivering humanitarian assistance to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Dr. Samantha Nutt is committed to peace, human rights and social justice. Her ambition has always been to help war-affected women and children. Sam’s activities range from providing direct humanitarian support and long term programming to war-affected children and their families, to promoting greater awareness in Canada concerning the issue of war-affected children, to fundraising and advocacy.
Maureen O'Neil, President, International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Maureen O'Neil has been President of IDRC since April 1997. Previous positions include Interim President of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, President of The North-South Institute, and Deputy Minister of Citizenship for the Government of Ontario.
Ms. O’Neil is a member of the International Board of Governors of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University of Beirut, and chair of the Hemispheric Advisory Board of the Institute for Connectivity in the Americas. She is also a member of Policy Advisory Group of the UK Department for International Development and a Fellow of the School of Policy Studies of Queen’s University. She has been a member and/or Chair of numerous Boards, including: the Board of Governors, Carleton University (Chair); the Board of Directors of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA); the Markle Foundation’s Global Digital Opportunity Initiative; the World Economic Forum’s Digital Divide Supervisory Committee (co-chair); the Advisory Board to the Minister of Foreign Affairs; the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (Chair); the Canadian Foundation for the Americas (Chair); and the Institute for Women, Law and Development. She has also represented Canada on the UN Commission on the Status of Women and on OECD committees, and has been a member of the UN Committee for Development Planning and the Board of the UN Research Institute for Social Development.
Ms O'Neil has a BA in Sociology from Carleton University and Honorary LLDs from Carleton University and Wilfrid Laurier University.
Elisabeth Sequeira, Executive Director, Associação Progresso
Elisabeth Sequeira is one of the founding members of the Associação Progresso. She was elected as Executive Director at Progresso’s first General Assembly in 1991, and has served in this position ever since. Prior to becoming involved at Progresso, Ms. Sequeira was the Director for External Relations, Ministry of Education, Mozambique, for close to 10 years. She has also served as Deputy Director at the National Institute for Development of Education of the Ministry of Education. A native of Maputo, Ms. Sequeira studied at the Faculty of Mathematics in Coimbra, Portugal, and at the University of Moscow in Russia, and has taught mathematics and political education in a number of countries including Algeria, Tanzania, and Mozambique. Some of Ms. Sequeira's professional accomplishments include designing the first Portuguese book on literacy in Mozambique, preparing national teaching seminars in Mozambique, and participating in a review of Mozambique’s national education system. Ms. Sequeira also served as a member of CODE’s Board of Directors from 1992 to 1994.
Rebecca Stringer, Department of International Development (DFID), Royaume-Unie
Rebecca Stringer is a senior communications advisor in DFID's Building Support for Development Team. She leads DFID's main communications campaign based around the theme 'Aid Works.' Her other work in external communications involves monitoring UK public perceptions of development, and working across the office to improve DFID's 'results' agenda and
communications priorities.
Prior to external communications, Rebecca worked on DFID education policy, and in the policy division cabinet. She has previously worked in the NGO sector in the UK, West Africa andNepal. Rebecca studied her undergraduate degree at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and her master degree in anthropology of development at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
Rebecca's current role focuses heavily on working across ranges of stakeholders and groups to drive positive aid effectiveness messages based on public understandings of development.
Brian Stewart, CBC News
Brian Stewart is one of Canada's most experienced journalists, is host of the CBC News: World View. A leading reporter on The National for several years, Mr. Stewart was also a host of the hour's current affairs segment The Magazine from 1998-2000. Prior to this post, Stewart was a senior reporter for The Journal as well as a back-up anchor for Barbara Frum.
Stewart received the Gemini Award as "Best Overall Broadcast Journalist," the prestigious Gordon Sinclair Award, in 1996. Nominated for numerous Geminis, he won "Best Information Segment" in 1994 for "Rwanda: Autopsy of a Genocide," in which he uncovered advanced warnings of the mass murders. In 1995, his moving report "Return To Ethiopia" was broadcast internationally and his documentary "The Somalia Affair" won top prize for investigative reporting at the Canadian Association of Journalists awards in 1993.
Stewart has also been one of Canada's most prominent foreign correspondents. He covered many of the world's conflicts and has reported from nine war zones, from El Salvador to Beirut. In the Gulf War, he was the first Canadian reporter to get into the liberated Kuwait City. In the Sudan Civil War in 1989, his report on child slavery, "Sudan: Children of Darkness" (with Tony Burman), won several international awards, including the UNDA prize at the Monte Carlo Television Festival. He has worked extensively in underdeveloped countries and was the first North American reporter to focus the world's attention on the massive Ethiopian famine of 1984-85 (also with Tony Burman). In 1987, Stewart's career was the subject of a major documentary, "The War Reporters," produced by Brian McKenna. In the course of his reporting career, Stewart has interviewed such leading world's leading figures, including Margaret Thatcher, Lech Walensa, Nelson Mandela and Henry Kissinger.
Born in Montreal in 1942, Stewart was educated in Canada and England, and graduated from Ryerson's School of Journalism in 1964. Though best-known for his television work, he started in print and was a political columnist with The Montreal Gazette from 1968 to 1971. He won a National Newspaper Award in 1969 for feature writing.
Stewart first joined the CBC in 1971 in Montreal as a host of the supper-hour television current affairs program Hourglass. In 1973 he was appointed a national reporter in Ottawa where he was the network's foreign affairs and military specialist. He became CBC's foreign correspondent in London in 1982 where he worked until joining NBC as a foreign correspondent in 1985. Stewart returned to Canada in 1987 to become senior reporter with The Journal, a post in which he wrote and hosted a series of specials on North American and world politics.
Bernard Wood
Bernard Wood is President of his own international consulting firm in Ottawa, Canada and is associated with International Development and Strategies, a specialized group based in France and the UK and with the Universalia Management Group in Canada. He has an unusual combination of experience in development, political and security affairs, in Canada and internationally, and has written and spoken widely on these issues.
From 1976 to 1989 he served as the founding CEO of the North-South Institute, (Ottawa, Canada) and then for three years was the head of the Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security. Moving to the international scene in 1993, he served for six years as Director of the Development Cooperation Directorate of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
In his consultancy practice since 1999, Mr. Wood has carried out senior assignments on development, management effectiveness and security for four international organizations, seven governments as well as foundations, universities, and non-governmental organizations in five countries.
Earlier in his career Mr. Wood served as advisor to Canadian parliamentary committees and delegations overseas and worked on international finance policy in the Canadian Government and in a private financial firm. Mr. Wood served as the Personal Representative of the Prime Minister of Canada to Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1985 and again in 1986 on issues in Southern Africa, including sanctions. Between 1990 and 1992 he was a member of the Canadian panel of Canada-Japan Forum 2000. He has been a Special Advisor to several Canadian Delegations to the UN General Assembly, and a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Expert Group on the Relationship between Disarmament and Development, and the Commonwealth Observer Mission to Namibia.
Mr. Wood was born in Britain in 1945. He received his B.A. at Loyola of Montreal, his M.A. from the School of International Affairs at Carleton University, Ottawa, and did doctoral work at the University of London. He earned his commission in the Canadian Army in 1965. He holds Canadian and British citizenship, and speaks English, French and Spanish.
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