The Third Annual Speaker series:

Africa & China Relations

Is China really to be blamed for the crisis in Darfur? What blame do the African
Countries have in the Crisis? What are African’s doing to uplift the continent?

Background

As Sino-African relations strengthen and the humanitarian crises in African countries
such as Sudan, Zimbabwe and Congo worsen, pundits argue that China’s supposed
silence on the humanitarian crisis reflects its strategic interests in the Continent.
Proponents of the Chinese government, however, contend that China’s minimal
interference rather reflects its support of governments retaining sovereignty over their
internal affairs. Given the implications of China’s stance for the continent at
large and for the humanitarian crises in particular, this symposium hopes to shed light
on this complex issue from two broad perspectives: political and humanitarian

FEATURED SPEAKERS:
Dr Ann McDougall (Director, Middle Eastern and African Studies, University of Alberta)
Mr Simin Yu (China Institute, University of Alberta)
Ms Barbara Butt (Dafurian Congress of Canada)

Date: Sat, Nov 22 2008

Venue: University of Alberta, Telus Center 217

UnveilingAfrica.org

The fourth Annual Speaker series:

Has Foreign Aid to Africa Done more harm than good?

Over the past 40 years, over $1 trillion has been transferred from the west to Africa in form of foreign aid, yet, it appears to be that nothing is changing in Africa and more money is still needed to emancipate Africa. The question that comes to mind is how effective has all this foreign aid to Africa been? How long will Africa need Aid for? and what should the role of foreign aid be in the 21st century Africa?

All these and many more are the questions brought forward at Unveiling Africa’s Debate on foreign aid.
The day after Unveiling Africa will have an invigorating dialouge and presentation on the role of youths in Africa’s development.

Join us these two days for an insightful debate and discussion on these important issues.
Venue: University of Alberta, Telus Professional Development Center 217 – 1F

Day 1 – November 27th will feature a debate on the effectiveness of foreign aid in Africa.
Day 2 – November 28th, Unveiling Africa will present a keynote address on the role of global youths in Africa’s development and presentations of case studies of youth involvement in development in Africa and elsewhere.

Time
Nov 27: 6.30pm – 8.00pm
Nov 28: 10.00am – 2.00pm

Sponsored by:

APIRG
Carribean African Disasporic Initiative
University of Alberta, African Students Association
University of Alberta, International House
University of Alberta, Middle Eastern and African Studies

The Speakers’ Series is Unveiling Africa’s major educational program in Canada. This annual program produced in the form of a conference, workshop or debate is a forum for engagement, critical thinking, discussion and action on global issues affecting Africa.

The speaker series is also a platform to promote intercultural learning and global citizenry and an avenue to ignite and sustain activism and social change amongst Africans and other concerned citizens. It particularly centers on youth participation and global youth activism by targeting an audience of Canadian youths as well African youths in Canada.

Every speaker series produced by Unveiling Africa sets out to do at least three main things:

• Promote and reinforce the understanding amongst Africans that Africa’s problem will not be solved by anyone else but Africans.
• Provide tools and resources to apply and transfer the speaker series knowledge and discussion beyond the event itself to day to day activities and discussions.
• Create platforms and initiatives that continuously promote global citizenship, intercultural learning and relationship building amongst participants.

In collaboration with community groups, student groups and educational institutions across Canada, the speaker series is produced during the fall of every year.