Day: September 24, 2021

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Alight accueille une innovatrice sociale, Jocelyn Wyatt, en tant que nouvelle PDG

Wyatt prend la tête d’une organisation humanitaire mondiale et ouvre un nouveau chapitre de son histoire

MINNEAPOLIS, 23 septembre 2021 /PRNewswire/ — L’organisation humanitaire mondiale, Alight, est heureuse d’annoncer la nomination de Jocelyn Wyatt au poste de PDG. Ayant été PDG d’IDEO.org au cours des 10 dernières années, Wyatt prendra officiellement la tête d’Alight le 15 décembre 2021, où elle dirigera plus de 3 500 membres de l’équipe à l’échelle mondiale.

Alight Logo

La vaste expérience de Wyatt en matière de développement stratégique à l’échelle internationale est intrinsèquement centrée sur l’humain et est en symbiose avec le travail qu’Alight accomplit dans plus de 20 pays pour créer des espaces dignes et des services dignes de l’homme pour plus de 3,5 millions de réfugiés et de personnes déplacées chaque année.

Fidèle à la mission fondamentale d’Alight, le processus de recherche d’un PDG a été marqué par l’écoute et la collaboration avec les membres de l’équipe du monde entier, qui ont apporté leur contribution et leurs idées pour établir le cadre de la recherche d’Alight. Après plusieurs mois d’examen attentif et de conversations avec des dizaines de candidats hautement qualifiés, Wyatt est apparu comme la leader la plus complète et la mieux adaptée à l’organisation.

« Nous sommes très heureux d’accueillir une stratège créative aussi accomplie et un membre très estimé de la communauté internationale des ONG », déclare Maureen Reed, présidente du conseil d’administration d’Alight. « Leader mondial empathique et expérimentée, Jocelyn comprend profondément Alight et sa mission de construire une vie significative pour et avec les personnes déplacées, et de libérer l’abondance dans chaque personne avec laquelle nous travaillons. Nous sommes honorés qu’elle se joigne à nos efforts en tant que directrice de notre organisation. »

Wyatt arrive chez Alight après avoir occupé le poste de cofondatrice et directrice générale d’IDEO.org, un studio de design international qui travaille en partenariat avec des ONG pour concevoir des produits et des services destinés à créer un monde plus juste et plus inclusif. Au cours de cette période, elle a été à l’origine de collaborations avec le DFID (le ministère britannique du développement international), la Fondation Bill & Melinda Gates, PSI (anciennement Population Services International) et de nombreuses autres organisations de portée mondiale, dont Alight. Au cours de la dernière décennie, Wyatt a contribué à façonner certaines des initiatives les plus marquantes et révolutionnaires d’Alight, telles que : la campagne I Am A Star, Asili,Kuja Kuja, The Color Movement, In Our Hands,et Becoming Alight.

« Avec 82 millions de réfugiés et de personnes déplacées dans le monde, l’opportunité de cocréer de nouvelles solutions avec les communautés est plus critique aujourd’hui que jamais », déclare la nouvelle PDG Wyatt. « Alight s’efforce de repenser le statu quo et de contribuer à transformer le récit des personnes déplacées dans le monde en incluant des voix diverses et variées au sein de l’organisation. »

L’une des premières priorités de Mme Wyatt est d’entreprendre une tournée mondiale d’écoute d’Alight et de ses organisations affiliées, avec l’intention d’inviter tous ceux qu’elle peut à la table pour parler, écouter et apprendre ensemble.

Pour en savoir plus sur l’action transformatrice d’Alight et sur le réseau de personnes qu’elle sert, veuillez consulter le site www.wearealight.org.

À PROPOS D’ALIGHT

Établie en 1978 par son fondateur Neal Ball, Alight, anciennement connu sous le nom d’American Refugee Committee, fournit chaque année des soins de santé, de l’eau potable, des abris, une protection et des opportunités économiques à plus de 3,5 millions de personnes dans plus de 20 pays. Alight croit en l’incroyable créativité, le potentiel et l’ingéniosité des personnes déplacées et s’efforce de mettre en lumière leur humanité, l’énorme quantité de bien qui se produit déjà et les possibilités de faire plus. En 2020, Alight a reçu la prestigieuse note de 4 étoiles de Charity Navigator pour la dixième année consécutive, célébrant ainsi une décennie de travail efficace.

Logo : https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1193251/Alight_Logo.jpg

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Huawei Hosts an Energy Summit — Digital Energy, Powering the Low Carbon Era

SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Huawei hosted the Energy Summit online, which was held within the framework of HUAWEI CONNECT 2021 and themed “Digital Energy, Powering the Low Carbon Era”. During the summit, customers and partners discussed best practices in using new technologies to transition the energy industry toward carbon neutrality. Huawei also released the Global Energy Transition and Zero Carbon Development White Paper and shared its Energy Trans-Cube Strategy.

Energy Trans-Cube, Creating New Value for the Industry

After signing the Paris Agreement in 2015, more countries than ever before are committed to carbon neutrality and are taking positive actions to address climate change. Each one follows a different path, suitable to its resource profile, energy, and environment. “Despite the strong will to go carbon neutral, we need to take into account three challenges: green and low carbon development, economic development, as well as the security and continuity of energy supply. The convergence of energy transformation and digital transformation will pave the digital way for carbon neutrality,” said David Sun, Vice President of Huawei Enterprise BG and President of the Global Energy Business Unit. He added, “Huawei has developed a Trans-Cube methodology. It suggests that to get closer to a net-zero carbon intelligent energy system and achieve global zero-carbon development, we should build three core capabilities — net-zero carbon transformation, energy transformation, and digital transformation.”

David Sun, Vice President of Huawei Enterprise BG and President of the Global Energy Business Dept, delivering a speech at the Energy Summit

The first capability — net-zero carbon transformation — will help various industries manage their carbon assets, and implement de-carbonization actions suitable to their specific contexts. In the process, they will go from low-carbon to near-zero carbon, and eventually achieve carbon neutrality.

Then, energy transformation will make energy production and consumption more reliable, secure, and efficient, transforming from a single centralized system to a diversified, distributed, and integrated one. The ultimate goal is to achieve multi-energy coordination and optimize efficiency.

Last but not least, there is digital transformation. With data at its core, digital transformation will enable net-zero carbon transformation and energy transformation.

White Paper Release — New Ideas to Lead the Industry

According to Guo Xiaobo, Energy expert at Deloitte China, going carbon neutral means achieving energy transformation and zero-carbon development as soon as possible, using more renewable resources, changing the way we use energy, and using new technologies to reduce emissions. Based on this, the Global Energy Transition and Zero Carbon Development White Paper analyzes the key factors affecting energy transition, and proposes a new plan for the energy sector — building a net-zero intelligent energy system.

The said system focuses on interconnecting oil, gas, electricity, heat, and hydrogen systems, and aims to achieve secure, reliable, efficient, cost-effective, and clean energy. Anthony Hu , Chief Representative for Energy Transition (Carbon Neutrality), Global Energy Business Unit of Huawei Enterprise BG, said, “The architecture of the net-zero intelligent energy system will interconnect the energy system, carbon system, and ICT infrastructure as well as eventually converging energy, carbon, information, and value flows. Gradually, it will form a system with data at its core, promoting the digitalization of the energy industry.”

Drive Data to Barrel, Embrace Intelligence to Grow

The digital transformation and intelligent development of the oil and gas industry is still in its infancy. According to Lv Gongxun, Senior Consultant of Huawei and Former General Manager of China National Corporation for Exploration and Development of Oil and Gas (CNODC), digital transformation signals four opportunities for the industry: rebuilding business models, transforming management models, innovating business models, and accelerating transformation and value growth.

Lv Gongxun also discussed the value of cloud for the oil and gas industry: “Cloud technologies enable centralized information resource planning, intelligent management and control, flexible provisioning, convenient services, and high security and efficiency. They will transform the existing business models.”

Power grids are another important area of energy transformation, rapidly evolving with new technologies. In this context, Felix Chifwaila, Senior Manager of Electro-Technical Services at ZESCO, introduced the role of video and AI in improving grid O&M capabilities. For example, visualizing channel data leads to fewer operational risks and makes inspection 80 times more efficient. Video and AI also help detect potential faults in time, helping eliminate 90% of power outages every year. Having an intelligent inspection platform and apps leads to 30% more efficient emergency response and maintenance. Mr. Chifwaila noted, “ZESCO is looking forward to continued cooperation with Huawei, helping ZESCO become a regional power hub in digital transformation.”

ICT and OT Drive Energy Digital Transformation

“As an Operation Technology (OT) system service provider, DFE actively cooperates with ICT vendors, including Huawei, to complement each other’s strengths, promote energy digital transformation, and build intelligent and innovative solutions.” — Fang Zhengji, General Manager of DFE. He introduced the innovative solutions DFE developed with Huawei — Intelligent Substation Inspection System and Automatic Transmission Line Inspection System. Powered by DFE and Huawei technologies, the two solutions help enterprises further their digital and intelligent transformation.

Like many others, Huawei started out as a non-digital native enterprise. This means that the company has accumulated extensive experience and lessons learnt through both internal projects and industry practices. It has a first-hand understanding of the challenges traditional enterprises face during digital transformation and has paved a “digital way” for the transformation and development of the energy industry.

Huawei hosts HUAWEI CONNECT 2021 online from September 23 to October 31. The theme of this year’s event is Dive into Digital. We’re going to dive deep into the practical application of technologies like cloud, AI, and 5G in all industries, and how they can make organizations of all shapes and sizes more efficient, more versatile, and ultimately more resilient as we move towards economic recovery. For more information, please contact our local team or check out https://www.huawei.com/en/events/huaweiconnect

For more information about the Global Energy Transformation and Zero Carbon Development White Paper, click Global Energy Transition and Zero Carbon Development White Paper

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1633758/image.jpg

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Somalia National Theater Reopens for Screening After Three Decades

Somalia’s National Theater in Mogadishu held a landmark event Wednesday night, screening movies for the first time in three decades.

The theater was recently renovated and reopened after being destroyed twice – once in Somalia’s civil war, and then again in a 2012 suicide bombing.

More than 1,500 people attended the screenings.

The two films, Hoos, meaning “shadow” in Somali, and the other, Date of Hell, were screened in the Chinese-built theater constructed in 1967.

Starring Egypt-based actor Kaifa Jama, the short films depict some of the challenges faced by young Somalis brought up outside the country and who are not familiar with Somali and Islamic culture.

Jama said the films were produced in Cairo with no resources and largely on volunteers among her peers, with no payment for actors and actresses. She said the producers convinced hotels and hospitals to let them film on their grounds in exchange for advertisements in order to avoid extra costs.

The theater also used volunteers for its reconstruction, which was overseen by the government. The building was completely destroyed during Somalia’s civil war in the early 1990s. It was rebuilt in 2012, only to be ruined again at its reopening after being targeted by an al-Shabab suicide bomber. Then-Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali survived the explosion, but dozens of others died.

For this renovation, workers installed some 1,500 new seats. The theater officially reopened last year and has hosted graduation ceremonies for local schools.

According to organizers, more than 1,000 tickets were sold for Wednesday night’s screenings.

Among the participants was Ilham Mohamud.

The moviegoer said she was very happy and excited to be at the national theater for the first time in her life. She said she felt patriotic regarding the progress that is continuously made in her country.

Information and Culture Minister Osman Dube said the theater will host more events in coming weeks. He said the theater is expected to showcase films, plays, poetry, book fairs and comedy that reflect Islamic and Somali culture.

Source: Voice of America

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Burundi Rights Violations Hidden Behind Façade of Democracy, UN Commission Finds

U.N. investigators are accusing Burundi’s government of hiding widespread rights violations and repressive measures behind a façade of democracy. The charge comes in a report by the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi submitted to the U.N Human Rights Council.

The commission on inquiry says encouraging signs that Burundi might be moving toward a more democratic society following the election of President Evariste Ndayishimiye have proven to be an illusion.

Despite initial improvements in human rights at the end of the electoral process in 2020, Commission Chair Doudou Diene notes a significant increase in violations as of June this year.

“To date, only symbolic gestures, though welcome, and often controversial decisions, have been made so far. These are neither sufficient nor adequate to have a sustainable and profound impact on the human rights situation. The façade of normalization hides a very concerning human rights situation,” Diene said, speaking through an interpreter.

The report finds most violations occur in the context of the fight against armed groups allegedly responsible for attacks throughout the country since August of last year.

However, Diene said the Commission believes these armed attacks have been used as an excuse to pursue political opponents in violation of their human rights.

He said Burundian authorities are tightening their grip over the activities of civil society and denying people their right to freedom of expression and association. He said the government has cracked down on a free media and has suspended some media outlets.

He said journalists who dare to question or criticize the government are vilified, intimidated, or threatened.

“It is clear that the Burundian authorities consider that civil society’s sole purpose is to assist them and to support government projects, thereby denying the very principle of freedom of association. In particular, it seeks to control the operating costs of NGO’s and the salaries of expatriates,” Diene said.

In his rebuttal, Burundi’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Renovat Tabu, ignored all criticisms raised by the Commission. He cited the many improvements he said his government made in the fight against injustice, in furthering freedom of opinion and of the press, in education and a wide range of other human rights.

He said Burundi had several institutions engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights. He added that Burundi’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was operational and doing an excellent job in cementing national reconciliation.

Source: Voice of America

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Burundian Journalist Briefly Detained While Investigating Blast, Radio Station Reports

Police on Friday briefly detained a journalist investigating a grenade attack in the commercial capital Bujumbura, his radio station said, after a series of explosions this week that killed at least five people.

Radio Bonesha FM had earlier said their reporter, Aimé-Richard Niyonkuru, had been mishandled and arrested by police in Bujumbura's Kamenge neighborhood while he investigated a grenade incident that was said to have killed two people Thursday.

"Radio Bonesha FM journalist arrested on Friday morning by the police has just been released. Aimé Richard Niyonkuru is still waiting for his recorder. He spent many hours at the Special Research Office under the hot sun," the station said on Twitter.

Police spokespeople were not immediately available to comment on the arrest.

Burundi, a nation of about 11.5 million people, has suffered decades of war and ethnic and political violence. The United Nations says the youth wing of the ruling party and the security services are involved in the torture, gang-rape and murder of political opponents, charges the government denies.

On Monday, two grenade explosions hit a bus park in Bujumbura, while on Sunday a grenade attack in the administrative capital Gitega killed two, according to local media.

The Interior Ministry said "unidentified terrorists" were responsible for attacks in Bujumbura. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

An airport worker said Monday there also had been an attack on the Bujumbura airport on Saturday, for which Congo-based rebel group Red Tabara claimed responsibility, saying it fired mortars as the president prepared to travel to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Sylvestre Nyandwi accused leaders of a suspended opposition party, MSD, of being behind the recent attacks, adding that authorities had issued international arrest warrants for them.

Source: Voice of America