TED Talk Thursday – Alexander Betts: Our refugee system is failing. Here’s how we can fix it

TED Talk ThursdaysAccording to TED.com: “A million refugees arrived in Europe this year, says Alexander Betts, and ‘our response, frankly, has been pathetic.’ Betts studies forced migration, the impossible choice for families between the camps, urban poverty and dangerous illegal journeys to safety. In this insightful talk, he offers four ways to change the way we treat refugees, so they can make an immediate contribution to their new homes. ‘There’s nothing inevitable about refugees being a cost,’ Betts says.They’re human beings with skills, talents, aspirations, with the ability to make contributions — if we let them.’ “

“In media and in public debate, refugees are routinely portrayed as a burden. Professor Alexander Betts argues that refugees, who represent a wide spectrum of professional backgrounds, are in fact an untapped resource that could benefit nations willing to welcome them into their economies.”

“Betts is the director of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, where he spearheads research on refugee and other forced migrant populations. His book, Survival Migration, explores the predicaments of people who are fleeing disaster yet fall outside legal definitions of refugee status.”

 Alexander Betts: Our refugee system is failing. Here’s how we can fix it

For those of you not familiar with TED Talks here is a brief summery from www.ted.com: “TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize”

——————————————————————————————————–

I look forward to your thoughts and comments!

TED Talk Thursday – Nadia Al-Sakkaf: See Yemen through my eyes

TED Talk ThursdaysAccording to TED.com: “As political turmoil in Yemen continues, the editor of the Yemen Times, Nadia Al-Sakkaf, talks at TEDGlobal with host Pat Mitchell. Al-Sakkaf’s independent, English-language paper is vital for sharing news — and for sharing a new vision of Yemen and of that country’s women as equal partners in work and change.”

“Nadia Al-Sakkaf became the chief editor of the Yemen Times, the country’s  first and most widely read independent English-language newspaper, in March 2005, and quickly became a leading voice in Yemen and worldwide media on issues of media, gender, development and politics. During the May 2011 leadership crisis in Yemen, Al-Sakkaf and her organization were vital in reporting the news and putting the political situation in context for the wider world. And as the crisis rolls on, the role of an independent press becomes even more vital. The Yemen Times has reporters on the ground in Sana’a, Taiz, Aden and Hodeida covering the uprising.”

“Under Al-Sakkaf’s leadership, the Yemen Times has also created several publications — especially those for the advocacy of women’s participation in politics, such as Breaking the Stereotype, a book on Yemeni women’s experience as political candidates in elections.”

Enjoy this enlightening talk.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf: See Yemen through my eyes

For those of you not familiar with TED Talks here is a brief summery from www.ted.com: “TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize”

——————————————————————————————————–

I look forward to your thoughts and comments!

TED Talk Thursday – Reshma Saujani: Teach girls bravery, not perfection

TED Talk ThursdaysAccording to TED.com: “We’re raising our girls to be perfect, and we’re raising our boys to be brave, says Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code. Saujani has taken up the charge to socialize young girls to take risks and learn to program — two skills they need to move society forward. To truly innovate, we cannot leave behind half of our population, she says. ‘I need each of you to tell every young woman you know to be comfortable with imperfection.'”

“Reshma Saujani walked away from a finance career in 2010 to run for the House of Representatives. Although her Congress bid (and a subsequent shot for the office of New York City Public Advocate) was ultimately unsuccessful, Saujani’s passion for public service was fired up.”

“In 2012, Saujani founded Girls Who Code to stoke excitement for computer science among high-school women. She aims to enroll one million women in the program by 2020 — and tech has stepped in to help: Google and Twitter are backers, and engineers at Facebook, AT&T and others have signed on as mentors.”

Enjoy this thought provoking talk.

Reshma Saujani: Teach girls bravery, not perfection

For those of you not familiar with TED Talks here is a brief summery from www.ted.com: “TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize”

——————————————————————————————————–

I look forward to your thoughts and comments!