GDP - The Global Development Primer

If all the world is a stage, then Theatre for Development is about dealing with some of the most troubling moments of that world.  Beyond the production of dramatic performance for audiences, the methods of role playing, acting, and diving into the perspective of others is an incredibly powerful tool to explore peace and reconciliation, trauma, and psychology.  On the front line of this research is Ph.D. Candidate Telisa Courtney from the University of Alberta.  Telisa join's GDP to discuss the ins and outs of theatre for development, and to offer straight up advice for graduate students seeking to do research abroad. 

Telisa is a 2nd year Political Science PhD student at the University of Alberta. They hold a Master of Arts degree in International Development Studies from Dalhousie University, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta with a double major in Political Science and Psychology. Their research focuses on applied theatre as a mechanism for community building, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution in East Africa. In their personal life, they are a music teacher, yoga practitioner, cross-country runner, and cat mom.

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The saying goes that countries will often export their strengths.  But when it comes to foreign assistance for democracy support, Canada does remarkably little compared to its neighbour to the South and partners in Europe.  Inclusive democracy is foundational pillar to Canadian society, and in an era when many countries are teetering towards populism and anti-democratic processes, where is Canada's voice and support in the conversation?  

To offer her expertise and insight into the place of Canada in the world of democracy support, GDP is happy to have Monika Le Roy join this episode.

Monika Le Roy is an Advisor to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) on political affairs, democracy and human rights, leading programs to address rising authoritarianism, atrocity prevention, and threats to international peace and security in the region. She directs OAS efforts to document crimes against humanity in Venezuela and is the first OAS focal point on the Responsibility to Protect. A senior public policy and development expert, Monika has served as Senior Policy Advisor to two Canadian Foreign Ministers and has deep experience in global politics, government and the not-for-profit sector. She has worked in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and the MENA regions. Monika’s career has focused on supporting peaceful democratic transitions, strengthening democratic governance and women’s empowerment, and has led global advocacy campaigns to end child, early and forced marriage and the fight to end sexual violence in conflict. She holds an HBA from Carleton University and an LLM in International Law with International Relations from the University of Kent.

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During pandemics our diets change.  Dan Dan Noodles and Sourdough bread were the staples of COVID-19.  In the 1918 influenza it was oysters.  The 17th century plague in Paris was held back by lemonade, and in ancient times, certain foods were reserved for health times, and others for illness.  Recipes and cravings aside, COVID-19 toppled the global culinary industry.  From small-time restaurants to airlines, the pandemic has forced the restaurant industry to pause and think.  And in that thinking, what is being considered?  Environmental impacts?  Gender dynamics? Exploitive labour conditions?  

Here to offer his expertise and foresight on the lingering impacts of COVID on the restaurant industry, is Chef Ben Kelly.

Benjamin Kelly is a Red Seal Chef, blogger, and cookbook author from Nova Scotia, Canada. For over twenty years he has worked in a wide variety of restaurants from Canada’s east coast to it’s far north.  Ben’s love of food first developed cooking corn chowder and Shepherd’s pie alongside his mother as a young child. That love grew as Ben was guided through his culinary journey by numerous chefs and teachers. Ben’s passion now extends to teaching anyone who wants to learn about food and how to cook.  Today Ben owns and operates a personal chef service and catering company as well as a successful food blog called chefsnotes.com. You can find him on social media @chefbenkelly. And you can find his books, The 5-Ingredient Cookbook For Men, and The How-To Cookbook For Men wherever fine books are sold.

Check out Chef Ben at https://www.chefsnotes.com/

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The voices of North Korean refugees have the power to captivate audiences, inspire human rights activists, and challenge the very regime that brought them suffering.  The stories and testimonies of North Korean refugees provide an important view into the eerie reality of Kim Jung Un's regime.  At the same time, stories from North Korean refugees illuminate the human conviction to follow their dreams and desires despite a regime that tells them otherwise.  But story telling is tough.  Relieving trauma is painful.  Communing with the public to find purpose and to heal hearts takes skill.  Casey Lartigue has been working with North Korean Refugees for 10 years to provide the platform to build those skills.  His organization, Freedom Speakers International is a one of a kind organization that helps North Korean refugees find their voice through education, advocacy and support.

Casey Lartigue is an advocate and activist for educational freedom who has gained recognition in both South Korea and the United States. He is now based in South Korea where he is co-founder and co-president of Freedom Speakers International (formerly the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center) along with South Korean researcher Lee Eunkoo. He is president of TNKR’s US office.

For more about Freedom Speakers International, visit their website:  http://fsi21.org

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The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq became missions to rebuild the governments and to promote democracy.  It led many to associate the terms of "Democracy support / democracy assistance" with regime change.  Dr. Tom Carothers suggests that this bad rap came from security interventions becoming political missions.  A better way to understand democracy support is by looking at how organizations respond to political crises such as what is unfolding in Myanmar.  In this episode of GDP Tom Carothers explains how democracy support works, where it has worked, and how it could work better.  In cooperation with the Parliamentary Centre in Ottawa, we're happy to present this conversation about democracy assistance in international development.

Thomas Carothers is interim president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an independent global think tank based in Washington DC, where he oversees all of the Endowment’s research programs and directs the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program.

He is the founder and director of the Democracy and Rule of Law Program, which analyzes the state of democracy in the world and the efforts by the United States and other countries to promote democracy.

Dr. Carothers is a leading authority on democracy promotion and democratization worldwide as well as an expert on U.S. foreign policy generally. He has worked on democracy-assistance projects for many public and private organizations and carried out extensive field research on democracy-building efforts around the world. In addition, he has broad experience in matters dealing with development aid, human rights, rule of law, and civil society development.

He is the author or editor of eight critically acclaimed books on democracy promotion as well as many articles in prominent journals and newspapers.

His most recent book is Democracies Divided: The Global Challenge of Political Polarization (co-edited with Andrew O’Donohue).

He previously worked as a lawyer at the U.S. Department of State and the law firm of Arnold & Porter.  He has been a visiting faculty member at Oxford University, the Central European University, and Johns Hopkins SAIS.  He is a graduate of Harvard Law School, the London School of Economics, and Harvard College.

"To learn more from Dr. Carothers and other expert speakers, you can attend the Parliamentary Centre's Global Democracy Dialogue's first event on May 12, 1-2:30pm EST. Check out @ParlCent on Twitter for details on how to attend"

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The COVID-19 pandemic forced billions of parents into paternity leave.  For billions of billions of children around the world their parents were at home with them while schools were shuttered.  It saw an increase in parental caregiving like no time before.  Women, who have always taken on the overwhelming majority of care giving duties, saw those duties increase.  But for hundreds of millions of families with fathers it also involved those fathers contributing more to care giving as well.  Pre-pandemic, the expectations of men to work and provide for their families, and often in work that put their bodies and mental health a risk, was standard.  But in this pandemic pause, what can be learned from the value of fatherhood and caregiving?  Gary Barker, the CEO of Promundo, suggests that this is the moment to embrace paternity as a means to improving caregiving, but also gender equality. As Dr. Barker suggests, smart policies are needed to embrace fatherhood as valuable "care", rather than policies that encourage men to risk their bodies, minds and well being to "provide" for their families.  

Gary Barker, PhD, is a leading global voice in engaging men and boys in advancing gender equality and positive masculinities. He is the CEO and founder of Promundo, which has worked for 20 years in more than 40 countries. Promundo’s approaches have been incorporated into ministries of health and education around the world. Promundo is a Global Consortium with members in Brazil, the US, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Portugal.

Gary is co-founder of MenCare, a global campaign working in 45 countries to promote men’s involvement as caregivers, and co-founder of MenEngage, a global alliance of more than 700 NGOs. He created and leads the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), the largestever survey of men’s attitudes and behaviors related to violence, fatherhood, and gender equality. He is a co-author of the 2015 and 2017 State of the World's Fathers reports. 

He has advised the UN, the World Bank, numerous national governments, and key international foundations and corporations on strategies to engage men and boys in promoting gender equality. In 2017 he was named by Apolitical as one of the 20 most influential people in gender policy around the world. He is an Ashoka Fellow and received the Voices of Solidarity Award from Vital Voices for his work to engage men for gender equality. He holds a PhD. in Developmental Psychology.

Learn more about Promundo here. (https://promundoglobal.org)

Learn more about MenCare here.  (https://men-care.org)

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