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THE BRIEF by Maya Plentz episodes
- 🔒 Asha Allen: Women in International Affairs and Diplomacy
Subscriber-only episode
Asha Allen serves as Advocacy Director for Europe, Online Expression & Civic Space at CDT Europe Office in Brussels. Asha’s work focuses on advocating for the preservation of fundamental rights in European Union/Regional legislation, and democratic accountability in industry content policies.
Asha has worked on projects with the United Nations, Council of Europe and OSCE. She coordinated the #HerNetHerRights II campaign which aimed to increase women’s safety and participation online during the European elections. Reaching over 3 million people, she established herself as the leading policy expert in this field in Brussels.
In her spare time, Asha is one of six women who front the Who Writes the Rules Campaign, which advocates for increased participation of women of colour in EU policy making and the tech industry.
Asha completed an internship in the European Parliament and holds a BA in American Studies and MA in Transnational Studies from the University of Kent, alongside an MSc in European Studies from KU Leuven, where she specialised in transnational and global perspectives, international human rights law, and EU policy making.
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9 min - 🔒 Veronica Merlo, Mercosur
Subscriber-only episode
Women in Diplomacy and International AffairsArgentina
We interviewed Veronica Merlo, Senior Trade Policy Consultant for MERCOSUR, at the Ministry of Economy of Argentina. She has a Master's Degree in International Relations Europe - Latin America from the University of Bologna, Italy, studied Trade Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School for Government, and has a postgraduate degree in International Trade Law and Policy from the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Switzerland. She obtained her BA in International Trade (UCES, Argentina). She is a member of the Argentine Network of Professionals for Foreign Policy (REDAPPE), and the Young Scholar Initiative (YSI).
Listen to our interview below.
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11 min - Interview with Josefina Bunge, Deputy Permanent Representative, Argentina, at the UNSupport the show11 min
- 13 min
- 🔒 Interview Ambassador Federico Villegas, President Human Rights Council
Subscriber-only episode
The UN Brief spoke with Argentine’s Ambassador to the UN Office in Geneva and International Organisation, Federico Villegas, who was appointed as president of the UN Human Rights Council for 2022, to discuss how the international community is on-board to make the mandate for the new Special Rapporteur as impactful as it needs to be.
The Special Rapporteur, Ian Fry said, in its first press conference last June, that the onboarding of Russia, India, and China was a “work-in-progress”. (scroll down)
During Ambassador Villegas tenure we are seeing a number of reports that foster the promotion and protection of human rights in areas that till recently were not on everyone's radar, such as the impact of new technologies on gathering evidence, and also its double edged sword, as some tools can be used for surveillance of political dissidents and journalists.
One area that is just now gathering the deserved attention is the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons. Meaning addressing age discrimination in its various forms, in employment and healthcare, and in particular the latest report of the the independent expert, Dr. Claudia Mahler, on the intersection of gender and ageism.
Addressing Systemic Racism
Some progress has been made to address systemic racism since the horrific images beamed across screens all over the world showing police brutality towards African-Americans and people of African descent in the US (by the way these types of violations of human rights by law enforcement happen in other countries too, but the murder of George Floyd by a police officer, that was recorded on a smartphone by a by-stander, sparked outrage and social mobilisation in May of 2020).
High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, issued a report that introduced a four-point agenda to end systemic racism and human rights violations by law enforcement against citizens of African descent, also the Human Rights Council established the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement.
What should we expect of these initiatives? How to move from debate to implementation by country-members? What needs to happen?
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13 min - 🔒 Interview with Marc Finaud, Head of Arms Proliferation, Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Subscriber-only episode
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32 min - 🔒 Interview with Dr. Luis Lamb, Visiting Fellow, MIT, Professor UFRGS, Brazil
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14 min - 🔒 Interview with Jean Marie Collin, ICAN
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13 min - 🔒 Interview with Steve MacFeely, WHO
Subscriber-only episode
WHO Report on Universal Health Care and the SDGs
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21 min - 🔒 Interview with Dr. Vania de la Fuente Nunez, WHO
Subscriber-only episode
WHO Ai and Ageism Policy Brief
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17 min
About THE BRIEF by Maya Plentz
From the publisher's feed
Maya Plentz is the founder and chief editor of THE BRIEF, a weekly newsletter with exclusive interviews and analysis focusing on tech policy, and the global digital economy. She has over two…
decades of experience in the news media sector. Her work has aired at UN Radio, BBC World, RFI and Bloomberg TV.
During her tenure as a producer and presenter at Bloomberg TV in New York, she covered Google, Microsoft, and the 2000 dot-com boom. She also produced a daily segment on science, medicine, and technology.
At the UN News and Media Division in New York, she served as a broadcast producer and website news editor, conducting interviews with UN officials, government representatives, and diplomats. Her programs reached millions of viewers weekly across the globe, airing on UN national broadcast partners in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
As a member of the European Commission High-Level Group of Experts, under the leadership of Pascal Lamy, former WTO Director General and Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research and Innovation, she was tasked with reviewing the EU's research and innovation funding framework, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. She provided advisory on communication strategies to promote innovation funding at the EU.
During her tenure as a producer and presenter at Bloomberg TV in New York, she covered Google, Microsoft, and the 2000 dot-com boom. She also produced a daily segment on science, medicine, and technology.
At the UN News and Media Division in New York, she served as a broadcast producer and website news editor, conducting interviews with UN officials, government representatives, and diplomats. Her programs reached millions of viewers weekly across the globe, airing on UN national broadcast partners in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
As a member of the European Commission High-Level Group of Experts, under the leadership of Pascal Lamy, former WTO Director General and Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research and Innovation, she was tasked with reviewing the EU's research and innovation funding framework, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. She provided advisory on communication strategies to promote innovation funding at the EU.