DAY 1, UWC Dilijan
OPENING REMARKS:
Denise Davidson, Head of UWC Dilijan and Ruben Vardanyan, Co-Founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and UWC Dilijan, will formally open the Aurora Dialogues and introduce the theme, Galvanizing the World.
Session 1: Galvanizing the World Panel Series
Galvanizing the World: Education For All
Moderator: Denise Davidson, Head of UWC Dilijan
Panelists:
- Haifa Dia Al Attia, CEO, Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development
- Jens Waltermann, Executive Director, UWC International
- Riaz Shah, Partner, Global Talent EY and Chair, One Degree Academy
Galvanizing the World: The Role of Media
Moderator: Stephen Kurkjian, Author; former Washington Bureau Chief and Founder of Investigative Column Spotlight, The Boston Globe
Panelists:
- Chika Oduah, Nigerian-American journalist
- Florian von Heintze, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, BILD
Galvanizing the World: Protecting Human Rights
Moderator: Hrair Balian, Director of the Conflict Resolution Program, The Carter Center
Panelists:
- Shamil Idriss, President & CEO, Search for Common Ground
- Elisa Massimino, President & CEO, Human Rights First
- Ruth Messinger, Global Ambassador, American Jewish World Service
Galvanizing the World: Overcoming Adversity
Moderator: Nancy Soderberg, Former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor and Ambassador to the United Nations
Panelists:
- Marguerite Barankitse, 2016 Aurora Prize Laureate and Founder of Maison Shalom and REMA hospital
- Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Laureate; Liberian Peace Activist and Women’s Rights Advocate
- Alice M. Greenwald, President & CEO, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum
Galvanizing the World: Empowering Refugees
Moderator: Sasha Chanoff, Founder and Executive Director, RefugePoint
Panelist:
Alexander Betts, Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs, Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, and Senior Research Fellow of Green-Templeton College, University of Oxford
Session 2: Young Leaders Addressing the Most Pressing Humanitarian Problems
Foreword: Christof Bosch, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Robert Bosch Stiftung
Student Presenters:
- UWC Robert Bosch College, Germany
- UWC Mahindra College, India
- Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa, Swaziland
Session 3: Ideas in Action
Presenter: Ed Williams, CEO of Edelman UK and Ireland & Vice Chairman, Europe
CLOSING REMARKS:
Chair of the Board of Governors, UWC Dilijan, and Co-founder of IDeA Foundation Veronika Zonabend and President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Co-Founder Vartan Gregorian will close Day 1 of the Aurora Dialogues by announcing the winner of the Aurora Humanitarian Projects competition.
DAY 2, Matenadaran
OPENING REMARKS:
Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York, Co-Founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and Aurora Prize Selection Committee Member, will welcome guests and introduce the theme, “Migration: From Crisis to Integration” at the start of the Aurora Dialogues Day 2.
Session 1: The Aurora Humanitarian Index
Presenter: Dr. Hayk Gyuzalyan, Methods Director, Kantar Public
Moderator: Gareth Evans, President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group; Former Australian Foreign Minister
Panelists:
- Ibrahim Awad, Professor of Global Affairs and Director, Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, The American University in Cairo
- Sasha Chanoff, Founder and Executive Director, RefugePoint
- Hina Jilani, Former UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders
Session 2: Migration: From Crisis to Integration
Foreword: Salpi Ghazarian, Director, University of Southern California Institute of Armenian Studies
Moderator: Manuel Pastor, Director, University of Southern California Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration
Panelists:
- Pablo Ceriani Cernadas, Professor; Vice-Chair, United Nations Committee on Migrant Workers and Their Families
- Hovig Etyemezian, Head of UNHCR Mosul Office
- Sherri Kraham Talabany, President and Executive Director, SEED Foundation
- Ali Noorani, Executive Director, National Immigration Forum
- Lori Wilkinson, Professor; Director, Immigration Research West; Editor-in-Chief, Journal of International Migration and Integration
Session 3: The Role of Business
Moderator: Noubar Afeyan, Co-Founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative; CEO of Flagship Pioneering; scientific innovator and professional entrepreneur
Panelists:
- Ludwig Georg Braun, Prof. Dr. h.c., Chairman of the Supervisory Board of B. Braun Melsungen AG
- Paul Polman, Chief Executive Officer, Unilever
- Mark Viso, President & CEO, Pact
- Ernesto Zedillo, Former President of Mexico, Director, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
CLOSING REMARKS:
Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Co-Founder Ruben Vardanyan will deliver special remarks to close the Aurora Dialogues.
ADDITIONAL AURORA DIALOGUES PROGRAMMING
CONVERSATION WITH THE AURORA PRIZE FINALISTS - MAY 26, THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA
WELCOMING REMARKS
ARMEN DER KIUREGHIAN, President of American University of Armenia
INTRODUCTION
RUBEN VARDANYAN, Co-Founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative
MARGUERITE BARANKITSE, 2016 Aurora Prize Laureate
MODERATOR
DONALD E. MILLER, Leonard K. Firestone Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California and Co-Founder and Director of Strategic Initiatives of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California
PANELISTS
- FARTUUN ADAN AND ILWAD ELMAN, Founders of Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre, Somalia
- JAMILA AFGHANI, Chairperson of the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organization, Afghanistan
- DR. TOM CATENA, Physician at the Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan
- MUHAMMAD DARWISH, formerly treated patients at Madaya Field Hospital, Syria
- DR. DENIS MUKWEGE, Gynecological Surgeon and Founder of the Panzi Hospital, DR Congo
AURORA DIALOGUES: PUBLIC LECTURES IN YEREVAN
Distinguished academics and humanitarian leaders attending the events in Yerevan will deliver a series of public lectures on today’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. These lectures will be held at venues throughout the city of Yerevan.
- KONSTANTIN KHABENSKY – Actor, Founder of Konstantin Khabensky Foundation, Russia
- DR. TOM CATENA – Physician at the Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan and 2017 Aurora Prize Finalist
- ACHYUTA SAMANTA – Founder of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, India
- PROFESSOR THE LORD DARZI OF DENHAM OM KBE PC FRS – Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London
- HRATCH TCHILINGIRIAN – Associate member of the Faculty of Oriental Studies at University of Oxford, United Kingdom
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