This event is the first in the 2021 Speakers Series co-hosted by the United Nations Association in Canada & Balsillie School of International Affairs.
The 2021 Speakers Series
These sessions will bring government policy makers, parliamentarians, local authorities, think tanks, civil society organizations, young scholars, specialist law firms and other stakeholders to hear from leading thinkers and actors. Discussing those key emergent pressing issues will encourage Canadian youth to continue advancing solutions to shared global issues; identify and have safe spaces to embrace emergent ideas. Throughout the sessions, the Canadian youth will learn more about perspectives of panelists from diverse sectors and have an opportunity to interact and receive answers to their questions.
For the first session, the panelists will discuss elements related to the Road Map to Digital Cooperation. Referring to the June 2020 Report of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, they will discuss how the digital era has brought society many incredible benefits as well as challenges, and the impact they have on national and international communities.
Report of the Secretary-General: Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, June 2020
About the speakers
Robert Fay, Managing Director of Digital Economy, CIGI
Maura Grossman, Research Professor, School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo
Elvis M. Kenmoe, Regional Advisor for Communications and Information, UNESCO Regional Office, West Africa and Sahel
Mark Schaan, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategy and Innovation Policy Sector, Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Co-hosted by Ann Fitz-Gerald, Director, BSIA and Sarah Kambites, President & CEO, UNAC
Background
The United Nations Association in Canada (UNA-Canada) is an historic national civil society organization and registered charity with the mandate to educate and engage citizens on the work of the United Nations and global issues that affect us all. Established in 1946, UNA-Canada was a founding member of the World Federation of United Nations Associations, and today holds an elected Vice Presidency representing global civil society. The Association invests across generations, bringing empathy-based educational resources on health, citizen education, diversity, peace and the environment to both the best and the brightest and to most marginalized youth within Canada and in the world’s poorest countries. As the leading policy voice on multilateralism in Canada, our work is framed by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the UN to guide the international community until 2030. UNA-Canada’s programmes celebrate diversity, empathy-based learning and solution-seeking opportunities on shared challenges. UNA-Canada has a country-wide network of volunteer-based Branches and innovative signature programming dedicated to promoting constructive participation in the United Nations and elevating the principles of the UN Charter.
The Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) is an institute for advanced research, education, and outreach in the fields of global governance and international public policy. As a hub in a global network of scholars, practitioners and students, our mission is to develop new solutions to humanity’s critical problems, to improve global governance now and in the future, and to contribute to enhancing the quality of people’s lives around the world. Founded in 2007 by philanthropist Jim Balsillie, BSIA is an equal collaboration among the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), the University of Waterloo (UW), and Wilfrid Laurier University (Laurier). The collaborating institutions bring to BSIA different but complementary strengths, so they have different roles and responsibilities. The two universities employ BSIA faculty and offer BSIA’s academic programs, while CIGI, as a think tank, uses its in-house expertise and its worldwide network of practitioners to help inform and guide BSIA’s outreach and collaborative research.
