Category Archives: Personal Empowerment

Earlier this month, India unveiled the Account Aggregator (AA) network with eight of Indias largest banks participating in the network marking the first step towards bringing open banking in India

The service of AA is available for both individuals and enterprises and any financial institution registered with RBI, SEBI, IRDA and PFRDA can be FIP or FIU

The ensuing status of this ecosystem will depend on several factors like participation of all the stakeholders, the security of the financial data, working of the consent architecture of the customers, different aspects of technology at the end of the Account Aggregators, etc

In todays time, we all deal with a number of financial service providers each one of them providing one or more services which makes it certainly inconvenient for the users to keep track of their finances since all the information cannot be provided at the same place and there is no framework for consolidation of all such financial information. With an aim to resolve this inconvenience, in 2016, the Reserve Bank of India had proposed setting up a framework for account aggregators. These Account Aggregators are expected to fill this gap by collecting data from, Financial Information Providers (FIP) that hold your personal financial data like banks and providing the information of customers financial assets in a consolidated, organized and retrievable manner to the customer or any other Financial Information Users (FIU) like lending agencies etc. Earlier this month, India unveiled the Account Aggregator (AA) network with eight of Indias largest banks participating in the network marking the first step towards bringing open banking in India.

The service of AA is available for both individual and enterprises and any financial institution registered with RBI, SEBI, IRDA and PFRDA can be FIP or FIU. The network also has technical service providers (TSPs) participating in the ecosystem who collaborate with other participants to deliver vide range of fintech products and services.

Sahamati is a self-organized Account Aggregator ecosystem collective that is facilitating the ecosystem and it prescribes standards, promotes interoperability, and prevents participants from engaging in anti-competitive behavior, as well as serves as a source of information for the AA ecosystem. The AA ecosystem is designed so that each FIP and FIU is enabled to work with every AA in the ecosystem network, rather than only with those with whom they have a bilateral agreement. Once any FIP/FIU is certified and added to the Central Registry, any approved AA can connect with them. Registering with AA network is not mandatory for all participants and the network allows complete unmasked information unlike other central registries.

Financial Information means information about all kinds of financial services availed by the user including all kinds of bank/ NBFC deposits, mutual funds, stocks, insurance policies etc. However, currently, only asset-based data is available and other data types shall be added over time.

Every aspect of the AA network will be consent driven. The consent architecture includes one consent artefact to authorize the AA to obtain information from the FIP and other artefact authorizes the FIU/Customer to request aggregated information from the AA. The customers shall also be provided an option to revoke consent to obtain information that is rendered accessible by a consent artefact, including the ability to revoke consent to obtain parts of such information.

Upon receipt of the request with consent and only after the verification of the consent is done, the financial information provider shall digitally sign the financial information and transmit the same to the Account Aggregator in a secure manner in real-time. The customers will also be able to view a dashboard and a list of consents given and revoked in the application to track the information shared with financial institutions.

The data being transmitted through the AA is encrypted by the sender and can be decrypted only by the recipient and AA cannot see the data, they merely take it from one financial institution to another based on an individuals direction and consent. Also, AAs are not allowed to store, process and sell the customers data. This is designed to ensure AAs do not have a conflict of interest when designing processes to obtain consent for access to user data. AAs arenotexpected to aggregate customers data and create detailed profiles however, an AA application, not the AA itself, will have access to the balances of your accounts. The decrypting of this happens on the device of the end customer and very basic analytics may be done on the users app/ device.

Further, in order to ensure greater security and protection of the information the Account Aggregators are prohibited from accessing user credentials, keeping or residing with itself the financial information of the customer accessed by it and indulging in activities such as supporting transactions by customers or undertaking any other business other than the business of account aggregator. This also seems to suggest that the Account Aggregators has no role to play in verifying or reconciling the correctness of the financial information retrieved and shared.

The AA network is primarily based on Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA) framework which is built on the premise that users have control over their data, which can be used for their empowerment.The framework for business of an Account Aggregator is designed to be entirely Information Technology (IT) driven and AAs are required to adhere to IT frameworkand interfaces to ensure secure data flows from the financial information providers to their own systems and onwards to the financial information users.The IT systems are also expected to have adequate safeguards to ensure they are protected against unauthorized access, alteration, destruction, disclosure or dissemination of records and data. The AAs shall be subjected to Information System Audit at least once in two years and report is to be submitted to the RBI.

The launch of the AA network has received a positive and welcoming response among the financial service providers especially the lending institutions and is being longed to bring in a revolution in the nature and form of the financial information sought and the manner in which it was shared to the lenders for processing a loan application. An applicant will now be able to share all his financial and transaction information required by a lending institution seamlessly through the AA which shall equip the lender with granular information and facilitate the lender to make quick and more informed decision. Being a completely technology driven network it will reduce the time taken by FIUs to access, verify and analyze the financial information. However, one hitch is that, to understand a customers credit behavior a lender is supposed to have all of the requisite information and since here the customer has the control and option to pick and choose the information he wants to be shared, the customer may avoid to sharing a particular crucial financial information that would impact the lenders decision or it may have to again resort for traditional mode of submission.

To conclude, at the framework and programmatic level, the system of Accounts Aggregators is prepared to achieve its dual goal, first to consolidate the financial information for users and vest with them full control over its information/ data which is being shared through the ecosystem customers and second to digitalize the way in which financial information is shared with financial institutions thereby facilitating real time sharing of information and speedier provision of financial services. The ensuing status of this ecosystem will depend on several factors like participation of all the stakeholders, the security of the financial data, working of the consent architecture of the customers, different aspects of technology at the end of the Account Aggregators, etc.

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Account Aggregation: Consent Driven Consolidation And Sharing Of All Financial Information Through One App ... - Inc42 Media

Someones Daughter, curated by Jennie Ricketts and presented with The View magazine, is a new photography exhibition highlighting how female prisoners are seen and understood, with the ultimate aim of reimagining the justice system. The show is appearing at Photo London alongside an online benefit auction hosted by Artsy.

By photographing women who have been stigmatised by the law, the courts and the media in the administration of justice, and displaying them alongside professionals working in the criminal justice space, the exhibition seeks to change how formerly incarcerated women are perceived and ultimately the way justice is served.

Lady Hale retired in January 2020 as president of the supreme court of the United Kingdom, the apex court for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

When I was in the court of appeal, we held that the human rights of children had to be taken into account in sentencing their parents. But does that happen? I congratulate the View for giving these women a voice helping us all to understand them and what has happened to them and how the system could do better by them if only the will were there.

Emily Duffy was given an eight-year prison sentence for conspiracy to supply class A drugs in 2015. She served four years of that sentence in prison and is on licence in the community for the remaining four years. Prior to this, she had never been in trouble with the police, had finished school with all her GCSEs at grades A to C, and then went on to college, where she obtained a BTec National Diploma. She grew up with a loving, supportive family and a close group of friends.

Carolina Mazzolari, an Italian artist based in London, has been collaborating with prisoners for more than five years. Her practice involves textile manipulation, printing, painting, photography, video and performance. Some of the prisoners she has worked with have become permanent remote workers within her studio, and although she cannot have live interactions with them, she feels they exchange craftsmanship and much more through the invisible channel of thought. From them, she has learned how important it is to have a thoughtful door open on to the outside world. It is powerful to suddenly have a voice when you think you cannot be heard.

Ivana Bacik grew up in in the suburbs of Dublin and lives in Portobello with her young family. She is a lawyer who has taught law for many years at Trinity College Dublin, and was recently elected to Irelands parliament for Dublin south. As a student activist, she was taken to court and threatened with prison for providing information on abortion in a case that paved the way for repeal of the eighth amendment and legalisation of abortion in Ireland. She was first elected to serve in 2007. An experienced legislator, she has seen more of her opposition bills become law than any other senator. Her reforming legislation has tackled issues such as working conditions for freelancers, secular marriage, womens health rights and LGBT equality.

Samantha Prescott received a nine-year prison sentence for drugs offences. She served four and a half years in prison and the remainder on licence in the community. She explains her experience: The irony was, it changed my life for the better! Sure, it was hard, and people thought the worst of me, they thought I was a snitch! I was even accused of sleeping with the officers which couldnt have been further from the truth.

I chose to rise above this and knew that I wanted to change my life and make it different for the better. So thats exactly what I did. I used my time to gain as many qualifications as I could and went on to receive a placement with an organisation where I was able to help others. It also brought me and my family closer and it changed my mindset.

I hope that someday I will be able to use what I went through to continue to help those who may find themselves in similar situations [to mine].

Bianca Jagger is a Council of Europe goodwill ambassador, founder and chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, member of the Executive Directors Leadership Council of Amnesty International US, and a trustee of the Amazon Charitable Trust.

Jen Reid is an activist at the forefront of the Black Lives Matter movement. After a bronze statue of Bristol-born merchant and slave trader Edward Colston was torn down by protesters and thrown in the nearby harbour, a statue by Marc Quinn was added to the empty plinth titled A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020. It depicts Jen raising her arm in a Black Power salute, and for a lot longer than the 24 hours it stood, raised conversations and maintained momentum for the BLM movement globally. Jen was the focus of a Channel 4 editorial piece alongside her husband, Al, who was also involved in the toppling of the Colston statue. Using her newfound platform, Jen is interested in exploring a range of themes including issues of race and ethnicity. Together with her husband, she launched the Bristol Eighteen a fundraising clothing company advocating for better teaching of Black history in schools across the UK.

Sue Wheatcroft comments on the journey that led her to prison and the reforms she would suggest from first-hand experience.

At the age of 18, I chased an abusive boyfriend into the street with a kitchen knife. After months of physical and mental abuse, I finally cracked. For this, I was given a conditional discharge. My next offence was 36 years later, when a kitchen knife was found in the back of my car. I kept it there so that I could cut up food for my seriously disabled wife when calling for a takeaway to eat in the car. For this, I was given a 12-month prison sentence.

The judge said that, because of my first offence, I had a propensity for knives, so I was dangerous. I also had a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and I believe this added to the judges sentencing decision I wasnt dangerous, I was ill.

So, how can the CJS be improved? Education, training, awareness of the disadvantages people face would be a good start, and the involvement of those with lived experiences in this, is imperative Perhaps we should stop putting all the blame on the system and concentrate on the providers, those who deal with those at risk.

Josie Bevan is a former prisoners wife and a campaigner for prison reform. She tells compelling, humorous and unexpected stories from prison, and is an award-winning writer, blogger and presenter. In a previous life, Josie was a film script reader and storyteller before retraining as a nutritionist. When her husband was sent to prison for nine years, she began to document her new world. Prison changed my life will be written on her tombstone.

Lady Edwina Grosvenor is a philanthropist passionate about prison reform. Since graduating in 2005 from Northumbria University, where she studied criminology and sociology, work has taken her across the UK and around the world, visiting different models of criminal justice and witnessing at first hand the best and worst examples of prison practice. From visiting children in Nepali prisons to people on death row in US high-security institutions, Edwina has made it her mission to act as a witness to prisons. For her, Theres always something profound to learn from visiting a prison anywhere on this earth. Edwina is the founder of One Small Thing, an organisation that aims to redesign the justice system for women and their children, educate on the impact of trauma, and push for a more compassionate approach.

Clare Barstow spent 27 years in prison for murder but maintained her innocence throughout. While serving her term, she set up six prison magazines and wrote plays that toured the country and were performed internationally. Since leaving prison, she has worked on several publications, spoken in prisons and at conferences about her experience, curated two art exhibitions and exhibited in others. She has also had three short plays performed and acted in several collaborations.

Mahogany L Browne is the executive director of JustMedia, a media literacy initiative designed to support the groundwork of criminal justice leaders and community members. This position is informed by her career as a writer, organiser and educator. Brownes latest project is a poetry collection responding to the impact of mass incarceration on women and children: I Remember Death by Its Proximity to What I Love.

Mary Margaret McCabe writes on topics in contemporary ethics and medicine. She has held teaching and advisory positions at a variety of educational institutions including at Cambridge University, Kings College London and University College London

The Someones Daughter project, for her, is rich in memory of her mother to whose model she aspires: As my mothers daughter, I learned the importance of listening to others and of seeing that everyone has something to say, and has a voice to be heard. She believed that everyone, no matter who, no matter where they are or what they have done, has a right to our respectful attention just because they are human beings. This does not mean we agree with what they think nor condone what they do, but it does mean that they count.

Karen Thomas spent 34 and a half years in prison, then landed in New York City, where she works as a residential aide in the Womens Prison Association shelter and helps other disfranchised women. She creates fabric wall hangings, called Yearnscapes, which have been exhibited, among others, in a solo show at the WOW cafe in New York Citys East Village.

Sara Kirkpatrick doesnt want to be grateful; she wants to be equal. She is the CEO of Welsh Womens Aid, a specialist practitioner working directly with perpetrators, a social work guest lecturer, refuge worker, outreach worker, probation service officer and charity trustee. For over 30 years I have worked to reduce the harms resulting from abuse challenged those who think it is legitimate to abuse. But the work keeps coming. Without social change, without a recognition that attitudes and values that legitimise the oppression of some for the benefit of others, nothing will truly change. We must go beyond repairing the damage, be bold about our expectations and demand change.

Kate Morrissey knows that leaving the past behind is harder than it sounds. In 2005, she was a heroin and crack addict and her life had spiralled into chaos. She was remanded in prison after the courts lost patience with her and her 33 criminal convictions. Since her release, Kate has worked hard to change her life she detoxed from drugs, went to university, and got a job. The aim of imprisonment is rehabilitation, but she found that even when she achieved it, the world wasnt ready to accept her. Every time she tried to move on, her past was brought up. Today, 16 years later, she is a senior manager in the NHS providing opportunities for people with lived experience of the criminal justice system to return to working in the NHS.

She is determined that women (and men) leaving prison today are given the opportunities to move on in their lives and to become part of civil society.

Prison and any other engagement with the criminal justice system should be an opportunity to truly turn lives around, not an opportunity to continue punishing individuals for the rest of their lives. When people do rehabilitate, they should be supported [and] given opportunities to move on with their lives. They are, after all, all Someones Daughter.

Shivalee Patel is an advocate and activist based in London. She has been seeking freedom in many forms for the last 10 years. Her activism spans veganism, Black Lives Matter advocacy and social justice. She studied environmental management and worked in a social justice charity that sought to free enslaved workers at the bottom of the textile supply chain. Her fight for freedom became an internal battle when she realised she had mental ill health due to toxic experiences and assault in childhood. Her ultimate goal is to help all human beings feel freedom and empowerment. Her journey continues and she will never stop dreaming of a world where freedom and personal empowerment is at the core of our communities.

Lady Helena Kennedy QC is one of the UKs most distinguished lawyers. She has practised at the bar for 40 years in the field of criminal law and has conducted many of the leading cases. She sits on Unescos high-level expert panel on media freedom. She has been a member of the House of Lords for more than 20 years, where she sat on the Joint Committee of Human Rights and chaired the European Union Justice Committee. She now sits on the Justice and Home Affairs Committee.

Whitney Clarke, a London-based admin and communications officer in the justice sector, is also an advisory board member for a social justice charity. Since she was 17, she has advocated for young people and campaigned for reform of the system for young people. Her passion for making a difference stemmed from her experience in foster care, multiple school exclusions and battles with mental ill health. She witnessed at first hand how these systems can fail young people and aims to foster change. She was imprisoned for more than 10 convictions and served time in 2018, which led her to vow to change her life. She recently became one of the co-chairs for Kings Health Partners for the Institute of Women and Childrens Health and has been appointed an advisory group member for the World Congress for Justice with Children.

Bidisha is a journalist, broadcaster and artist working in film and photography. Her latest publication is an essay called The Future of Serious Art and her latest film series, Aurora, launched in 2020. Bidisha specialises in international human rights, social justice and the arts and offers political analysis, arts critique and cultural diplomacy tying these interests together.

Right Rev Rachel Treweek, the Bishop of Gloucester, says: On the day of my announcement as bishop of Gloucester in March 2015, I visited HMP Eastwood Park, and not long after that I encountered the work of the Womens Centre in Gloucester run by the Nelson Trust. Im honoured to say that I am now their president.

We know that the majority of female offenders have experienced some sort of abuse, and about one-third spent time in local authority care as a child. Prison is often not the most appropriate or effective place for these issues to be addressed, particularly when children are separated from mothers, homes are lost, and repeat offending and short sentences do nothing for the wellbeing of local communities.

Over the past six years I have sought to campaign against the vast majority of female offenders being given a prison sentence, and I have been an advocate of properly funded womens centres and community provision which provides holistic, trauma-informed rehabilitation.

Caitlin Davies is a London-born novelist, nonfiction writer and journalist. She is the author of Bad Girls: A History of Rebels and Renegades, the first full history of Holloway prison, Europes most infamous female jail. She was the only journalist granted access to Holloways archives when the prison closed in 2016. Caitlin started her career as a human rights reporter and newspaper editor in Botswana, during which she was twice arrested and put on trial. She was a founding member and trustee of Women Against Rape in Maun. Bad Girls explores how prison has been used to control, silence, and punish women for more than 150 years, and was nominated for the Orwell prize for political writing.

Chasjit Verma was born in Bradford on 27 March 1979.I went to India to stay with my nan shortly after birth as my mum was unwell, but returned to the UK after the birth of my sibling. I had a very happy colourful childhood full of laughter and love. We were taught how to be respectful and have empathy from a young age'; I am grateful for those qualities as they have got me through my life so far.

I fell in love with my childhood sweetheart and dedicated my life to him and gave birth to two amazing children. Even though we are no longer together, the children were our driving force though the hard times we have faced. I always aim to look at life with a positive perspective and believe everything happens for a reason, so I try to enjoy the ride called life.

Nikki Durkan is an actor who has worked with Clean Break, a womens theatre company which helps women in prison. Through theatre workshops and mental health support workshops, in prisons and the wider community, Clean Break works to support and stand by women who have been failed by the criminal justice system.

In March 2020, she set up a food bank in east London during lockdownserving the east London area, which she hopes to expand in the near future. She said: Getting stuck in the criminal justice system is a cycle destined to repeat, but it needs to be broken. The View magazine is working to make sure this cycle is broken. Their work is incredibly important and Im very grateful to be involved.

Acclaimed actor Harriet Walter has a rich body of work spanning film, theatre and television, and is a patron of the Clean Break theatre company.

Theatre is the opposite of prison. It focuses on the individual, whereas prison tries to eliminate individuality. Theatre allows all of us to speak and be heard. Prison tries to silence us. Theatre is about imagining yourself into someone elses shoes. It promotes empathy and I was surprised to find that quality had been kept alive among many female prisoners despite their circumstances.

Imprisoning women does more damage to the family around them than does imprisoning men. It is still the case that women are the main care-givers in the family, and when they go to prison, the entire family structure suffers.

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'It is powerful to suddenly have a voice': reframing women in criminal justice - The Guardian

Film festivals often present such a hodgepodge of stories that the perception of a common thread is usually a short-lived illusion, but several premieres in Venice and Telluride reflect a world faced to confront its mortality. Movies made over the last 18 months demonstrate acute personal qualities that bear the undeniable stamp of the pandemic.

In Paolo Sorrentinos compassionate coming-of-age drama The Hand of God, the director delivers a tender ode to his traumatic teen years, when the sudden death of his parents forced him to sort out his place in a cruel universe. The movie reads as a biographical justification for the movies hes made throughout his career and provides an excuse to revisit them in a new light.

Sorrentinos sudden orphanhood influenced his decision to become a filmmaker, yet even the swooning collection of colorful Italian creatives in his Oscar-winning The Great Beauty seemed to dance around his own connection to his stories. The Hand of God refashions Sorrentinos Felliniesque opulence as a more intimate device to show how even the pretty surfaces at the center of his filmmaking come from a place of profound desire to take charge of his tumultuous existence by owning every frame.

Gianni Fiorito

That same logic applies to Kenneth Branagh, whose black-and-white Belfast finds the prolific commercial director returning to his roots in similarly explicit terms. In this case, Branagh reenacts his memories of the Troubles in Northern Ireland through the fictionalized memories of an eight-year-old boy who serves as his stand-in. Framed from the perspective of young Buddy (Jude Hill), Belfast finds him holed up with his parents (Jamie Dornan and Caitrona Balfe) as he discovers escapism at the movies while witnessing the mounting showdown between Irish Catholics and Protestants in protracted moments.

Branagh pulls from the same playbook as Sorrentino by using film language to evoke the desire for a young mind to make sense of the world. Even a slightly on-the-nose use of High Noon as a metaphor for the circumstances surrounding the town, where the community must take sides after outside forces wall them in, feels like an earnest attempt by a veteran director to explain how he got here. The public views movies as entertainment, but for these filmmakers theyre also a lifeline that make sense of a society in constant threat of collapse.

Belfast and The Hand of God would pair nicely on a triple bill with Pedro Almdovars powerful Parallel Mothers, which opened Venice with the Spanish auteur confronting a key aspect of his national identity heretofore unseen in his nearly 50-year career. On its surface, this vibrant and evocative melodrama plays a familiar game: Penelope Cruz embodies the profound conflict of a single parent uncertain about whether the child she brings home from the hospital is the right one, while she develops an ambitious relationship with the younger mom (newcomer Aitana Snchez-Gijon) she meets at the hospital.

Parallel Mothers then deepens its thematic focus to encompass the ghosts of the Spanish Civil War and their reverberation across multiple generations, despite those who would prefer to pretend it never happened. Cruzs Janis (named for Joplin) is eager to unearth the graves of relatives who vanished as Francisco Franco came to power. As that ambition gradually overtakes the plot, Parallel Mothers evolves into a trenchant metaphor for the desire to maintain a connection with the past no matter how easily it can fade into foggy uncertainty.

Eventually, that impulse takes on explicit form with a visit to the scene of the crime in the countryside, marking one of the first times that Almodovar (whose early post-Franco features in the La Movida Madrilea movement fixated on post-Franco freedom of expressions) confronts the ugliness of his countrys history through the same passionate, introspective style that he directed toward probing his creative crisis in Pain and Glory. As with The Hand of God and Belfast, theres an obvious implication in play here: History is personal no matter who bears witness to it.

For Almdovar to create a drama in the midst of the pandemic that actually deals with exhuming the bodies of a violent past a past hovering on the sidelines, if visible at all, in his earlier work registers as the ultimate recognition of personal responsibility catalyzed by current events. In other words: If not now, when?

And OK, perhaps that triple bill could use more company. Film essayist Mark Cousins usually positions himself as a background player in poetic odes to the power of cinema, most notably with his multi-part The Story of Film series (the most recent installment, The Next Generation, premiered earlier this year at Cannes). Yet The Story of Looking takes the same trenchant approach that Cousins brings to the process of viewing movies and turns it on himself.

Set one day before he receives eye surgery that could ruin his sight, The Story of Looking finds the sensitive Cousins musing on his relationship to powerful images throughout his life, while spending much of the day lying in bed, afraid to confront the outside world. The result oscillates from the discursive, soul-searching patterns of a Jonas Mekas diary film and the worlds most personable Ted Talk, as Cousins discusses what it has meant for humanity to appreciate beauty across thousands of years. The survey goes from Renaissance paintings to selfies (which Cousins brilliantly connects to artists self-portraits in pre-digital eras). Cinema looms large throughout, though Cousins positions it as a fragment in the much longer (and older) impulse to appreciate the visual world in all of its intricacies.

Not explicitly a pandemic movie, The Story of Looking plays like a poignant ode to confronting the fear of losing touch with the world and the empowerment that can come from simply learning to appreciate it. By the end, Cousins takes the risky move of imagining his future, years down the line, and realizing that his desire to keep looking at the world remains the only constant. He attempts to recall the word to describe a bit of seaweed he recorded drifting in a pond. I cant remember the word, he says, but I can see it. The poignance of that sentiment is one that many filmmakers explore through their work, and it seems unlikely theyll take it for granted anytime soon.

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From Pedro Almodovar to Paolo Sorrentino, the Pandemic Is Creating Personal Filmmakers - IndieWire

A number of Africas seaweed producers are among those expected to post substantial seaweed market growth as global pressure mounts on governments to increase seafood production, reduce global warming, and restore overexploited marine fisheries to sustainable levels.

Growingdemand for the vitamins and minerals found in seaweed, primarily for use in the manufacture of food, healthcare, and personal care products, is a key driver in the expansion of the commercial seaweed market,according to a 360 Market Research report.

The market for commercial seaweed is witnessing substantial growth prospective, the report says.

Although the report highlights the market trends in South Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt, Africas seaweed production is largely concentrated in Tanzania, Morocco, and Madagascar, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO). Tanzania and Madagascar are among the top aquaculture producers on the continent of the Kappaphycus/Eucheuma seaweed species, despite disease having depressed production in Tanzania specifically on the island of Zanzibar forcing farmers to resort to the lower-valued Eucheuma denticulatum, according to the FAO.

Even taking into account the top producers, Africas share of global seaweed production remains less than 1 percent. However, Africas seaweed production levels are expected to increase after The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in partnership with local suppliers, government partners, universities, and U.S. company Cargill launched a new seaweed farming community empowerment and environmental training program for seaweed farmers through its new sustainability initiative the Red Seaweed Promise in Tanzanias islands of Zanzibar and Pemba.

Some of the specific areas the partnership is focusing on include trainings in better environmental management practices, smart seaweed farm siting, and improved maintenance and farm design.

The Nature Conservancy said Tanzania is where a large share of the seaweed produced is dried, and sold for use as carrageenan or agar thickening agents that are used in food products, such as ice cream and cosmetics, has huge potential to produce tropical seaweeds that could address demand of other other key societal needs - including sustainable animal feeds, biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals.

However, Africas seaweed producers continue to face market growth hurdles including the inadequate understanding and awareness on the use of seaweed in human nutrition, the FAO said. For seaweed to become a key nutritional component especially in low producing regions such as Africa, FAO recommends a concerted effort by stakeholders and experts in policy, business, and scientific communities to make seaweeds acceptable, available, and affordable.

Photo courtesy of The Nature Conservancy

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Surge in seaweed demand to drive growth of Africa's market - SeafoodSource

Article by: Professor Stephen Wyatt - Corporate Rebirth | Published: 5 September 2021

Professor Stephen Wyatt - Corporate Rebirth3 September 2021

In 2015 the World Economic Forum (WEF) seized on the phrase the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). 4IR is enabled by the adoption of new technologies (for example, Biotech, Nano, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotics, etc.). However, it also presents the opportunity to address societal inequalities, tackle issues of sustainability and create a more human-centered future. It is driving fundamental changes in the context and speed of business and what businesses need to do to thrive.

The war for talent is over nobody won! The race is on. WEF 2020 Future of Jobs Report estimates that in the 5 years to 2025, 85 million existing jobs will have been displaced whilst 97 million new roles will emerge that are more adapted to the new division of labour between humans, machines and algorithms. The mindset of the war for talent assumed that there was an existing, if limited talent pool that companies had to fight over. The speed and scale of workplace changes being driven by 4IR far exceeds potential supply from traditional executive training and higher education sources; reskilling and upskilling, within the flow of work, are required at scale. The war for talent has been supplanted by the race to develop 4IR talent.

Race to develop 4IR talentEmployers expect to offer reskilling or upskilling to just over 70% of their employees by 2025; it is seen as an imperative for survival as businesses transform in 4IR. Investments at this scale must deliver a clearly identifiable return; increasingly the metric for training & development effectiveness is behaviour change on-the-job, measurably increasing individual or team productivity. Two-thirds of employers expect to achieve a positive return on their development training investment within one year. Development training at this scale is being designed to minimise disruption, both for the employee and for the employer; increasingly just-in-time-learning (or learning in-the-flow-of-work) is being adopted. Whereby training support is available on-demand as the employee faces a situation that they have not encountered before; much as at home we might go to Youtube for guidance on fixing the dishwasher at the moment we notice water flooding onto the floor. Training delivery is being crafted in such a way that the employee resolves the workplace issue during the training, not after. Such training applies to technical skills as well as collaboration and managerial skills. 94% of business leaders report that they expect employees to pick up new skills in-the-flow-of-work.

1: Nothing Changes Unless Behaviour ChangesWinning the race to develop 4IR talent requires designing learning pathways that are highly effective in achieving the behaviour change outcomes desired for the specific personnel being trained. Solutions need to take a holistic view of how to achieve that outcome and then assemble the most appropriate combination of media, platforms, content and formats.

Achieving behaviour change in adults requires simultaneously working in four domains:

Personal motivation of the learner is crucial to attaining a return on investment in training. It usually is high when individuals seek out development opportunities, especially if they are willing to self-finance. However, is often under developed for employees in mandated corporate programmes.

The importance, rate and scale of reskilling required by 4IR compels many companies to rethink their approaches to and investments in talent development. Learner-centric approaches are required whereby individuals engage in the ways that are most impactful for them with a suite of formats and media options, at a rate that suits them. To achieve the performance impact desired it is essential to address the four domains of behaviour change (1) Motivation, (2) Knowledge Acquisition, (3) Application on-the-job, (4) Support and Empowerment. AI will increasingly help the individual learners to define the most suitable pathways for them through the content and how to build strength in the four domains. In 4IR talent development is a strategic activity for the corporation. As such, the Chief People Officer will be increasingly supported by AI to inform ongoing talent development investments and content design as well as increasingly drawing on external expertise for diverse frontier subject knowledge and the design and curation of learning pathways. The increasing adoption of just-in-time learning combined with more fluid resource deployment will further merge the functions of role (job or project) assignment and individual learning; creating a more integrated approach to talent development.

Stephen Wyatt is the author of Management & Leadership in the 4th Industrial Revolution (Kogan Page)

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Oxfam in Iraq is currently implementing a Women and Girls Rebuilding Iraq project funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC). The project contributes to the development of policy, decision-making mechanisms and peacebuilding processes at all levels to ensure that women and girls play a significant role in shaping the new rehabilitation and development agenda. It engages women and girls in two governorates, Kirkuk and Diyala, which have long suffered from protracted conflict and now face the reintegration of different war-affected groups. An added value of this initiative is the community awareness-raising component, which is aimed at ensuring the engagement of community members, especially men, in order to push boundaries and challenge the accepted social norms and cultural beliefs that constrain women and girls participation in policy-shaping, decision-making, and peacebuilding.

Between November 15, 2020 and January 25, 2021, a team of experts from Gender.consulting with support from Oxfam and its local partners Iraqi Al Amal Association (IAA) and Youth Activity Organization (YAO) conducted a study on the social norms surrounding masculinities, gender roles, and stereotypes in order to identify the common misconceptions held by men and boys about women and girls empowerment. In addition, an awareness-raising, context-specific edutainment toolkit by and for men and boys was developed.

This toolkit was piloted during an induction workshop for male role models that took place between January 19 21, 2021 in Sulaymaniyah with 24 participants (21 men and 3 women) from 10 communities in Kirkuk and Diyala. To inform the implementation of this workshop, a study using largely qualitative research methodology captured information from 117 community respondents and Oxfam project participants (59% men and 41% women) through focus group discussions (FGDs) and selected key informant interviews (KIIs). Complementary information was collected from Oxfam and implementing partner staff through an online survey.

The study sought answers and insights for the following questions:

a. What are the prevalent masculinities and femininities in the Iraqi context, particularly in Diyala and Kirkuk, and what are the respective social norms associated with them?

b. How do the norms and stereotypes about masculinities and femininities affect the daily lives of women and girls in the private and public spheres, and in particular, how do they affect women and girls participation in decision making?

c. How do norms and stereotypes that reproduce harmful masculinities sustain gender inequalities and intersect with other social inequalities, such as age, religion, sect, and disability?

d. How can a shift from negative to positive masculinities materialize in Diyala and Kirkuk, and how do conceptions and practices of power need to be adapted?

e. How can male role models promote positive masculinities to advance gender equality?

The main findings were:

In Diyala and Kirkuk, the idea that men should make decisions and hold positions of authority and leadership has been normalized at both the household and community levels. This is a historical pattern that is visible through prevalent expressions of mens entitlement and male privilege. This hegemonic and context-specific pattern of domination is maintained through intertwined ideas of male superiority and female subordination that are translated through tribal, religious, and everyday attitudes, practices, and behaviors that present these gender arrangements as normal.

The most stigmatized and rejected masculine traits are those that run counter to custom and cultural norms. For example, allowing women to control men, treating your wife equally, or depending entirely on your wifes salary are considered unmanly practices. When men fail to comply with the established norms for authority, they are ridiculed, made fun of, and disrespected by other men and women. Consequently, men and women in households and larger kinship structures as well as at the community level actively participate in stigmatizing and rejecting men who do not comply with accepted gender norms. There are no notable differences between Diyala and Kirkuk governorates in this regard.

Constructions of idealized femininities center on the role of women as dedicated mothers and good wives. To be considered respectable, women are expected to demonstrate the values of loyalty and dedication. Women are subjected to reputational damage and become undesirable in society and their families when they fail to live up to gendered norms of femininity.

While both women and men face costs for transgressing established gender norms, the consequences are more severe for women. Women of all ages are disproportionately controlled and sanctioned, compared with their male peers.

Gender norms are linked to tradition and are considered a source of stability. Consequently, study participants describe them as set in stone or unchanging. However, decades of armed conflict compounded by multiple humanitarian crises, complex dynamics between displaced peoples, remainees, and returnees, exposure to programs by international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), and capacity building, awareness-raising, and community engagement sessions have generated a certain disposition for change, particularly among the younger generation.

Several different factors account for changing attitudes about gender roles and norms, including inter-generational shifts, changes related to modernization, urbanization, and technological advances, and external factors such as the occupation by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the role of INGOs, and the influence of new information and communication technologies, TV, the internet, and mass media.

To understand how gender norms and prevalent attitudes undermine the active engagement of women at the community level, a series of intertwined elements need to be addressed.

The rigid division of labor by gender, which places women and men into different roles and links women to domestic responsibilities, thus acting as one of the major constraints on womens empowerment in the public and private spheres.

The multiple ways in which men control womens lives, whether this is done by individual men asserting dominance or imposed by tribal or religious tradition.

Attitudes around womens contributions, including stereotypes and assumptions that belittle womens roles, trivialize their contributions, and undermine their voices, thereby undermining womens active engagement in community affairs.

Violence against women, including domestic and intra-partner violence, which, in addition to early marriage, are among the most significant constraints for women and girls in the private sphere.

Depression caused by the pressures of everyday life and societal expectations, which was commonly reported by study participants.

Gossip and peer pressure related to women being active outside the home, which effectively constrain womens activities in the public sphere.

Tribal and religious traditions that justify mens control over women and restrict womens involvement at the community level.

Attitudes about women and sex that result in a vicious circle wherein women within the household need to be protected, while preying on women outside the home is seen as permissible.

Therefore, overcoming the barriers to womens participation involves different strategies such as engaging tribal authorities, generating awareness among communities, and acknowledging womens contributions.

In order to advance mens engagement, Oxfam needs to plan and implement a scalable outreach program that involves building a nucleus of dedicated male role models while safeguarding women from any possible backlash.

Efforts toward change need to be holistic and multidimensional, addressing the internal level (personal beliefs and attitudes), the interpersonal level (the practices and behaviors of individuals within interpersonal relationships), the institutional level (institutional policies, practices, and cultures), and the ideological level (social norms and belief systems).

Due to the dynamic nature of social change, capacity building for male role models should be done using a flexible approach that views their personal and collective change as a journey. To stimulate personal transformation toward a more gender-equitable perspective, it is important that this journey:

fosters critical consciousness building, ongoing self-reflection and self-critique;

challenges privileges and the status quo;

encourages reflection upon injustice in connection with personal life experiences of power imbalances and inequality;

fosters activism within each role model; and

plants the seeds of hope, potential, and possibility while inspiring positive change.

A training-of-trainers method is recommended, as one part of an ambitious and holistic outreach approach advancing transformative change through changes in attitudes, practices, and behaviors at the different levels.

This holistic outreach approach needs to be strategically aligned and synchronized with other gender-transformative projects implemented by Oxfam in Iraq.

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Social Norms Structuring Masculinities, Gender Roles, and Stereotypes: Iraqi men and boys' common misconceptions about women and girls' participation...

High Performance Mentor, Kripa Khatri is helping Entrepreneurs and Senior Executives to succeed through clarity and confidence to get consistent results in their business and life

Have you ever been stuck? Overwhelmed? Not knowing what your next move should be with the hamster going on overdrive? You ask yourself if youre doing it right but there seems to be no one to guide you, you feel lost and lonely. Well, not anymore! Pooling together her expertise of over 20 years in business, working for Billion Dollar Companies in senior executive roles, qualifications in Accounting and Financial Management, Trainer of Neuro Linguistic Programming and Hypnosis, Kripa Khatri is a High-Performance Business and Life Mentor and is well known for helping her clients get results through strategy and mindset mastery.

Kripa Khatri is a former senior executive who has over 20 years of experience working for Billion Dollar companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and Top Fortune 500 Companies in leadership roles. More recently, appointed as the Chair for the Victoria Chapter with the Institute of Internal Auditors in Australia. Kripa is passionate about womens empowerment and leadership and sees it as her role to lead first. She wears many hats from being on Board Committees to being a CEO and running her Coaching and Mentoring business.

It is Kripas personal experience that sets her apart from the stock. Kripa said she has had coaches and mentors all her life, but it all started in 2006 when she found herself homeless with $0 in the bank after a failed arranged marriage with no family or friends in Melbourne. The only thing she had back then was a job, it was this very experience that led her to coaching and mentoring. The trauma, guilt, and shame overlayed with financial stress was something she had to navigate firsthand in a foreign country. Kripa said that, while it wasnt easy, it was the best thing that happened to her. According to Kripa, she is her first and best client as she has implemented the strategies in her own life and business which has made her so relatable to clients from all over the world.

Kripa refers to herself as a High-Performance Business and Life Mentor and works primarily with Executives and Entrepreneurs. In her opinion, business is a subset of life. Her observation working with clients has been that what was happening at work or in business often had an impact on the quality of their lives. She said this was particularly common for Senior Executives, Entrepreneurs, and Business Owners where often resolving problems in one area resulted in improvements in other areas of their lives. Having worked in senior executive roles in corporate herself, Kripa said she is well aware of the impact one can have on the other.

With a proven track record of over 20 years in business as a qualified Accounting and Financial Management professional coupled with her qualifications in Neuro Linguistic Programming and Hypnosis, Kripas mission is to empower 5M women to be seen + heard through authentic self-expression and she does that through her world-class coaching, mentoring and training programs.

Highly motivated and skilled, regardless of the problem she can provide a customized solution to help her clients achieve their desired outcomes. She said her primary focus is to get results for her clients, whether it is to do with their life or business.

Media ContactCompany Name: Kripa Khatri Pty LimitedContact Person: Kripa KhatriEmail: Send EmailCity: MelbourneCountry: AustraliaWebsite: https://www.facebook.com/kripa.khatri

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The Mexican actress, Carmen Please, famous for her character Rutila Casillas in The Lord of the heavensHas revealed few known details of his private life. In a recent interview with Gente, the interpreter talks about what it means to her to be a mother, the machismo in the environment where she works, the intervention she had for a mastectomy and about her new challenge in front of the cameras as a television host.

The television star began his professional career in MTV teen fiction, Girls of Evil (2010-2013). Here he shared roles with Isabel Burr and Carlos Torres. In addition to his foray into the successful Telemundo series, he has also worked in other Mexican productions such as El Chema O Forbidden passion.

Aub, who is the daughter of the famous journalist Max Aub, will have to carry out a new challenge, because on September 28 she will debut in With Carmen, program that will be broadcast under the signal of E! Entertainment. In this space, topics such as female empowerment and testimonies about how her life has changed in the sense of overcoming various stereotypes will be discussed.

Despite what many may believe, Carmen Aub does not close the doors to becoming a mother. Although of course, for this you must first meet the right person and for now he only takes care of his puppy.

Yes I want to be a mother. For now I am the mother of my puppy (laughs) But if your time comes and the right person comes, I would love to. I believe that the processes are very personal for people who decide to be mothers. Those who decide not to be, those who want to adopt, those who think about freezing their eggs everything is valid as long as it is their own decision , stated the artist.

I personally dont want to freeze my eggs because If I am a mother, I would not like to be a very big one. There is nothing wrong with it, I have friends who were mothers at 40 and are happy. If I become a mother it has to be in the near future, no, not so close either. But the truth is that I like this roll that women have the control to decide about our body and what we want , he added to People.

Carmen Aub prefers not to give a profile of a man with whom she would like to share her life. She goes more to be clear about what things she does not intend to negotiate in a relationship and, of course, without imposing things on her, because she always tries to love someone unconditionally.

I describe myself as a good girlfriend, thoughtful, one of those who like to be there for people. If you ask me what is needed, the truth is that before, you know, I said love me and have a good sense of humor and now I think that more than making the list of what you are looking for, you have to know what you are not going to to endure. We always know that there are things that we will not like and that we will have to work on. I think it is more important to be attentive to what I am not going to bear and what is never going to be negotiated. To keep an eye on the red flags and not waste your time , expressed the actress of The Lord of the Skies.

The actress notes that her character from Rutila Casillas in The Lord of the Skies It opened many doors for her and was the one that allowed her to become known internationally. It also helped her grow as an actress and as a person, since she was surrounded by great actors, from whom she learned a lot.

It also helped the public to see me grow, something that was very important to me. Because when you start playing chavitas characters, as I did in Bad Girls, on MTV, you say, How do you go about showing yourself as a woman and being taken seriously? She gave me the opportunity to be the sweet or cute girl that she was but also had her character. I was also able to show that I am rude and that I also have all this other side. Rutila gave me many things and for me closing that cycle after seven years was enormous and it cost me a lot of work. But I am very excited about what is coming now , highlights the Mexican in People.

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Carmen Aub: what does the Lord of the Skies actress think about becoming a mother MAG. - Market Research Telecast

Philippa Moig.

AdNews, in partnership with the MFA (Media Federation of Australia), presents a series of articles from members of the MFA'sDiversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council.The body promotes the MFAs ambition to build a diverse, equitable and inclusive industry:

Philippa Moig, Business Director, OMD Australia

I loved witnessing Kim Hamilton being promoted to MD while she was still on parental leave! These are bold, supportive actions that say we support you, and we arent afraid to lead the charge in creating equal opportunity.

What motivates you to advocate in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion?

I am a firm believer that unless you can see it, you cant be it, and history has taught us this lesson well. There are still far too many people in Australia who cant see themselves reflected back in society.

What drew me to the MFA Advisory Council was the emphasis on representation and inclusion, and the positive impact this can have on our colleagues, friends, networks and broader communities. Imagine the power of everyone in our industry feeling a deep enough sense of belonging to bring their authentic and amazing whole selves to work every day!

Together, we can be the #1 changemaking industry that creates a more inclusive Australia, and one that better reflects all of our people. I feel passionately about our industry paving the way for a stronger future for everyone, regardless of where they work.

We can create this together through great policies and initiatives, but also through our daily decision-making. Who are the faces and people that front our marketing campaigns? Will my recruitment strategy attract diverse talent? Is our pitch casting representative? Are we telling the right stories?

One of the MFAs aims is for the DE&I Advisory Council to highlight simple actions individuals and companies can take to encourage and promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Can you share a positive example of an interaction with colleagues or clients during which you felt seen and included?

What types of actions help and support people?

We all feel seen when the people we work with take a genuine interest in who we are as people, understand what drives us, and what we are most passionate about.

When we take the time to connect with someone, especially as leaders, we are significantly better placed to create the right opportunities to help that person thrive and grow personally and professionally.

On a personal level, Ive never experienced such a sense of belonging, empowerment, and support to be my best and whole self, as I do at OMD. Ive been extended personal and professional support, leadership opportunities, and financial backing for personal coaching. OMD has been an instrumental shift for me. I no longer feel torn when a personal crisis arises. Its completely acceptable that my family comes first. This is something equally valued and emulated by all OMDers.

Im excited to work in a business radiating strong female leadership. Locally, we have two amazing MDs who happen to be women, powerhouse leaders, and mums. I loved witnessing Kim Hamilton being promoted to MD while she was still on parental leave! These are bold, supportive actions that say we support you, and we arent afraid to lead the charge in creating equal opportunity.

Marrying a Wiradjuri man has given me the opportunity to better understand Australias complex, beautiful and largely untold history. I am continuously in awe of our First Peoples resilience and their enduring deep connection to country and culture. Living in, and on a country that has a 60,000-year-old story provides our industry a plethora of opportunities to learn from Indigenous Australians socially, culturally and environmentally.

Through OMD connecting with me as a person, I have been able to play an active role in the areas I am most passionate about. It has opened up doors for me to work with the OMG RAP committee, to engage Indigenous changemakers and help raise the level of awareness and education around the significance of Indigenous Australia.

Investing in our people on a personal level builds a sense of belonging and inclusion. This is particularly important when it comes to DE&I. The fact of the matter is we arent always going to get it right, all of the time. However, if our people feel safe to contribute to the conversation and are encouraged to participate, the foundations are set for us to always be learning, improving and driving momentum and action in this space.

How would greater diversity and inclusion impact our industry?

Greater inclusion within the media and marketing space will drive deeper diversity of thought, increase creativity,and enrich our perspectives on what we are solving for and how we best go about that.

In our industry, we are all storytellers of sorts, and that is a powerful and privileged position to hold. We have the capability to better reflect all parts of Australian society, at scale. Diversity is shown in the stories we choose to surface, who produces those stories, who is cast in the stories, and the platforms the stories live on. (Youll often find my family watching NITV or SBS. I absolutely love the content, characters, and sense of community this network has been able to build.)

Bringing diversity and inclusion to the forefront of our conversations, workplaces and decision-making will break down lingering barriers, and help us build stronger workplaces that better represent people of all ages, genders, physical ability, cultural backgrounds, First Nations peoples, and the LGBTQI+ community.

There is a tangible benefit to our industry in deepening the sense of belonging and inclusion. Diversifying the talent in our industry will surface new perspectives, enhance creativity, foster innovation, and ultimately create a better understanding of our customers and help us connect in more meaningful ways.

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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - Be the changemakers creating a more inclusive Australia - AdNews

Sep 06, 2021 1:09 PMET

Legal Newswire POWERED BY LAW.COM

Evelyn Crane-Oliver, senior vice president and general counsel for global talent solutions firm Robert Half, has been recognized byCorporate Counselas part of its2021 Women, Influence and Power in Law Awards. Crane-Oliver was named to the list of winners in the "Innovative Leadership" category for in-house counsel.

The awards honor general counsel, in-house leaders and law firm partners who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the empowerment of women in law. The winners were chosen in part for their personal dedication to the promotion of diversity in the legal industry.

"Innovation and leadership are at the core of our company culture,"said M.Keith Waddell, president and CEO ofRobert Half. "This award is not only a testament to Evelyn as a company leader, but also as a champion for women in the field of law and her commitment to building an inclusive workforce."

Women Influence & Power in Law (WIPL) is the original global forum facilitating women-to-women exchange on leadership and legal issues.

AboutRobert HalfRobert Halfis the world's first and largest specialized talent solutions firm that connects opportunities at great companies with highly skilled job seekers.Robert Halfoffers contract and permanent placement solutions, and is the parent company of Protiviti, a global consulting firm. Visitroberthalf.com.

URL : http://www.roberthalf.com

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