Earlier in the week I posted a few photos I took of the SIPA graduation ceremony with my phone.  This is the follow up post I promised now that our media team has had some time to publish information for distribution.  The entire ceremony was captured and can be viewed by clicking here.

Kofi Anna was the graduation speaker and here is his address to the SIPA Class of 2011.

Here are a few more pictures to enjoy as well.  The President of the University, Lee Bollinger, and his wife shared a special moment with their daughter who graduated from the MIA program.

What kinds of friendships can you expect to develop as a SIPA student?  The kind where someone helps you to graduate, even when you cannot make it to the ceremony.  This graduate is holding a gown draped on a hanger with a photo of the missing graduate.

Mr. Annan likely had a sore hand and tired feet at the end of the day – he shook the hand of every graduate and hung out at the reception (with his lovely wife).

A SIPA graduate . . . with a possible future SIPA student.

I really enjoyed the 2011 edition of the SIPA graduation ceremony.  After being held inside for several years the ceremony this year was held outside.  Everyone was nervous all week because the weather forecast was foreboding, however the rain held off and and no one had to get wet.

Tents were set up so we were not worried too much about the ceremony itself, but the reception area was not entirely covered.  As it turns out, we had nothing to worry about.  When I took this picture I was standing on the steps of . . .

. . . Low Library . . .

. . . which is where the graduates assembled prior to the ceremony.

Kofi Annan addressed the graduates and we are working on getting his speech on line.  When it is ready it will appear on this blog.

SIPA graduates will return to the main quad for the University Commencement on Wednesday.  Congratulations to the class of 2011!

Some recently admitted applicants have been asking questions about the academic calendar.  If you want to see what the next two years are going to look like for the most part all you have to do is click here.  You can view both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 calendars.

Do note that not every single event will be listed.  For example the calendar lists the University graduation ceremonies, but not the SIPA graduation ceremonies.  This year for example SIPA will have its graduation ceremony on May 14th (Kofi Annan will be speaking) and then the main ceremony for all graduates takes place on May 18th.

Some specific events and occasions will be added as time progresses but the calendar as it stands now will give you a firm idea of holidays, breaks, and class start and end dates.  This will allow you to book tickets far, far in advance if you need to for travel and you can let family members and friends know of important dates.

Newly admitted students . . . you will turn your tassel from right to left at the main graduation ceremony on May 22, 2013!  The specific date of the SIPA graduation ceremony will not be released until sometime next year.

One unique asset available to SIPA students is our UN Studies Program.  SIPA students have incredible opportunities to learn directly from those with UN experience and participate in unique programming and here is a great example.

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The last month of weather we have had makes our graduation in the spring seem far away, but in reality it’s a mere 15 weeks until the class of 2011 walks across stage to pick up their diplomas.  It should be an especially exciting graduation ceremony this year as it was recently announced that Kofi Annan will be the speaker.  The following is the announcement sent out by our Dean, John Coatsworth.

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Columbia University tradition holds that all degrees are conferred at the University Commencement ceremony while each school honors its graduates with a separate and unique event. The University Commencement ceremony of the 257th Academic Year will take place on Wednesday, May 18, 2011. The School of International and Public Affairs Graduation ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 2 P.M.

We are pleased to announce that former U.N. Secretary-General and SIPA Global Fellow Kofi A. Annan will be SIPA’s 2011 Graduation speaker. Mr. Annan was the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations, serving two terms from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2006, and was the first to emerge from the ranks of United Nations staff.

In 2001, Kofi Annan and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace with the citation praising his leadership for “bringing new life to the organization.”

We are also pleased to announce the new tradition of holding SIPA’s Graduation ceremony on Columbia’s South Lawn. Planned in consultation with the SIPA Student Association Board, this year’s ceremony will provide for more than twice as much guest seating as last year. A reception will immediately follow the ceremony.

More information will be coming as the events approach. We look forward to congratulating you this May.

The following post was contributed by second year SIPA student Richard Parker.  Richard is working in our office this year and he, along with several other students, will be contributing posts throughout the year.

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I decided to take a break from paper writing and finals studying to update the blog. This month has been long and crazy! On the 12^th the SIPA Pan African Network (SPAN) hosted their annual African Diplomatic Forum. The theme was: Climate Change as the new Security Threat- Implications for Africa. Our keynote speaker was Congressman Donald Payne and we had two panels with many notable and distinguished panelists. I served as the host for the event and also the coordinator for the Human Security panel. Needless to say I was beat after it was all said and done.

The next week I had a group presentation for my Peacekeeping in Africa class which drained the rest of the energy from my body. We presented on Liberia and to our surprise one of my professors colleagues who works for the UN (at the Liberia desk of course lol) was in the audience observing the presentation.

But after that was Thanksgiving!!!! I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Me and my mom did the normal turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce etc…which is always a treat…but the rest of the holiday well let’s just say it wasn’t a holiday. On Black Friday, while most people spend hours waiting on line to get in to department stores, I spent hours online in the library writing the first of 4 (four, cuarto, quarte, quattro) 20 (twenty, vingt, venti, veinte) page papers. Only this type of thing happens at SIPA. So in true David Letterman style I present the top 10 things that only happen at SIPA (in no particular order)

10: You meet someone from a country that you can barely find on a map

9: You hear languages that Rosetta Stone doesn’t have a disk for being spoken on the 6^th floor café

8: You have professors who are real life rockstars at the United Nations

7: You complain about Lehman library but never manage to study elsewhere and get mad when undergrads take all the tables in group study

6: During finals time when studying with friends, someone says they’re about to make a food run and you know that means either Hamilton’s, Sub Conscious or Appletree

5: You have a 2 minute pitch

4: You cringe at the thought of producer theory

3: Riding in the elevator with Mayor Dinkins or a visiting ambassador or head of state seems normal

2: You know the best time to go to the café in order to avoid the line

1: You study with and learn from the worlds best and brightest

So maybe not as funny if you don’t go to SIPA but it was worth a try anyway. Back to paper writing…see those of you starting in the spring in a month!

Hosting the ADF conference

The following post was submitted by Sawako Sonoyama.  Sawako is working in our office this year and she, along with several other students, will be contributing posts throughout the year.

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10 years ago, the UN Security Council passed resolution 1325 that focused on increased representation of women in the Security Council. The resolution reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction.

This resolution marks the first time the Security Council has recognized the link between the security of women and peace. This is a landmark because the Security Council finally understands the ability of women to take on two roles:  “victim” of Conflict and “change agents” of Peace.

10 years have passed. How have we done? Five speakers convened at SIPA today on a panel for the UN Studies Program and spoke on this issue from their various issues:

• Atul Khare, Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations.

• Judy Cheng-Hopkins, Assistant Secretary General for Peace Building Support to the Peace Building Commission, and SIPA Alumna.

• Betty Achan Ogwaro, Chairperson of Sudanese Women Forum of Darfur, Southern Sudan

• Barbara Crossette, former NYT Foreign Correspondent and journalist.

• Juergen Heissel from the UN Security Council Peace Austrian Peace Keeping Mission

The panel started with an interesting debate surrounding the information gap in conflict zone. Mr. Heissel gave a brief history of the Security Council’s evolution in working with women in conflict zone. The problem that persists today is still the information gap. There is no consistent and comprehensive way to report on acts of violence against women in armed conflict. There is no way to measure how much we have made progress. There needs to be a more concrete data so evidence based policy making could be deployed to helping these women on the ground.

However, Ms. Ogwaro responded by saying that the Council will never have enough data. Too many times, there were women dishonored, hurt, and killed in front of the eyes of a Peace Keeping officer. The numbers are there, however, the mandates are not matching what needs to be done to help women in conflict. Furthermore, why will a Sudanese women be able to provide data when they are too busy protecting their lives and the lives of their children?

Finally, SIPA alumni Ms. Cheng-Hopkins provided a strict remark on the progress made.  After 10 years, 3% of negotiators and 0% of mediators in conflict zones are women. To improve these numbers, she recommended that at least 15% of post-conflict aid budgets should be endorsing women and peace building. There is much more work to be done in incorporating women into peace building.

The following entry was contributed by Erisha Suwal, a second year student at SIPA.  Erisha is working in our office this year and she, along with several other students, will be contributing posts throughout the year.

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Being in New York has been one of the best experiences while at SIPA. Early last year during the General Assembly (GA) meetings at the UN, I along with three other students organized a protest to demand from the then Nepal Prime Minister that Nepal’s constitution be written on time and that the government expedite investigations on the people disappeared during Nepal’s decade-long Civil War.  It was an intense experience. I distributed pamphlets on the streets of Jackson Heights, a South Asian neighborhood in Queens, and had heated discussions with many people.  It was interesting to see that many fellow Nepali men thought that as a student in Columbia, I should become a doctor or an engineer but not get into politics. Although not all Nepalis think this way, it is a common sentiment.

The foreign advisor to the then Prime Minister also called me directly to request that the protest be called off.  It was terrifying, as I was exposed to the challenges of political activism. Nonetheless, organizing the event introduced me to other Nepali political activists in New York, to institutions and informal groups that worked for justice in Nepal.  Also, because of this event, I became aware of the India China Institute at the New School.  Since then, I have attended many events on Nepal organized by the New School and even audited a class on Nepali Society and Politics.

Another highlight of being in New York is my current internship with UNIFEM (part of UN Women). Prior to joining SIPA, I had limited work experience in the development field. Most of my work was in the financial sector and my development experience came from summer internships throughout my undergraduate years. Interning with UNIFEM provides an excellent opportunity to gain more work experience and to understand how the UN works from the inside. Also, as I’m interested in the political participation of women, working with UNIFEM’s Governance, Peace and Security division could not have been a better match.

Between the extra activities and internships (and awesome parties) I am making the most of my time at SIPA.

Top flight events are a mainstay at SIPA.  For some evidence, check out what is happening this Monday.  The good news is that if you wish to participate from your computer, you can.  See the end of this entry for details on how to view the event live.

Prospects for 21st Century African Agriculture

Time: Monday, 6:30 pm

Type: Discussion

Moderator(s):

Mamadou Diouf
Professor of History, Director Institute for African Studies
Committee on Global Thought
Columbia University

Speaker(s):

Kofi Annan
Former Secretary General
United Nations

Jeffrey Sachs
Director, The Earth Institute
The Earth Institute

Program Notes:

It is widely recognized that agricultural development can play a key role in eliminating hunger, reducing poverty and food insecurity, increasing trade, and promoting wealth in Africa.  However, the full potential of African agriculture is far from being realized.  Part of the 2010-2011 World and Africa Series, this panel seeks to explore the possibilities for boosting the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of African agriculture in the 21st century.  It will consider those cutting edge programs, policies, and technologies that are paving new roads forward with regard to unleashing the full potential of the continent’s agricultural economies.

Kofi Annan was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving two terms from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006 and was the first to emerge from the ranks of United Nations staff. In 2001 Kofi Annan and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace with the citation praising his leadership for “bringing new life to the organisation”. In 2009, Annan was named a Columbia Global Fellow by University President Lee Bollinger.

Jeffrey Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is also Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. From 2002 to 2006, he was Director of the UN Millennium Project and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals.

This event is co-sponsored with The Earth Institute.

This event can also be viewed via live webcast.

Real:

http://www.columbia.edu/acis/networks/advanced/events/live.ram

Windows Media:

http://akami.cc.columbia.edu/asxgen/wmtencoder/live.wmv.asx

Beginning in fall 2010, SIPA will offer a new specialization in International Conflict Resolution for students enrolled in the MIA and MPA degree programs. The new specialization, which will be directed by Professor Jean-Marie Guéhenno, will provide students an understanding of the root causes of international conflicts and of how conflict resolution and transformation take place on an international level.  Students also will receive practical, hands-on training in various techniques and methodologies of international conflict resolution.

“The new specialization will build on the highly successful curriculum put in place by the Center for International Conflict Resolution at SIPA,” says Professor Guéhenno. “It will provide a venue for leading practitioners and scholars to prepare the next generation of conflict resolution specialists.”

Specializations, which are comparable to “minors” in other curricular arrangements, are designed to be paired with policy concentrations, comparable to “majors”. Students seeking a specialization in International Conflict Resolution will be required to complete nine credits, including the course, “Theoretical Overview of International Conflict Resolution,” and two electives.

SIPA also offers specializations in Advanced Policy and Economic Analysis, Applied Science, International Media, Advocacy and Communications, International Organization, Management, and regional specializations in Africa, East Asia, East Central Europe, Europe, Latin America, The Middle East, Russia, Southern Asia, and the United States.

Jean-Marie Guéhenno previously served as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations from 2000-2008, leading the largest expansion of peacekeeping in the history of the UN. Before joining the United Nations, Guéhenno served as director of policy planning in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ambassador to the Western European Union, and chairman of the French Institute of Higher Defense Studies.

The following was contributed by Nora Gordon, an MIA student concentrating in Human Rights.

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On Wednesday, January 27,  I had the honor of participating in an event on campus entitled, “Grassroots Diplomacy in the Middle East.”  The event was co-sponsored by the Arab Student Association, the Conflict Resolution Working Group, The Middle East Institute, and the UN Studies Program Working Group, and was organized by the American Mideast Leadership Network (AMLN).

The event focused on issues of grassroots diplomacy in Syria and showcased AMLN’s United States-Syria Grassroots Diplomacy Program.  We began with a presentation by AMLN’s founding director, Rami Nuseir, and a question and answer session with Dr. Mazin Adi, the permanent representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations.

Following Dr. Adi, three SIPA students, Heidi Rosbe, Nick Jaeger, and myself (Nora Gordon) spoke about our experiences with the United States-Syria Grassroots Diplomacy Program of which we were participants in 2009.  Ms. Rosbe and I discussed our work as co-facilitators of the conflict resolution dialogue sessions which were a main component of the program, and we all discussed our experiences as a participants and travelers in Syria.

The question and answer session after the presentation was particularly interesting.  Audience members wanted to know about women’s rights, the controversy over the occupied Golan Heights and other issues regarding US-Syrian relations.  These questions were difficult, but it was important to bring up these issues that are crucial to discuss in order to develop diplomatic relations between the two countries.

At the end of the event, it was inspiring to hear Dr. Mazin Adi emphasize the importance of AMLN’s efforts.  “Because of the program,” he said, “we now have 12 additional citizen ambassadors that have visited Syria.”

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The American MidEast Leadership Network (AMLN) is a New York-based non-profit organization dedicated to empowering the Arab-American community in the United States and to bringing together American and Middle Eastern students and young professionals in cultural exchange programs that give these future leaders a more thorough understanding of each other’s cultural, religious, and political lives.

Last week I noted that some SIPA students were in Haiti as part of their professional development work when the earthquake occurred.  The Record, a Columbia University publication, recently ran an article about the SIPA students and others from around the University that were in Haiti at the time.  A portion of the article is below and to view the whole article please visit the web site of The Record.

Shortly before 5:00 p.m. on Jan. 12, Elisabeth Lindenmayer, director of the United Nations program at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), was in Port-au-Prince with six of her students, exiting a van outside the United Nations Development Programme building. A longtime U.N. peacekeeper and former assistant secretary general and deputy chief of staff to Kofi Annan, she and her students were in Haiti for a week-long trip. They were conducting research on the role of the private sector in social and economic development and its link to state-building. After close to a week of interviews, they were scheduled to leave the next morning.

As they stepped onto the street, the earth shuddered. The building they were about to enter started to crack, and a deafening roar filled the air. “Get out,” Lindenmayer yelled. Some students threw themselves on the ground; others stayed in the van.

Although members of the Columbia community lost family and friends, the Columbians who were in Haiti were extraordinarily lucky. Remarkably, no one was injured, and a total of 10 students, faculty and staff members were able to be evacuated out of the country with support from a team working from Morningside Heights.

Last week at Columbia former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan discussed climate change during his delivery of the Gabriel Silver Lecture at Columbia’s World Leaders Forum. Annan is part of the first cohort of SIPA’s Global Fellows Program, a distinguished group of global leaders, each of whom has played a significant role in designing, shaping, or implementing solutions to critical global problems.

The following description of the event comes from the Columbia News Web site:

The Gabriel Silver Memorial Lectures were inaugurated in 1950 at the School of International and Public Affairs to foster international understanding and world peace. The first lecture was given by Dwight D. Eisenhower. Annan’s talk on climate change coincides with a range of Columbia-hosted events showcasing other leaders on the issue, including Sir Nicholas Stern, noted economist; Denmark’s minister for climate and energy, Connie Hedegaard; and the University’s own experts in climate science and policy.

The Columbia Global Fellows Program was established to bring to campus each year a distinguished group of global leaders, each of whom has played a significant role in designing, shaping or implementing solutions to critical global problems. In May, SIPA Dean John H. Coatsworth announced Kofi Annan as one of three inaugural Global Fellows; the others include Alfred Gusenbauer, former chancellor of Austria, and Tung Chee Hwa, former chief executive of Hong Kong.

You can view a full video of Mr. Annan’s speech by visiting this link.

Faridah Nassali is a native of Uganda and is entering her second year as an MIA student concentrating in Economic and Political Development.

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What I did for summer…

This past summer, I worked as an intern at the International Women Tribune Centre in New York. It was a wonderful experience and I worked on various projects on peace building including but not limited to working on Uganda Radio program/drama on Res. 1325 and 1820.

This was on the most interesting part of my projects because reading the role-plays in the drama projects day-to-day life of the communities back home and most especially the stereotype of gender roles. It was more like bringing my community and placing it in a small office in New York.

I also had an opportunity of attending a couple of UN meetings on issues of gender and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). But what was even more interesting was getting a chance to work close to the UN. I met a couple of people, who may be important in my networking and professional development.

Anyone interested in the work the United Nations is doing will find a wealth of opportunity at SIPA to engage with people associated with the United Nations. The United Nations Study Program (UNSP) promotes teaching, training, and career development in the pursuit of multilateral solutions to global dilemmas. Under the direction of Elisabeth Lindenmayer, the Program brings together scholars and practitioners to address the main priorities of the UN – security, development, human rights and the environment – strengthening synergies between the Columbia community and those within the UN system.

In addition there is the United Nations Studies Program Working Group (UNSPWG).

The UNSPWG assists the UNSP in the organization of a series of lectures and panels each semester through which students can get “live sources” of information and expand upon the knowledge acquired though readings they do in their coursework.

Today these two resources combine to present the following:

“Planet UN”—A documentary on the challenges of the UN in the 21st century

Speakers will include representatives from the UN in human rights, development and peacekeeping

6:00 P.M. – Kellogg Conference Center, 15th Floor, International Affairs Building

We are pleased to announce that SIPA Professor Michael Doyle has won the 2009 American Political Science Association (APSA) Charles Merriam Award. This award recognizes “a person whose published work and career represent a significant contribution to the art of government through the application of social science research.”

Professor Doyle is the Harold Brown Professor of United States Foreign and Security Policy at SIPA and holds joint appointments in the Columbia School of Law and the Political Science Department. His recent publications include Making War and Building Peace: United Nations Peace Operations, with Nicholas Sambanis (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006) and Striking First: Preemption and Prevention in International Conflict (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008).

Professor Doyle has appeared on this blog before when in January he was  appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to a new term as Chair of the Advisory Board of the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF).

I am pleased to announce a program that has been in the works for quite some time.  SIPA has officially launched a new Global Fellows Program. The program will bring to campus each year a distinguished group of global leaders, each of whom has played a significant role in designing, shaping, or implementing solutions to critical global problems.

The first cohort of SIPA Global Fellows will include Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Former Chancellor of Austria Alfred Gusenbauer, and Tung Chee Hwa, Former and first Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

The Global Fellows will serve as important resources for academic and professional programs across the University through public lectures, seminar meetings with faculty and students, mentoring SIPA students, and providing advice on research and teaching in their areas of knowledge and experience.

“The Global Fellows Program expands on a long tradition at Columbia, in particular at SIPA, of engaging world leaders in the research and educational mission of the university,” according to SIPA Dean John Coatsworth. “From the Columbia World Leaders forum, to special lectures and ongoing collaborative research projects, policymakers from around the world serve as a bridge between Columbia’s faculty, and students and a global community that faces tough policy issues on a daily basis,” he said.

Coatsworth acknowledged the support of Columbia President Lee Bollinger, who helped to recruit Annan and provided support for his new role at the University. Coatsworth also credited SIPA Advisory Board member James Leitner for supporting the appointment of Mr. Gusenbauer as the first Leitner Global Fellow. Gusenbauer presented a series of seminars co-sponsored by the European Institute earlier this month.

For more information on the Columbia-SIPA Global Fellows Program, please click here.

SIPA professor Jeff Sachs recently appeared on a segment of ABC news to discuss investment in alternative forms of energy.  Professor Sachs is a Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and from 2002 to 2006 was the Director of the UN Millennium Project and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals, the internationally agreed goals to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by the year 2015.

To read the article and view the accompanying video, please click here.

Kemal Dervis will teach a two semester course on global economic governance at SIPA, following the conclusion of his tenure as head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Dervis will co-teach with José Antonio Ocampo and will be a fellow of the Committee on Global Thought during the 2009 – 2010 academic year. Prior to his appointment with the UNDP, Dervis was a member of the Turkish Parliament (2002 – 2005), Minister of Economic Affairs of Turkey (2001 – 2002) and Vice-President of the World Bank (1996 – 2001).

Photo credit to UNDP.

Joseph Stiglitz, University Professor of International Affairs; Business School, Economics; Chaired Professorship of Finance and Business; Co-Director, SDEV PhD Program, and José Antonio Ocampo, Director of the Program in Economic and Political Development at the School of International and Public Affairs, have been appointed to the new Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System. Professor Stiglitz will serve as the chair. The Commission will seek to identify broad principles for the reforms needed to ensure global economic progress. For more information click here.