Migrations – Challenge that must be Addressed

On 13 April 2016, the Centre for European Perspective (CEP) held a round table entitled “Migrations – Challenge that must be Addressed”.

An official welcome of the participants by the Executive Director of CEP, Dr Gorazd Justinek, was followed by H. E. Ambassador Mr Brent R. Hartley keynote remarks in which he pointed out the need to work together globally to save the migration issue. Political Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Tomaž Lovrenčič, had also welcomed the guests and highlighted the need for these kind of discussions. Mr Jerry Kalarickal, Program officer for the Balkans at the U.S. Department of State, delivered an impulse directly from the U.S. and reiterated the focus on saving lives and protecting human rights of all migrants. He had also welcomed the agreement reached between EU and Turkey as a very important step towards solving the problem at hand.

The introductory part was follow by a panel discussion with Prof. Dr Abdelhamid El-Zoheiry, president of theEMUNI University, Mr David Brozina, Director General of the Directorate for European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ms Nina Gregori, Director General of Administrative Internal affairs, Migration and Naturalization Directorate at the Ministry of Interior. The panel was moderated by Mr Peter Grk, Secretary-General of the Bled Strategic Forum.

Touching upon issues such as the agreement between EU and Turkey, integration of refugees, common EU asylum system and security issues, a fruitful discussion concluded with a promising idea “Think Europe”.

* The project was financed by the Embassy of the United States in Ljubljana under the framework of the NGO Small Grant.

International Conference on Ageing – Ageing: Rights for Empowerment

Brdo pri Kranju, 11 – 12 April 2016 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, in collaboration with Bled Strategic Forum, held an International Conference on Ageing under the title Ageing: Rights for Empowerment. The conference has attracted wide range of participants, from the region and beyond, including representatives of international organisations and the civil society. The Conference on the rights of older people marks the beginning of the Ministry’s EU campaign #EU4HUMANRIGHTS.

By holding the Conference, the Ministry joined the Slovenian Government’s comprehensive approach to meeting the challenges related to the rapid ageing of the population through an emerging strategy for active ageing. In the international community, Slovenia advocates a progressive approach. In this spirit, the aim of the Conference is to identify good practices and reveal ways to implement them better at the international level as well. Slovenia is striving to enhance international norms and standards, and supports the further codification of international human rights law.

In his address, Minister Erjavec pointed out demographic changes and the ageing population as two major challenges facing the entire international community. He presented a range of activities related to the rights of older persons that Slovenia implements in the framework of the UN Human Rights Council, the EU and OECD. Slovenia underlines the importance of respect for the existing legal norms protecting the elderly from discrimination, violence and abuse. At the same time, Slovenia is actively encouraging states to formulate and adopt a new international legal instrument clearly defining the specific rights and needs of the elderly, as well as mechanisms to protect them.

The participants were also addressed by the Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD Douglas Frantz, who stressed that international organisations, governments and civil society should create circumstances enabling respect for the rights of the elderly. Society should make it possible for the elderly to remain active and contributing members as long as possible, with state-guaranteed equal access to the labour market and to high-quality and affordable health care.

This was followed by a video message from the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Stavros Lambrinidis, in which he stressed the importance of wider human rights advocacy on the part of the EU and its member states, and pointed out Slovenia’s leading role with regard to the rights of older persons. By organising the Conference, Slovenia is the first EU member state to join the #EU4HUMANRIGHTS campaign.

Keynote speaker Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, started her speech by thanking the organisers for the first international conference dealing with the rights of the elderly during her term. She underlined how important it is to identify shortcomings and problems in the implementation or enjoyment of the rights of older persons. In September, Ms Kornfeld-Matte will present her comprehensive report to the UN Human Rights Council, noting a positive trend regarding care for the elderly in the legislative framework, including access to employment and work above the legal retirement age. However, in Kornfeld-Matte’s opinion, more should be done to improve the qualifications and position of informal care takers of the elderly, as well as with regard to legal capacity, decision-making and challenges faced by people suffering from dementia and other chronic diseases or conditions related to ageing.

The conference continued with a panel entitled “The promotion and protection of rights of older persons: state of play”, and on the second day with the panel entitled”The promotion and protection of rights of older persons: a way forward”.

Round Table: »Migrations – Challenge That Must Be Addressed«

We kindly invite you to a round table entitled »MIGRATIONS – CHALLENGE THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED«,

which will be held at Jable Castle (Grajska cesta 1, 1234 Mengeš) on 13 April 2016 at 13.00.


Keynote Remarks:

H. E. Mr Brent R. Hartley, Ambassador of the United States of America

Moderated by:

Mr Peter Grk, Secretary-General of the Bled Strategic Forum

Panelists:

Prof. Dr Abdelhamid El-Zoheiry, President of EMUNI University
Mr David Brozina, Director General of the Directorate for European Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia
Mr Jerry Kalarickal, Program officer for the Balkans at the U.S. Department of State
Ms Nina Gregori, Director General of Administrative Internal Affairs, Migration and Naturalization Directorate at the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Slovenia


We kindly ask you to confirm your presence, by no later than 11 April, to Ms Jana Arbeiter (jana.arbeiter@cep.si).

*Project is financed by the Embassy of the United States in Ljubljana (Slovenia) under the framework of the NGO Small Grant.

Welcome to the new Bled Strategic Forum website

We are very excited to finally have launched our new Bled Strategic Forum website! Over the last few weeks we have been working hard in order to bring you a site that has improved functionality, design and navigation.

Follow the website to keep updated on 2016 discussions, speakers, participants and more.

And don’t forget, the 11th Bled Strategic Forum will be taking place on 5 and 6 September 2016 under the title ‘Safeguarding the Future‘ and will be dedicated to finding answers to the most pressing threats and challenges, which have shaken the foundations of our global security.

We hope you like the new look!

BSF Project Team