Global Experience Distinguished Guest Speakers
PAST SPEAKERS
Geraldine Cox AM
Co-Founder Sunrise Children's Villages
Geraldine Cox started her career with the Australian Department of Foreign affairs at the age of 25 in 1970 with her first posting to the Embassy in Phnom Penh, when the Vietnam War spilled over into Cambodia. There she lived a life of privilege under the diplomatic umbrella, while hundreds of thousands of Cambodians were suffering in unbelievably deprived living conditions as they fled the countryside to the city, to escape the provincial bombing by the Americans.
For the milkman's daughter from Adelaide this had a lasting impact which she carried in her heart throughout her other postings to the Philippines (5 years), Thailand (3 years), Iran (3 years) and finally America (3 years) in the Embassy in Washington DC, before returning to Australia in 1987. After resigning from the government in 1987 she worked for 8 years with The Chase Manhattan Bank in Sydney before deciding to live in Cambodia in 1996.
Geraldine's original experiences in Cambodia never left her and on a return
visit in 1993 she became involved in helping an orphaned Cambodian child.
From that small beginning Geraldine co- founded what is now the Sunrise
Children's Villages. Geraldine says she is proud and lucky to be an
Australian, but Cambodia has stolen her heart and she is happiest when she
is there with her children in the orphanage she co-founded in 1993.
The Australia Cambodia Foundation started in September 1993, following the
first visit to the orphanage by Geraldine and a friend in July 1993. The
helplessness and tragedy of these lost children was so moving, that it was
impossible not to be motivated. Small regular monthly donations were
solicited by Geraldine and a circle of friends, from individuals, to feed
one child. This was how it all started...
Sunrise now reaches out to thousands of needy children in Cambodia providing
a loving home, and all that this means along with quality health care and
education opportunities beyond the reach of many Cambodians. Children come
to us from backgrounds of abuse, neglect, abandonment, torture, slave
labour, and some have been trafficked and sold into begging rings and even
subjected to acid burn attacks.
Back in Cambodia many more orphans are waiting to be taken in under
Sunrise's wings, but more sponsors are required before they can be accepted.
Geraldine says that turning children away is the most difficult part of
running the orphanage. She hopes that individuals and corporations alike
will want to help build new lives for these beautiful, but unwanted
children, left behind after 30 years of war.
For more information on Geraldine Cox and Sunrise Children's Villages please click here.
Tessa Henwood-Mitchell Founder Tia International Aid
Tessa Henwood-Mitchell went to Bolivia, South America in 2008 to volunteer
at an orphanage for 4 months with Projects Abroad as part of her degree in
Social Work and International Studies at UniSA. After a few weeks of working
at this orphanage and taking note of the lack of funds, resources and
opportunities available, not only to the children she'd been working with
but to all children in Bolivia, she made the decision to initiate an
organisation to raise funds and implement development projects with the
Bolivian population.
After returning from this trip in December 2008, Tessa began the process of establishing Tia International Aid, which was officially born in February 2009. Tia International Aid is a small, not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation that aims to improve the futures of underprivileged and disadvantaged children through working directly with families and communities in Bolivia to create sustainable and lasting change.
Now over 2 years later, Tessa is still working extremely hard raising funds to support the numerous development projects Tia is now doing in Bolivia, and is leading a team of 20+ passionate people who have come on board to achieve Tia's goals, whilst also completing the final 2 years of her double degree.
For more information on Tia International Aid please click here.
Michael Emery Chief of Recruitment, United Nations
Development Program (UNDP)
Michael Emery is the Chief of Recruitment in the United Nations
Development Program, having joined from the Department of Peacekeeping
Operations (DPKO) where he held the position of Chief of Career Development.
Michael's expertise lies in Human Resources specifically within the United
Nations with assignments
in
United Nations Disaster Relief Organisation, Human Resource Management in
the UN Secretariat and has also worked in the Emergencies section of CARE
Australia.
Michael has almost a decade of field experience in West Africa, the Balkans and East Timor in addition to the last seven years of his career in the UN Headquarters in New York. His Human Resources background lies in recruitment, career development, policy development, training and staff development in addition to career support.
Michael has been active in establishing the International Organisations Career Development Roundtable which meets annually to discuss international trends and career development reforms on member organisations. Michael regularly speaks at a variety of international tertiary institutions including Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, John Hopkins, NYU, Cambridge, Oxford and the London School of Economics.
Click here to read more about Chief of Recruitment, UNDP, Michael Emery in the August 2010 edition of UniSA News.
Nana Oye Lithur CEO Human Rights Advocacy Centre Ghana
& Regional Coordinator (Africa)
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
Respected lawyer and human rights activist Nana Oye Lithur is the Chief
Executive Director of the Human Rights Advocacy Centre and Regional
Coordinator (Africa Office) for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
(CHRI) since 2004. Nana has worked extensively with the CHRI in the areas of
police accountability, freedom of information and access to justice in Ghana
and Africa. Her research and publications include the political rights of
women, reproductive and sexual rights, HIV/AIDS, gender based violence and
women's property rights. Nana has also led several fact finding missions in
Ghana to investigate human rights violations involving forced eviction,
demolitions and police brutality.
Nana coordinated the Coalition on the Freedom of Information Bill in Ghana, has been involved with the Coordinated African Regional Survey on Access to Information for Ghana, in addition to running an access to justice program and a human rights clinic. Nana was a recipient of the University of Pretoria's Vera Chirwa Award for Human Rights in Africa in 2007, was appointed a Millennium Development Goal 3 Champion Torch Bearer by the Danish Government in 2008 and was appointed as member of the UN Country Team Civil Society Advisory Committee for Ghana in 2008.
"Nana's presentation was exceptional, giving a detailed account of her personal life and what she has overcome in her time. Knowing little about the Ghanaian culture, her speech opened my eyes to so much I was unaware of".
(UniSA student- Bachelor of Tourism and Event Management)
Read more about Nana Oye Lithur in the Winter 2010 edition of the Austraining International Magazine click here.