‘Policy requires politics. Ideas for solving economic problems are plentiful but if any idea is to prevail as the actual policy, it must obtain support from those who have political power.’ In light of the deepest economic crisis in more than a generation, 21st century responses to the economic crisis are even harder than at the time when Peter Gourevitch raised the question. While in the 1980s the weight of political decision-making to consider with regard to new policy ideas and how to implement them was with national governments, now, the situation is considerably more complex. While the crisis originated in a seemingly obscure sector of US property finance, it has quickly spread across the globe and the deep recession that was following the financial upheaval has left almost no economy untouched. Apart from the financial fallout we also begin to see the geopolitical implications of this crisis and the questions it poses for the governance of the global economy, but also !
of other areas of concern to our discipline.

Given the complex interplay of politics, policy and social practices, the call to assess the origins and repercussions of the crisis is addressed to all students of International Relations, including beyond the obvious subdiscipline of International Political Economy, International Ethics, Political Sociology, Law, Geography and so forth. Key questions are: How does the downturn of the global economy affect US hegemony? Is the United Nations well equipped to deal with it? Does it contribute to the rise of countries such as Brazil, India or China? Do we see a move away from laissez-faire, and towards government intervention? Does the event turn the tables between national governments and transnational actors? What are the implications of the economic crisis for policies affecting the environment, democracy promotion, human rights protection or development assistance? Does the crisis strengthen or weaken efforts for regional integration, inside or outside of Europe? These are !
only some of the questions that are currently debated by the discipline as a whole. We hope that responses to these questions will figure prominently throughout the conference, together with the other issues that are motivating research in our discipline. We invite the whole European International Relations community, as well as scholars of other parts of the globe, to join us for the Seventh Pan-European Conference, to be convened in Stockholm in September 2010.

Venue and local organization

The conference will take place at the congenial and atmospheric Stockholm City Conference Centre, a prime downtown venue. A reception for all participants will be given at Stockholm City Hall, the same hall in which the annual Nobel Prize banquet is held. Moreover, the Section Chairs are invited to a dinner including a guided tour at the Vasa ship museum, hosted by the Nordic International Studies Association. The conference is organised by the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Södertörn University, Stockholm University and the Swedish National Defence College, in cooperation with the Standing Group on International Relations (SGIR) of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR). The local organizing committee is chaired by Johan Eriksson (Södertörn University and Swedish Institute of International Affairs).

Call for Section Convenors

The Steering Committee of the SGIR hereby issues a call for section convenors for the 2010 Pan-European Conference. Deadline September 15, 2009.

The academic programme for the conference will be organised in the usual format of sections and panels. A section is a number of panels linked by a common theme. The conference can host up to 30 parallel sections. Section convenors organise the panels, select papers and panels (via the conference internet platform), identify panel chairs and discussants, and take responsibility for the actual execution of their section’s contribution to the conference programme. This includes the selection of best paper by a research student in their section and the provision of advice regarding the appropriate size of panel rooms.

A section may consist of either five or ten 105 minute panel sessions during the programme. Each 105-minute panel should comprise four to five papers plus discussant and chair.

The following fields of study are indicative of the fields of the areas of interest that the convenors hope will be covered during the conference, in addition to those related to the conference theme (cross-linkages are welcome as well):

Area Studies
Conflict Management
Defence
Democracy
Development
Diplomacy
Environment
Ethics
Ethnicity and Nationalism
Foreign Policy Analysis
Gender Studies
Global Governance
History & IR
Human Rights
Intelligence Studies
International Communications
International Law
International Organisations
International Political Economy
International Political Sociology
International Political Theory
International Relations Theory
Knowledge
Migration
Peace Research
Religion and IR
Security Studies

Those interested in becoming section convenor are hereby invited to submit a proposal. Each proposal must include the following information:
•    Name, position and institution of the proposed section convenor;
•    Email address;
•    The same for the co-convenor (if any);
•    A short title of the proposed section
•    A 250-word outline of the main aims of the section ideally including some bullet points of key areas, and a call for paper and/or panel proposals
•    A tentative indication of possible panels (including title, chair and discussant) or roundtables (participants).

We welcome sections proposals relating to the conference theme, as well as proposals about other IR themes, including those listed above.

All proposals should be submitted at http://www.sgir.eu/proposal

One convenor per section will be granted free registration. As note above, convenors will be invited for a Section Chair’s dinner and guided tour at the Vasa Ship Museum, hosted by the Nordic International Studies Association. Prospective section convenors should, however, note that ECPR-SGIR cannot offer any reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with the conference.

The closing date for section proposals is September 15, 2009.

Accepted section convenors will be notified and a call for paper and panel proposals issued by October 1, 2009, with a deadline of January 31, 2010. Section convenors are expected to select papers and panels until February 28, 2010.

Andreas Nölke and Antje Wiener
ECPR-SGIR 2010 Programme Chairs

Where to submit:
Please submit your essay electronically to y2yessay2009@gmail.com

What are the constraints to youth entrepreneurship in your country? Has the global crisis changed the dynamics? How can governments help young entrepreneurs to create and further develop their social and productive ventures?

Please try to answer the following questions in one consistent essay:

1. What impedes young people in your country or community to start their own business or organization? Think about the constraints in terms of socio-economic conditions, culture, education & experience, access to finance & infrastructure, contacts & networks, and regulations. In how far are these constraints specific to youth compared to adults?

2. Did the global financial crisis reinforce some of these constraints? If yes, what are the dynamics?

3. What do you think governments can/should do to strengthen youth entrepreneurship in your country, town or local community? Think about the solutions in terms of the constraints identified above.

The Contest
Length:1500 words.

Prize:
1) Winner will receive a $1,000 laptop sponsored by LAC Development Marketplace and the opportunity to be published in a World Bank working paper.

2) 2 runners-up will each receive a Y2Y bag and a copy of the film being showcased at the conference this year.

3) The best three submissions will be published on the World Bank Y2Y website.

Read This Before Getting Started…
- Submissions will be accepted starting September 1, 2009
- The deadline for submissions is September 22 , 2009 5:00pm
- Open to participants globally aged 18- 30 (winners will need to provide proof of age)
- Essays must be submitted in English only
- Essays can be submitted as MS Word documents (.doc) or in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
- Only one entry is allowed per person
- All submissions must be the author’s original work, and should not have been previously published anywhere
- Winners agree to have their essay published on the Y2Y website and/or Newsletter
- Winners will be announced on October 13, 2009 and will be encouraged to attend the conference: “Youth Developing Opportunities: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Sustainability.”

The “GET ON THE BUS” or  BUS OF DEMOCRACY is a means and an innovating tool for the practice of the democracy that has for objective to furrow the extent of the national territory to sensitize the women and the young Cameroonians on the importance and the necessity to fulfill their rights and their duties as citizens, on the central role they have to play in the construction of the country through the choice of their leaders, on the role they have to play as major actors of the democracy.

The “GET ON THE BUS PROGRAM” also permit to listen and to collect the claims of women and young people and to use them for the WVAS campaign of advocacies and finally, to register massively the Cameroonian voters, women and young peoples on the electoral lists.

Le Forum Régional sur la Situation des Droits des Femmes et l’Egalité entre les Sexes en Afrique Francophone s’est tenu du 23 au 26 mars 2009 à Lomé, Togo. La réunion a été organisée par le Réseau des Organisations Féminines d’Afrique Francophone (ROFAF) qui a été lancé le 23 mars. Le 26 mars 2009, il a tenu sa première réunion.
Une cinquantaine de femmes et d’hommes issus d’organisations de femmes, d’ONGs et des groupements de femmes traditionnelles d’Afrique francophone ont participé à cette rencontre.
Les objectifs de la mission étaient de participer activement au Forum, diffuser le travail du Réseau et faire le lien avec les Membres du ROFAF et promouvoir de nouvelles adhésions.

The Regional Forum on the Situation of Women’s Rights and Gender Equality in Francophone Africa was held on 23-26 March 2009 in Lomé, Togo. The meeting was organized by the Network of Women’s Rights Organisations of Francophone Africa (ROFAF) that was also launched on 23 March and held its first meeting on 26 March 2009.The meeting brought together fifty women and men from women’s organizations and NGOs, and traditional women groups from around Francophone Africa.
The objectives of the mission were to participate actively in the Forum and liaise with Network members present as well as promote new adhesions.

Mission report (english)

Rapport de mission (french)

Queremos comunicaros que a finales de febrero, Fundación Mujeres junto con la Federación Mujeres Jóvenes, vamos a celebrar un seminario para las jóvenes africanas y españolas con el objetivo de dar continuidad al encuentro que tuvimos en febrero de 2008, en el seminario organizado por la Red de Mujeres por Un Mundo Mejor y la ONG kenyata Tomorrow´s Child Initiative.

A partir de la segunda semana de enero comenzaremos a organizar el evento, y nos pondremos en contacto con vosotras para informaros de las fechas en las que se va a celebrar y los contenidos que abordaremos.

Por ahora, reservad la última semana de febrero para venir a Madrid!

Un beso a todas y feliz 2009.

Hi everyone!

We want to tell you that Fundación Mujeres, in collaboration with Federación Mujeres Jóvenes will organise a Seminar on last week of February. We will contact you in January to give you all the information about the Seminari: dates, contents…

So, by now, book the last week of February to meet us in Madrid!

Kind regards, and happy new year.

Fundación Mujeres organiza el Seminario  “Estrategias y mejores prácticas para el empoderamiento de las mujeres en el África Subsahariana” que tendrá lugar en Casa África en las Palmas de Gran Canaria los días 13 y 14 de octubre.

El principal objetivo de este seminario es crear un espacio de trabajo y reflexión conjunta entre mujeres de organizaciones sociales, organizaciones empresariales y de diversas instituciones españolas y africanas, sobre la relación que existe entre cooperación al desarrollo y desarrollo económico desde una perspectiva de género.

A partir de este ejercicio de reflexión se elaborará un Documento Estratégico a modo de buenas prácticas.

SEMINAR
“Strategies and Best Practices for the Empowerment of women in Subsaharian Africa”

Casa África, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)
13th y 14th of October 2008
The organization of this seminar is related to one of the main aims of Fundación Mujeres: promoting the social and economic empowerment of women, that in this case, is being planned within the framework of the international development cooperation.

More information: http://www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org/resource/award.asp 

• Las relaciones entre España y África subsahariana
• La situación económica de África subsahariana y las relaciones económicas con España
• Las relaciones de cooperación al desarrollo entre España y África
• La evolución de los procesos de consolidación democrática en África Subsahariana

Más información

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.

CEDAW 41st Session was held from 30 June - 18 July 2008 in New York.

Further information

Más información

The Third International Congress on Islamic Feminism has been announced by Junta Islàmica Catalana (Catalonian Islamic Board) and will take place in Barcelona, 24th-27th October 2008. The conference will be focused on the problems of Muslim women in the Global era. Many Muslim women today are facing a double oppression: economic (neo-liberalism) and political (religious fundamentalism). The Congress will consider the responses given by Islamic feminists to this situation, and their contribution towards the construction of a new civil society worldwide, based on a culture of human rights and Qur’anic values such as democracy, social justice, freedom of conscience and gender equality.

Further information