Trust and Integrity in Democracy

LIVESTREAM

23-26 July 2023

About the event

In countries across the world operating diverse forms of governance, including those adopting democratic principles, there seems to be increasing evidence of a decline in the trustworthiness and integrity of those holding official roles.

Pressures associated with current global challenges, such as the Covid pandemic, seem to be accelerating and exacerbating this decline.

Trustworthiness, tolerance, and transparency are key to supporting the revival of good governance and integrity in public life. These are easy to advocate but so much harder to personally embrace and embody in practice, in social and institutional settings.

Join us on 23 - 26 July, 2023

in Caux!

Participants are asked to arrive from 2.00pm on Sunday 23 July in time for the introductory session after dinner. The forum will end at 6.30pm on Wednesday 26 July.

WHO IS THIS EVENT FOR?

Democracy thrives through people who work for integrity and inclusivity, who resolve conflict, who build trust across sectors and at all levels of society.

This forum is for those who want to discover how to help their countries respond effectively to internal and global challenges.

How can we see a resurgence of trust in our political systems? And what can ordinary citizens do to reverse this trend and strengthen democracy in their respective countries?

WHAT WE OFFER

This forum will provide a stretching yet compassionate community context in which individual introspection and collective inquiry can support radical dialogue and mutual contextual learning.

It will create a supportive, compassionate context in which participants can engage in courageous, honest conversation – paving the way for re-establishing trustworthiness, tolerance and transparency.

MEET OUR SPEAKERS

24 July 2023 - Plenary 1: The state of trust and integrity in democracy today

HADIZATOU YACOUBA OUSSEINI (NIGER)

Minister for Mines, Government of Niger

Hadizatou Yacouba Ousseini is a Nigerian politician. From 2013, she is deputy chief of staff, with the rank of minister. Since April 2021, she has been Minister of Mines in the Niger government. She holds a master's degree in business administration (MBA), and a master's degree in project management (MGP) from the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM). She also got a diploma of Human Resources Management at International Institute of Public Administration (IIAP) Paris – France: 1984-1985. She has an extensive experience in coordination and management of multicultural and multidisciplinary teams, like Analysis, planning and management of gender-sensitive projects - Strategic planning – Organizational and institutional development - Management of financial, administrative and human resources - Strategic partnership development and resource mobilization. She is the Regional Representative and Programme Director for the Great Lakes Region, among many other participations in NGOs. She is also in charge of the coordination of the governance, rural development and gender component and is listed as a national gender expert and contributed to the book “Involvement of women in politics in Niger (1996).

YUKIHISA FUJITA (JAPAN)

Former Vice-Minister of Finance and former Member of Upper and Lower Houses of the Japanese Diet (Parliament)

Yukihisa Fujita is the Former Vice Minister of Finance and Former Member of both the Upper House and the Lower House of the Japanese Diet (Parliament).

DECLAN O'BRIEN (IRELAND)

Head of Elections and Democracy Programme (EDP), Kofi Annan Foundation

Declan O’Brien joined the Kofi Annan Foundation in 2012 and currently serves as Head of the Foundation’s Elections and Democracy Programme (EDP), which addresses challenges and opportunities to democracy and electoral integrity around the world. The EDP has led initiatives to support elections or electoral reforms in Nigeria, Kenya, Mexico, Malaysia, and other countries, and has developed policy responses to challenges to Electoral Integrity, including those arising from digital technologies and social media. Declan previously he served as the Project Coordinator for the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, a partnership with the Office of the State Counsellor of Myanmar which fell under the Foundation’s Mediation and Crisis Resolution programmes. He is Irish, and studied at Trinity University and the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland.

IMAD KARAM (PALESTINE / UK) - MODERATOR

Executive Director Initiatives of Change International

Imad Karam grew up in Gaza and studied English at university in Gaza; then worked as an English language editor for a daily newsletter. He won a scholarship to do postgraduate studies in media and communications in London. While working with Initiatives of Change in the UK, Imad was a director of the film department where he displayed a flair for creative management and cross-cultural development. In 2010 he joined the management team with responsibility for communications and international relations. In 2015, Imad was appointed as Executive Director of IofC International. Imad brings spiritual depth, leadership, and management skills as well as deep understanding of the working culture, history and heritage of IofC. Imad is also an accomplished film maker. His most recent work are the award winning documentaries Beyond Forgiving, and The Man Who Build Peace.

24 July 2023 - Plenary 2: The role of civil society in upholding trust and integrity in democracy

WOLFGANG JAMANN (GERMANY)

Executive Director of the International Civil Society Centre, Berlin

Dr. Wolfgang Jamann is the Executive Director at the International Civil Society Centre in Berlin. He has been working in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance for most of his professional life. He has led various strategic partnerships to promote collective approaches toward large ambitions under the Sustainable Development Goals.

BISHOP MATTHEW HASSAN KUKAH (NIGERIA)

Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Nigeria

Bishop Kukah was born on August 31, 1952 in Anchuna, Ikulu Chiefdom in Zangon Kataf local government area of Kaduna State. Kukah received his primary education at St. Fidelis Primary School, Zagom, then St. Joseph Minor Seminary, Zaria, before proceeding to St. Augustine Major Seminary Jos, Plateau State, where he studied Philosophy and Theology. Kukah was ordained a Catholic Priest on December 19, 1976. Bishop M H Kukah also attended the University of Ibadan, where he obtained a diploma in Religious Studies. Kukah also received the Bachelor of Divinity at the Pontifical Urban University, Rome in 1976, followed by a Master’s degree in Peace Studies, at the University of Bradford, United Kingdom in 1980. Kukah's academic pursuits culminated with a PhD from University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in 1990. Between 1999 and 2001 he served as a member of the Nigerian Investigation Commission of Human Rights Violations. In addition to his work as a parish priest of Saint Andrews's parish in Kakuri, Kaduna from 2004 until his nomination as bishop, he was secretary of the National Political Reform Conference (2005) and from 2005 onwards he has been serving as the chairman of the Ogoni-Shell Reconciliation. Additionally, between 2007 and 2009 he worked also in the committee for electoral reform set up by the Nigerian government.

Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah is the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Nigeria.

FRANZISKA HEINE (GERMANY)

Executive Director, Wikimedia Deutschland e.V.

Franziska Heine is the Executive Director of Wikimedia Deutschland, the organization that builds and maintains the software powering the Wikipedias of the world and Wikidata the Linked Open Data knowledge base. She was born in Schwerin, and before joining the non-profit as Head of the Software division in 2017 she learned what it takes to create successful software products by working for eBay and developing digital products for Nokia, Microsoft and HERE Technologies. Her involvement in the successful opposition of the regulation to censor online content in 2009 by the German Government taught her a lot about the power of volunteer communities and activists which influences how she looks at technology till this day.

ARPAN YAGNIK (USA) - MODERATOR

Associate Professor of Advertising at Penn State University

Dr. Arpan Yagnik, Associate Professor of Advertising, Communication at Penn State University, is a Creative Aerobics Expert. Creative Aerobics is a 21st century radical, and fun ideation strategy for generating ideas and creative solutions in quick succession. He is a TEDx speaker, and the coordinator of the Centre for Creativity Enhancement. He has published several articles and books on creativity. In his research, he also deals with the theme of fear, and its links with creativity.

25 July 2023 - Plenary 3: Facts, feelings, fiction

BREON WELLS (USA)

Policy advisor and social impact strategist, USA

Breon Wells is a policy advisor and social impact strategist. He has worked for educating and legislation to prepare the populace for misinformation and disinformation eroding trust in public policy. He has previously been a US congressional Aide, including on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

TOM BRAKE (UNITED KINGDOM)

Director of Unlock Democracy and former Member of Parliament, UK

Tom Brake is a former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom. He is presently the director of Unlock Democracy, which is a not-for-profit organisation campaigning for a democratic society that ensures equality and justice for all.

ADAM NOSAL (UNITED KINGDOM)

Entrepreneur and Business Development Lead at Know You More Ltd

Adam Nosal works on the intersection between consciousness, technology and democracy. He has contributed to various projects such as Democracy Earth foundation, Digital Peace Talks and The Centre for Humane Technology. He is currently focused on the introduction of artificial intelligence and its relationship to consciousness and democracy.

LOUIE GARDINER (UNITED KINGDOM) - MODERATOR

Creator of the P6 Constellation

Louie Gardiner is the creator of the P6 Constellation – the framework that enables people to access the praxis of Presence in Action. This powerful approach equips people to engage in deep personal change, transforming their relationships with themselves, others and the wider world. She is a Director of Presence In Action (PIA) Collective CIC and Potent 6 in which she is the Lead PIA Practitioner & Learning Partner; Change Consultant & Trainer-Facilitator. She has been serving within Initiatives of Change since 2010 and initiated the REAL Change programme in 2015 in the UK in response to emerging needs within and beyond the fellowship.

25 July 2023 - Plenary 4: Re-making institutions of integrity

MICHAEL MØLLER (DENMARK)

Former Director-General of the UN in Geneva

Michael Møller is a Danish diplomat and international civil servant. He is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) from November 2013 to May 2019. He was executive director of the Kofi Annan Foundation from 2008 to 2011 and joined the foundation's board in July 2019. Michael Møller chairs the diplomatic forum of the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator Foundation. He is also a senior adviser at Macro Advisory Partners and a member of the boards of several foundations.

SAM RAINSY (CAMBODIA)

Cambodian activist, economist and politician

Sam Rainsy born in 1949, is a Cambodian activist, economist and politician who most recently served as the Leader of the Opposition. He is now the interim leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party due to the continued ban on political activity by the party's leader, Kem Sokha.
Sam Rainsy went into exile on February 3, 2005, citing fear of arrest, after a vote in the National Assembly. In 2019, Rainsy announced he would return to Cambodia on Independence Day, but was blocked following the Cambodian government's intervention with airlines and with Thailand, where he would have transited.

DR NIRMALA PILLAY (UNITED KINGDOM)

Reader and Postgraduate Course Director Academic

Dr Nirmala Pillay was a trustee of the UK IofC for 10 years. Her involvement with IofC began in SA and continued in New Zealand and the UK. Dr Pillay was a lay canon of Liverpool Cathedral and has served as member and chair of several committees. Currently she serves on the Archbishops Racial Justice Commission which will complete its work in October 2024. Professionally, She is a Legal Scholar specialising in international law, human rights law and philosophy. She studied in the UK, Netherlands (Leiden) and South Africa and has taught in Universities in South Africa, New Zealand, the United States. She currently teaches law in the UK.

She has published widely in constitutional law and human rights and recently especially health rights. She has won several research grants to support her work such as the GCRF grant and MRC/AHRC grants to study the health rights of HIV positive women in prisons in Zimbabwe and Malawi. She is currently being funded (BA Leverhulme Small Grants Scheme) to investigate the right to health in the context of pandemic preparedness.

ALLAN-CHARLES CHIPMAN - MODERATOR

Executive Director Initiatives of Change USA

Allan-Charles Chipman is a lifelong faith community activist, having started his work at the ripe age of six in his hometown of Baltimore, when he was inspired by a group of pastors working to connect their congregations to their communities through service. Previously serving as IofC’s Faith-Rooted Organizer, Allan runs programming for faith communities, equipping them with the tools to think theologically and logically about race and the history of Richmond and America as a whole.

During college, Allan engaged with faith communities to change society through mentorship programs and helped to establish a faculty/student collaborative organization called Reconciliation and Conversation for Everyone (R.A.C.E.). Allan has also worked in the corporate world, where he advocated to build an African-American network to strive for racial equity at one of Richmond’s Fortune 500 companies. He also acted as liaison between minority employees and the human resources department when issues involving race arose.

26 July 2023 - Plenary 5: Re-igniting faith in democracy

HELIA BEN YOUSSEF (TUNISIA)

Vice-President of Socialist International Women, Vice-President FDTL, Tunisia

Born in Tunisia in a militant family, Hella Ben Youssef moved to France to pursue her university studies and obtained a diploma from the University of Bordeaux-IV2. Active in civil society for fifteen years, Hella Ben Youssef became involved in politics after the 2011 revolution and joined the Ettakatol political party. She participated in the constituent elections of 2011, the legislative elections of 2014 and those of 2019 on the list of Ettakatol for the first constituency of France. On September 10, 2017, during the 3rd Ettakatol congress, she was elected vice-president of the party. In March 2018, she was elected Vice-President of the Socialist International Women in charge of the North/South Mediterranean region. She is the first Tunisian to take up this position.

GALI NGOTHE GATTA (CHAD)

Minister and Secretary General of the Republic of Chad

Gali Ngothé Gatta got his G2 baccalaureate at the commercial technical school of N'Djamena in 1970; benefiting from a scholarship, he enrolled in France at the Preparatory of the Grandes Ecoles. Master's degree in applied economics, doctorate in mathematical economics at the University of Nanterre, he returned to the country in 1978 before the civil war. He is a Chadian economist, writer and politician. He is a deputy and spokesperson for the Coordination of Political Parties for the Defense of the Constitution (CPDC), the largest opposition coalition in Chad. Gali Ngothé Gatta serves as President of the DNIS Presidium during the Inclusive and Sovereign National Dialogue (DNIS) from August to October 2022. In October 2022, on the day of the investiture of Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno as President of the transition, he was appointed Minister of State, Secretary General to the Presidency of the Republic. As such, he announced the list of ministers of Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo's unity government.

LISA YASKO (UKRAINE)

Member of the Ukrainian Parliament

Lisa Yasko is a member of the parliament of Ukraine (Servant of the People party), a member of Committee on Foreign affairs and Interparliamentary cooperation, the head of interparliamentary cooperation, bilateral and multilateral relations and also a member of the Ukrainian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. She is also the founder of Yellow Blue Strategy, an NGO with a focus on making Ukraine creative, safe and sustainable. Lisa is active in cultural diplomacy and is a producer of documentary films, TV programmes and creative music performances. Occasionally she also composes and performs music.She is a political and strategic communications specialist who worked at the presidential administration of Ukraine, the Ukrainian parliament and for the British Government (Department of Culture, Digital, Media and Sports). Lisa was a Caux Scholar and Caux Artist in 2015, 2016 and co-organizer of the Caux Dialogue for Land and Security in 2018 and 2019. In parliamentary work her focus is the protection of territorial integrity and national security issues, fostering economic reforms, and to foster the de-occupation of Crimea and Donbass. Lisa advocates for the Ukrainian Recovery NOW, military aid, reforms of the international organizations and the new European reality in peace without any aggressor.

DR NIRMALA PILLAY (UNITED KINGDOM) - MODERATOR

Reader and Postgraduate Course Director Academic

PROGRAMME

Download the full programme here.

WORKSHOPS

Learn more about our workshops here.

PARTNER ORGNISATIONS

Global Indigenous Dialogue
Creators of Peace
IofC Trustbuilding Program.

PARTICIPATION RATES

Full Package

CHF 150 - Standard rate (for individuals - per person per night and day)
CHF 210 - Corporate rate (for institutions - per person per night and day)

All participant rates include:

Accommodation
Participation in the chosen event
Materials provided during the event
WiFi
Meals, coffee / tea, as well as refreshments
City Tax

Daily Visitor Rate

CHF 60 - Visitor rate (per person per day, including lunch, dinner and refreshments)

The Visitor Rate applies to persons who are only attending one or certain non-consecutive days during the Forum; The rate is charged per day and does not include accommodation.

QUESTIONS?

Practical information for your stay in Caux
For further information, please get in touch by email!
Download the flyer
Discover the daily programme

Kindly note that the Caux Forum 2023 events are now fully booked and registrations are closed. Some elements of the conference will be livestreamed. Stay tuned for the livestream links!

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Caux, high above Montreux overlooking the Lake of Geneva, is the site of the Swiss Initiatives of Change conference centre. Initiatives of Change International is hosting the Caux Forum in cooperation with Initiatives of Change Switzerland. Partners include the Global Indigenous Dialogue, Creators of Peace and IofC’s Trustbuilding Program.