Session Details

Speaker: Arun Kumar - Executive, World Toilet Organisation
Venue: Room 1

Sypnosis:
2.6 billion people or 42% of the world's population still have no access to proper sanitation. Despite setting the Millennium Development Goal in 2002 to half this number by 2015, the number remained the same in 2007 5,000 children die everyday from diarrhea alone. 3.5 billion people have intestinal worms. On any day, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from water-borne diseases. Untreated feces are a killer. Proper sanitation is the cheapest preventive medicine. Find out more on how sanitation is a global issues, and what we can do to effectively address these issues.

Speaker: Jared Tham - Founding President, The Choice Initiative
Venue: Room 3

Sypnosis:
Ethical Shopping workshop. While we may not be able to do much about macroeconomic trade rules, we can certainly vote with our wallets at the checkout counter. Learn about the ethical shopping scene in Singapore, and how you can get started, in this Q&A-based session.

Speaker: Siew Kum Hong - Nominated Member of Parliament
Venue: Room 5

Sypnosis:
Human rights have frequently been presented to Singaporeans as being mutually exclusive with economic growth. This workshop will examine whether this is in fact a false dichotomy. It will include a brief primer on human rights, and will touch on the ways in which human rights can be relevant to daily lives as well as Singapore's position on certain international human rights issues.

Speaker: Kephren Ayanari - Syinc
Venue: Room 7

Sypnosis:
The UN is often faulted for being an ineffective organisation for providing solutions to conflict, poverty, and human rights violations, yet it is also widely regarded as one of the world's biggest forces for peace and progress. It has traditionally been the domain of high-level diplomats and senior government officials, too far removed for mere mortals such as young individuals from Singapore to be involved. Or is it? Hear from the experiences of a young group in Singapore on their efforts to break new ground in UN youth engagement, with specific references to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.

Speaker: Michael Switow - Co-founder, ONE (Singapore)
Venue: Room 9

Sypnosis:
Every three seconds a child dies from extreme poverty. But it doesn't have to be this way. The resources and technology exist in the world today to transform the hopes and dreams of an entire generation. In 2000, leaders from 189 countries, including Singapore, signed the Millennium Declaration, which laid out eight clearcut time-bound targets to halve extreme poverty by 2015 and eliminate it altogether by 2025. Unfortunately, the world is not on track. And with the recent food crisis, we're backsliding. It's estimate that an additional 100 million people have been pushed into poverty. Through stories, pictures, interactive activities and discussion, this session will examine the extent and causes of the global poverty crisis as well as ways to end it.

Speaker: Louis Ng - Founder & Executive Director, ACRES
Venue: Room 1

Sypnosis:
The workshop will cover various animal welfare issues in Singapore. It introduces the question "Do animals have rights?" and gives a brief introduction into the ways in which our everyday lives and activities have an impact on the welfare of animals. The work of ACRES in the areas of improving captive animal welfare, undercover investigations, wildlife rescue work and raising public awareness on animal welfare is introduced and footage from our undercover investigations will be shown. The workshop will also highlight how students have and continue to play a vital role in making a difference for animals in Singapore.

Speaker: Bogdan Imre - Project Officer, Asia-Europe Foundation
Venue: Room 3

Sypnosis:
Project Management has become an important aspect of daily life in the modern world, present in society in most of its aspects as an essential tool both for organisations and for individuals. From world-wide campaigns to holidays, from business to presidential elections, whether we are aware or not, project management is the element that facilitates our successes. Throughout the workshop we will explore certain aspects of this concept such as needs analysis, objective setting, time management and planning. It will incorporate both theoretical and practical exercises, providing participants with different experiences and skills.

Speaker: Sha Najak - Migrant Voices
Venue: Room 5

Sypnosis:
Theatrical performances, music, poetry recitals - all these are forms of art which can be used as forms of interactive audience engagement on social issues. Join Sha as she shares her experiences in using Art for Social Change - from the working on a Migrant Voices CD Album to registering an arts group to continue its work. Art is not merely a showcase, it is a means of engaging people for social change.

Speaker: Jamie Lewis - The Choice Initiative
Venue: Room 7

Sypnosis:
Forum Theatre is a theatrical game in which a problem is shown in an unsolved form, to which the audience, again spect-actors, is invited to suggest and enact solutions. The problem is always the symptom of (an) oppression and generally involves visible oppressors and a protagonist who is oppressed. Its aim is to stimulate debate (in the form of actions, not words), to show alternatives, to enable people to 'become the protagonists of their own lives.' The workshop will introduce the ideology behind the form and demonstrate the process of Forum Theatre.

Speaker: Saleemah Ismail - President, UNIFEM Singapore.
Venue: Room 9

Sypnosis:
Building effective partnerships and alliances is a powerful way to bring credibility, scale, and even funding to your projects. How can you go about doing this, and navigate the world of community groups, government agencies, philanthropic foundations, and other stakeholders? Saleemah Ismail shares from her extensive experience in community and social change work.