I delivered a keynote at the three days long Conference for National Human Rights Institutions of South Asia in Kathmandu titled “Identifying Challenges, Assessing Progress, Moving Forward: Addressing Impunity and Realizing Human Rights in South Asia.”

My keynote has dealt with human rights and social cohesion – see attachment below.

In addition, I delivered lectures at:
. The School of Arts, Kathmandu University (organised by Dean Sagar Raj Sharma);
. Department of Conflict, Peace and Development Studies of Tribhuvan University (by A/Prof. Bijaya Dahal);   and
. a lecture organised jointly by the National Law College affiliated to Tribhuvan University (invited by NaLC Executive Director Dr Ram Krishna Timalsena) and the School of Law, Kathmandu University (by Dean Bipin Adhikari)

My visit to Kathmandu was a great opportunity to advertise the 9th ICHRE and re-fresh/establish contacts with key leaders of human rights organisations in South Asia, and some countries from South-East Asia, participating in the conference.

Many thanks for hospitality extended to me by our Ambassador to Nepal, Mr Pete Budd and Dr Surya Dhungel (Chair of the Board of National Law College, Senior Advocate to Supreme Court and former long term legal adviser to President of Nepal).

It was great to talk about human rights advances in Nepal since 2006 with Mr Manohar Prasad Bhattarai, Secretary General, Legislature Parliament; Hon. Surendra Pandey MP, former Minister of Finance and current member of the Standing Committee CPN (UML) and many others.

2018-05-08 Kathmandu Nepal Conference Paper 

Emeritus Professor Laksiri Dharmasoka Jayasuriya (1931 – 2018) passed away on April 20th 2018 in Perth. Laksiri was Professor of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Western Australia.

I have worked with Laksiri on a number of multicultural project, including on his contributions to the National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia when I have worked in the Office of multicultural affairs, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet during the prime Minister Bob Hawke.

Laksiri was a great man, outstanding scholar and great contributor to multicultural Australia. He was a friend and a true gentlemen. We will miss him.

I offer my deepest condolences to his family.

I attach a short note written by Dr. Siri Gamage of Sydney, Australia commemorating Professor Laksiri Jayasuriya’s life and achievements.

In memorium 

The 9th ICHRE is now live! See: http://ichre2018.com.au        

I write now to invite you to attend the 9th International Conference on Human Rights Education (9th ICHRE) which I will be convening at Western Sydney University, Parramatta Campus, Sydney, Australia on 26-29 November 2018. The working title is: 9th International Conference on Human Rights Education – Unleashing the Full Potential of Civil Society.

The call for papers has been isssued – ‘save the date’ and consider putting your proposal forward now especially if you are involved with human rights education as academic thinker, international and government official, NGOs and human rights and education practitioner or if you work with grass-roots human rights issues in developing countries.

The 9th ICHRE will coincide with and celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 25th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration which highlighted the value of human rights education.

The Conference will consider the range of human rights education issues such as national and international curricula, pedagogy and best practices. It will address contemporary challenges and how to effectively address them. Attention will be given to the most effective ways of maximising the potential of civil society through human rights education. The delivery of lasting solutions and strengthening the practical knowledge and skills of participants, including through human rights education workshops, will be the key objectives.

Looking forward to seeing you at the 9th ICHRE in Sydney this November.

This April marked the fourth year of the ongoing war in Ukraine between the Ukrainian military and Russian backed separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine, also known as the Donbas region. Prior to the beginning of the war in eastern Ukraine in April 2014, Russia annexed Crimea.

Russia’s aggression into Ukraine came in direct violation of its obligations under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. Under the memorandum, in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons, Russia reaffirmed its “obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine” and promised that none of its weapons would ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defence or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

To learn more, please join me at the Western Open Forum with Special Guest Speaker His Excellency Dr Mykola Kulinich, Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia. The Forum will be held on 16 May 2018 5:30pm for 6pm start at Female Orphan School (Building EZ, West Wing), Western Sydney University, Parramatta South Campus

Do you wish to learn more about the current challenges to freedom of speech in Australia?

Join us for discussion about the current federal legislative initiatives such as:
• Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill 2017;
• National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign influence) Bill 2017
• Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Bill 2017
• Identity Matching Services Bill 2018; and
• Australian passports Amendment (Identity Matching Services) Bill 2018.

Our experts include Dr Tamsin Clarke, Ms Valerie Heath and Ms Angela Chan of the Australian Lawyers for Human Rights.

WHERE: Female Orphan School, Parramatta South Campus, Western Sydney university

WHEN: Thursday 26 April, 5.30 for 6.00 PM start.

This is a free event and open to the general public.

Members of the International Advisory Committee of the International Coalition To End Transplant Abuse In China (ETAC) wrote to the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS) to express concern that the Vatican conference “Modern Slavery, Human Trafficking, and Access to Justice for the Poor and Vulnerable” held from March 12-13 included among its attendees and speakers Dr. Wang Haibo, the head of the China Organ Transplant Response System (COTRS).
Read the letter below to understand why this is concerning.

ETAC_Letter-re-Vatican-Conference-2018

Best wishes to all women – let’s celebrate your success and achievements! Particular wishes to my wife, daughter, daughters-in-law, grand-daughters and all women friends and co-workers.

International Women’s Day is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. This Day also provides us an opportunity to reflect on and recognise the important and ongoing work still needed in progressing gender equality both locally and globally.

This International Women’s day we are encouraged to #PressforProgress by motivating and uniting friends, colleagues and whole communities to think, act and be gender inclusive. It is important to acknowledge success and promote a culture which values the importance of equity and inclusion and recognises the role women and gender diverse individuals play in the continued growth and development of the world.

International Women’s Day URL – http://www.internationalwomensday.com.au/

I warmly welcome the signing of a maritime boundaries treaty between Australia and Timor-Leste on 6 March 2018 In New York. The Treaty Between the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and Australia Establishing their Maritime Boundaries in the Timor Sea was signed at the United Nations Headquarters in the presence of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres.

A significant event, the signing of this new maritime boundaries treaty marks the successful conclusion of the first-ever recourse by States to conciliation proceedings under Annex V to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The Comprehensive Package Agreement of 30 August 2017, which includes the new Treaty, puts an end to a decade-long maritime dispute between Timor-Leste and Australia. “By delimiting the maritime boundary between the two States in the Timor Sea, and by establishing a special regime for the area comprising the Greater Sunrise gas field, this Agreement puts these States in a better position to exercise their respective rights and obligations under UNCLOS in an effective manner” said the Secretary-General in his remarks at the signing ceremony.

The Treaty, he noted, “is a further contribution to establishing legal certainty in the world’s oceans, an essential condition for stable relations, peace and security, and the achievement of sustainable development.”

In my blog post dated 3rd December 2013 I incorrectly used inverted commas in the title. My intention was to provide emphasis but I accept that the use of quotation marks around the word “guilty” may have indicated to readers that this was a direct quote from Dr Jakubowicz’s work. I accept that Dr Jakubowicz never wrote or said those words.

In fact, Dr Jakubowicz has acknowledged that, “One often-unrecognised tragedy of the Holocaust was that three million Catholic Poles died …. along with the three million Polish Jews at the hands of the Nazis ( https://andrewjakubowicz.com/publications/notes-for-a-grave-under-snow/)”

Dr Jakubowicz feels that my post has,
“significantly misrepresented my position, invented a phrase that I have never used, nor would use, and construed me as an enemy of the Polish nation. In my research on relations between Polish citizens of Christian and Jewish faiths, all of which has been academically refereed, I have been an assiduous supporter of reconciliation between Polish Christians and Polish Jews. In research published in recent months I have revealed more information about the role of the Polish government in exile in doing its utmost to support those of its Jewish citizens it was able to aid.”

I accept that my original post caused Dr Jakubowicz distress and retract it fully. The blog of 3rd December 2013 has been removed.

I am delighted to be awarded UNE Distinguished Alumni Award for “advocacy of multiculturalism and human rights’ .

It brings back many memories about my humble beginnings in Australia, first as a night shift process worker in Ralph Symonds and then as a PhD student at the New England University. It was a time of forming new friendships, learning English and Australia. UNE gave me a great foundation for my professional future.

I appreciate this distinction very much.

The below photographs are from the Award Ceremony held in Sydney on 20 September 2017 with Professor Annabelle Duncan, Vice-Chancellor and CEO, New England University and with Mr James Harris, Chancellor, New England University.