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2021 Theme: Families and New Technologies

“In 1993, the General Assembly decided in a resolution (A/RES/47/237) that 15 May of every year should be observed as The International Day of Families.

This day provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase the knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.”[1]

“V. … [United Nations] Member States are encouraged to consider the following recommendations:

(a) Continue their efforts towards the implementation of the objectives of the International Year of the Family and its follow-up processes as conducive to the realization of the 2030 Agenda;

(b) Invest in family-oriented policies targeting poverty to prevent the intergenerational transfer of poverty;

(c) Invest in social protection policies and programmes, promote gendersensitive social protection measures and recognize the role of families as social protection providers;

(d) Invest in a variety of work-family balance policies focused, inter alia, on expanding childcare services and parental leaves, including paternity leaves;

(e) Ensure that family-oriented strategies promote gender equality and the equal sharing of household responsibilities between men and women and recognize the burden of unpaid work;

(f) Enhance efforts to ensure equal pay for equal work;

(g) Safeguard legal identity and birth registration for all newborns to ensure their full participation in society and access to benefits, including social protection;

(h) Promote investments in accessible and affordable infrastructure, including housing and transportation, to benefit families and prevent family homelessness;

(i) Address the causes of family homelessness, including poverty, domestic violence and the lack of affordable housing, and expand efforts to provide adequate and affordable housing with support services for families.”[2]

[1] United Nations. (n.d.). International Day of Families 15 May. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-day-of-families

[2] United Nations. (2019, November). Implementation of the objectives of the International Year of the Family and its follow-up processes (A/75/61-E/2020/4). United Nations Economic and Social Council. https://undocs.org/A/75/61%E2%80%93E/2020/4

I am happy to be sharing as a panelist of the virtual event below. Please join us!

” … Webster Leiden Student Government Association (SGA) … cordially invite you all to [its] … upcoming webinar on 19 February 2021 from 11 am to 2 pm [CET].

The theme of the webinar is the “Effects of COVID-19 on Human Trafficking and Education.”

The SGA will be hosting a panel of guest speakers Kean Smith, Dr. Sheetal Shah, Amanda Mauro, MA, Dr. Sumaiya. They are from two non-governmental organizations based in the Netherlands.

The event’s objective is to educate the students and public about the forms of modern-day slavery and the numerous ways the current pandemic has restrained resources available to victims.

Also, how the Coronavirus pandemic has further limited the victims’ access to quality education, especially those seeking asylum, and how counseling is used to rehabilitate and reintegrate victims into society.

To register for this educative and informative webinar, kindly use the QR code on the flyers. However, should you experience difficulty with the QR code, please use the link below for registration:

Do not forget to register, share and repost.

Thank you.

Looking forward to seeing you at the event.
#websterleidencampus#society#websterSGA“

Last year, on March 11, 2020 The World Health Organisation declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic. From then to now, all of our lives have changed. Working from home is more common place and businesses in some cases have taken major steps to offer and/or deliver services online.

As a means of adjusting and trying to make my time count, I decided to build my personal capacity. For example, I completed a Bid Writing Course that was delivered online. While the course was very interesting, it is a story for another day. Instead, I would like to share some information with you that might lead to very profitable investments. About one month before the WHO declared COVID-19 a Pandemic, I read a life changing book.

The book I am referring to is “Angel” by Jason Calacanis.

This is a book about angel investing from the perspective of a successful angel investor. I found it be be a hybrid of the history of technology start-ups and a straight forward easy to understand strategy “play book” on how to invest as an angel investor in technology start-ups. Yes start-ups. Technology start-ups like Uber and Linkedin. While it may be challenging to locate these start-ups because you might be new to angel investing, you can always join a syndicate of angel investors. Interesting right? I found the content of the book fascinating.

I highly recommend this book if you are looking to broaden your general knowledge about angel investing and the history of technology start-ups.

Happy reading.

Please feel free to direct any questions or comments to Kean Smith at kean@smithkas.com

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