Report of the ‘20x20 -Drivers of Change’ night
Organized by Africa Diaspora Policy Centre, The Hague
By Sahro Ahmed
On the 23rd of September 2009 Africans living in the Netherlands told their inspiring and successful stories of their efforts varying from building a school in a remote village to empowering women, and from stimulating entrepreneurship to changing mindsets. What set these Africans apart wasn’t only a steadfast commitment to peace and development, but also the fact that they were experts by experience. The ‘Drivers of Change – personal and inspiring testimonials from the African Diaspora’ project was implemented by the African Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC) and funded by HIRDA, Multicultural Women Peacemakers Network (MWPN) and NCDO.
The evening found, accepting a free entrance, took place at the Nutshuis, along the Riviervismarkt in The Hague. The title of the evening was ‘20x20’as that was the form in which the speakers told their stories: 20 slides narrated in 20 seconds each. The evening was hosted by Amma Baddoo-Asante and the speakers were Stella Ismail (Somalia), Bioli Ikele (Congo), Debritu Mogesse Lusteau (Ethiopia) Ali Balunywa (Uganda), Rachel Tocklu (Eritrea/ Ethiopia), Stéphanie Mbanzendore (Burundi), Mekka Abdelgabar (Sudan), Sulaiman Bangura (Sierra Leone), Kon Kelei (Sudan), Joseph Seh (PSO) and Ismail Awil (Oxfam Novib). Languages of the evening were English & French, with simultaneous translations to and from English & French.
The evening was well attended by the media, policy makers and practitioner as well as government and civil society members. To read all the stories of these drivers of change, please go to Diaspora Centre