public diplomacy

Qatar's soccer league, in a break with a reluctance among Gulf states to give their largely expatriate majorities a sense of belonging, is next month organizing the region's first cup for foreign workers' teams. The cup, involving up to 24 teams formed by foreign workers primarily from Asia who account for the bulk of Qatar's 1.5 million expatriates, is part of an effort to improve working and living conditions as well as a bid to fend off international trade union demands to meet global labor standards.

You’ve got to feel sorry for Australia’s public international television service, Australia Network. Launched by the Keating government in 1994 under the name Australia Television, its short life has been blighted with funding cuts, death threats, name changes and a failed outsourcing effort. Its most recent adventure was the messy tender tempest to determine who should be awarded the new contract to manage the network.

Wave 6, the latest edition of social media research by Universal McCann media agency, highlights an interesting difference in various nations’ attitudes towards privacy in social networking sites. Of course, any conclusions based on opinion polls tend to oversimplify the image of reality. However, the study seems to provide additional arguments in favour of two theses. Firstly, social media play an important role in terms of building social capital in countries where other forms of self-expression are limited.

Last week in Jordan, 50 women from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, Yemen and the United States came together to map out ways in which they could use the TechWomen network to encourage more women and girls to pursue professions in science, technology, engineering, and mathematic (STEM).

Sixteen Moldovan journalists and civil society activists, keen on using media as a tool to make government more transparent, have just completed a Broadcasting Board of Governors-sponsored workshop that focused on using mobile phones and new media tools to promote the free flow of information.

Alhurra’s ground-breaking program Rayheen ala Feen? (Arabic for “Where Are We Going?”) is being broadcast in primetime on the entertainment/news channel Al Hayat-1 (red channel), one of the most popular channels in Egypt.

The most recent installment in the CPD Perspectives series, "Cases in Water Diplomacy" is an edited volume of six case studies in water diplomacy. Released on the heels of the 10th annual World Water Day (observed March 22nd, as mandated by the United Nations General Assembly), this collection highlights the ever-growing importance of strategic water diplomacy in all regions of the world.

To enhance cultural exchanges between India and the United States of America, the Union Ministry of Culture and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (MMA) today signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) here. The agreement was signed by Dr. Venu Vasudevan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India and Thomas P. Campbell, Director, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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