International Issues Forums:

ICIU facilitates three International Issues Forums per year, which are designed to explore the interdependent relationship between global events and local actions. This series of forums focuses on a wide variety of international and cultural issues ranging from world hunger and human rights to world peace and cultural diversity. Each forum is sponsored by a local business or organization, and hundreds of community members and local media attend. Our most recent forums include:

 

"The Future of Pakistan" with Khalid Hasan"

June 10, 2008

State Historical Building

ICIU presented "The Future of Pakistan", a free and open to the public forum on June 10. The forum featured Mr. Khalid Hasan, Former Press Secretary for President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and currently a senior journalist for a Lahore based newspaper, The Daily Times. Mr. Hasan discussed the present state of affairs in Pakistan and what the future holds for Pakistan, especially as it relates to the US foreign policy. The forum was made possible by the generous support from Townsend Vision, Inc. For more information, please contact us at 515-282-8269.

 

 

“No Exit: A Summit on Human Trafficking”

October 9, 2007

Hoyt Sherman Place

The first ever "Summit on Human Trafficking" in Iowa took place on October 9 at the Hoyt Sherman Place. Sponsored by the Iowa Council for International Understanding in conjunction with the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Network Against Human Trafficking, the forum, attended by over 400 community members addressed the issue of human trafficking, commonly understood has bringing people to the US against their will to provide forced labor or other work-often in sex trade. The speakers also addressed the steps global, federal, and state communities are taking to address the issue of this so called “modern-day slavery”. Speakers included Amy O’Neill Richard, a Senior Advisor to the Director in the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Person; T. March Bell , Senior Special Counsel for Trafficking Issues with the Civil Rights Division at the US Attorney General’s Office at the Department of Justice; Mari Jose Fletcher, the Supervising Attorney of the Florida Immigration Advocacy Center and Maggie Tinsman, former Iowa state senator who talked about the specific steps Iowa has taken to address the issue of human trafficking. A former victim of human trafficking, Delemani Coulibaly also shared her experience of how she was wrongfully brought to the US under false pretense for domestic labor. Columnist Rekha Basu of the Des Moines Register moderated the forum.

The forum, free and open to the public was endorsed by over 40 organizations representing government, law enforcement agencies, and service providers. Bonnie Campbell served as the Honorary Chair of the No Exit: A Summit on Human Trafficking.

This summit was part of the series of International Issues Forums ICIU does to raise awareness on critical global issues. For more information on these forums, please contact Christina Sibouih at christina.sibouih@iciu.org or by calling 515-282-8269 x 15.

Forum Transcript