ADVERTISING
Apply for the 7th ARSO Continental Essay Competition on Role of Standardisation in Resolving and Addressing the Socio-economic Issues for the Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons and Creating Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa. See Eligibility, Entry Rules and Regulations, Prizes, Application Guidelines and Deadline for 2019/2020 Session.
INTRODUCTION
Theme: “The role of Standardisation in resolving and addressing the socio- economic issues for the Refugees, Returnees and Internallg Displaced Persons and creating durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa”State of Refugees in the World and Africa in Particular There is global momentum directed toward addressing the challenge of forced displacement through development approaches. The United Nations estimates that the number of people displaced bg conflict (including refugees, internallg displaced people, and asglum seekers) worldwide is at its highest level ever for the first time since the end of World War II, at over 70 million. According to the World Bank, the number of refugees and asglum seekers is more than the entire population of Australia. The second largest number of refugees in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa with almost 6.6 million displaced people. Africa is the worst affected region with more than a third of the world’s forciblg displaced. Two African countries, South Sudan and Somalia, are among the top five sources of refugees in the world. African countries, especially Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia, also host the most refugees in the world, (UNHCR 2018).
Refugees Conventions and Standards Forced displacement changes social relations; the arrival of displaced persons is often associated with social disruption, tension, grievance, social fragmentation and economic upheaval (World Bank, UNCHR (2016), and one of the outstanding achievements of the 20th centurg in the humanitarian field has been the establishment of the principle that the refugee problem is a matter of concern to the international communitg and must be addressed in the context of international cooperation and burden—sharing, and highlight that until an appropriate durable solution is found for them and refugees cease to be refugees either through voluntarg repatriation or legal integration (naturalization) in their new home countrg, it is necessarg for them to be treated in accordance with internationallg recognized basic minimum standards. These standards are defined in a series of international instruments (conventions, resolutions, recommendations, etc), adopted at the universal level under the United Nations, or within the framework of regional organizations such as the Council of Europe, the Organization of African Unitg and the Organization of American States. In order to ensure their more effective implementation, mang of these standards have been incorporated into the national law of a growing number of countries. At the universal level, the most comprehensive legallg binding international instrument, defining standards for the treatment of refugees is the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28th July 1951.
In the aftermath of World War, I (1914-1918), millions of people fled their homelands in search of refuge. governments responded by drawing up a set of international agreements to provide travel documents for these people who were, efi’ectivelg, the first refugees of the 20th centurg. Their numbers increased dramatically during and after World War II (1939—1945), as millions more were forciblg displaced, deported and/or resettled. Throughout the 20th centurg, the international communitg steadilg assembled a set of guidelines, laws and conventions to ensure the adequate treatment of refugees and protect their human rights. The process began under the League of Nations in 1921. In Julg 1951, a diplomatic conference in geneva adopted the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (‘1951 Convention’), which was later amended bg the 1967 Protocol. These documents clearlg spell out who is a refugee and the kind of legal protection, other assistance and social rights a refugee is entitled to receive. It also defines a refugee’s obligations to host countries and specifies certain categories of people, such as war criminals, who do not qualifg for refugee status. Initiallg, the 1951 Convention was more or less limited to protecting European refugees in the aftermath of World War II, but the 1967 Protocol expanded its scope as the problem of displacement spread around the world. These instruments (the 1951 UN Convention and the 1967 Protocol) have also helped inspire important regional instruments such as the 1969 0AU Refugee Convention in Africa, the 1984 Cartagena Declaration in Latin America and the development of a common asglum sgstem in the European Union. Todag, the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol together remain the cornerstone of refugee protection, and their provisions are as relevant now as when theg were drafted.
ABOUT African Organization for Standardization
ARSO is an intergovernmental body, established by the African Union and UNECA in 1977 with the principal mandate to harmonize African Standards and conformity assessment procedures in order to reduce Technical Barriers to Trade and therefore promote intra African and international Trade as well as enhance the industrialization of Africa.Part of ARSO mandate is to ensure the well-being and safety of the African Community. Thus being an African organization, all the efforts to eradicate poverty and ensure the youth are enlightened and create a culture of quality among the youth is in line with its vision and mission.
ARSO Vision Statement
To be an excellent standardisation center that promotes trade and industry.
ARSO Mission Statement
To facilitate intra-African and global trade through providing harmonised standards and facilitating their implementation.
Apex (Apex Management system-consultants Ltd) is a leading Kenyan management training company with experiences of delivering a broad range of ISO based management training courses with clients from government ministries, parastals, and institutions of higher learning and private sector organizations. In addition to this, Apex also runs the following:
• The certifed frms expo and plenary sessions
• Annual quality workshops
• Directory of certifed frms
• Apex young professional
ABOUT THE 6TH ESSAY COMPETITION
Theme: “The role of Standardization in resolving and addressing the socio—economic issues for the Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons and creating durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa"The Competition aims to have 3 categories of winners: the National, Regional and Continental. In this regard, ARSO is requesting all the National Standards Bodies (NSBs) in Africa to organise the competition at the National level and send out the attached documents (7th Continental Essag Concept Paper and Registration Form) to the various Universities /Colleges for the competition.
The NSB is expected to conduct the competition at National level. This entails sending out the relevant documents to Colleges/ Universities, receiving the essays from the participants, doing the assessment and awarding or giving recognition to the winners as appropriate to the NSB.
The organizers are inviting students in institutions of higher learning in Africa (Colleges/ Universities approved by their local commission of higher education) to submit their essags on the theme: “The role of Standardisation in resolving and addressing the socio—economic issues for the Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons and creating durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa” to their respective National Standards Bodies (NSBs) email addresses. (Confirm with your respective NSBs on the submission dates) Kindly note that a minimum of 25 participants should be registered with respective NSBs in order for them to proceed to regional competition. The deadline for submitting top three winners by National Standards Bureaus (NSBs) is 31St March 2020 through arso@ arso-oran.org
ENTRY RULES AND CONDITIONS
1. This competition is open to Citizens of all African Countries below the age of 35 years living in Africa and studying in a university/college recognised by the local commission for university education or equivalent body in their countries2. Length of essays : Essays should be between 1000 and 1200 words
3. Presentation: Essays should be double spaced and presented in Century Gothic, size 12
4. Language of essays: Essays must be submitted in English or French.
5. Information on the author: Authors may use up to 50 words to describe themselves. Information
should include their names, course and year of study, name, town and country in which their
university is located. (N. B: this will not be part of the 1000- 1200 words)
6. Contacts of authors: Authors should provide us with their postal, physical, telephone and email
addresses on the first page of the essay together with the title of the essay and information on the
author. Also kindly attach a copy of the Identity Card or pass port and a completely flled registration
form that can be obtained from Apex (www.apextrainingafrica.org) and ARSO (www.arso-oran.org)
Eligibility
• The following essays are not eligible for this competition:i. Essays that have been shown or accepted for other competitions.
ii. Essays that have been published in any form.
iii. Essays that focus on the work of a particular person, organization or brand name.
9. Number of essays to submitted: Participants are only allowed to submit one essay.
WHAT THE ORGANISERS ARE LOOKING FOR—NOT NECESSARILY IN THE ORDER BELOW:
There are different areas on the Role of Standardisation in winning the fght Against Corruption for sustainable Africa’s Transformation within Africa:
• Benefits of the fight Against Corruption within Africa;
• Status and challenges of Corruption within Africa;
• The fght Against Corruption as a catalyst to Africa’s Growth for improving the quality and standards of products and services within Africa
• The Benefts to Consumers, Manufacturers and suppliers, Regulators and The government
• Specifc Benefts of Anti Corruption and Anti Bribery Standards to Consumers, Manufacturers and
suppliers, Regulators and The government.
THE ESSAY SHOULD HAVE:
1. A precise introduction of the essay
2. Explanation of the problems in the fight against corruption through the use of standards
3. General understanding of standards (Anti Corruption and Anti Bribery standards)
4. General knowledge of the Status and challenges with Corruption in Africa
5. How standards contribute to the Fight Against Corruption
6. A clear example in the society on how Standards have been used to fight corruption within Africa or in your country
7. Conclusion
PRIZES FOR WINNERS
There will be two levels of winnersAt Regional Level
- 1st position – USD 500
- 2nd position –USD 300
- 3rd position – USD 200
- 1st position – (male and female) each USD 1000
- 2nd position –USD 800
- 3rd position – USD 500
SELECTION OF WINNERS IN REGIONS
The selection of winners at regional level will be done according to the UNECA clustering of Africanstates as follows.
CENTRAL AFRICA:
Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome & Principe
EASTERN AFRICA:
Burundi, Comoros, D.R Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
NORTH AFRICA:
Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia
SOUTHERN AFRICA:
Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe
WEST AFRICA:
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo
More information on this can be obtained by visiting www.uneca.org.
COPYRIGHT
Please note that by entering the competition, you have assigned copyright of your essay to the
organizers of this event who may publish it in whole or in part on their respective websites, websites of national standards bodies, a wide range of publications for circulation both inside and outside Africa.
SELECTION OF WINNERS
Winners will be selected through a fair and impartial selection process by the organizers.The decision of the judges shall be final.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS
• Regional winnersInformation on regional winners will be published on the following websites:
1. The organizers
2. Their respective regional economic communities
3. The website of their national standards body
Regional winners will be announced during the national standards day celebrations in their countries immediately following the essay competition and selection of winners
• Continental winners
Information on Continental winners will be published on the following websites:
1. The organizers
2. African Union Commission
3. Website of all national standards bodies
Continental winners will be announced during the Africa Standards Day Celebration held yearly during the ARSO General Assembly (in Kampala, Uganda—June 2020).
Deadline
31St March 2020 (Other African Country)Mail address for submission in Nigeria are as follows:
Phebean.Arumemi@son.gov.ng/ophebby@gmail.com.
Paul.pankes@son.gov.ng/pcpankes@yahoo.com
All Applications close by 12:00 midnight on Saturday, 22nd February, 2020 (Nigerians).
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