Pearson Global was established to celebrate great Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, his work as a diplomat to make the world a safer place.
Pearson lectures provide a congenial intellectual environment for the exchange of opinions and ideas. The intention is that experienced, thought
provoking lecturers will share their knowledge and expertise for the benefit of the larger community. Each lecture will focus on a different aspect of
sustainable development under nine diffrent themes such as development, economics, environment and natural resources, food and agriculture, health,
governance, information and communication, science and technology, social policy and gender equality. And also may draw on a variety of disciplines
including, but not limited to, resource economies, social and economic issues related to development, issues related to design capacity, policy
discussions and the global challenges of urban and rural communities.
Pearson Global forms a multi-disciplinary and diverse community that includes distinguished senior scholars and eminent members of society beyond
the academic world. Dr. Neville Hewage, program director of Ontario International Development Agency, was one of the founders of the Pearson Global.
Pearson lectures provide a congenial intellectual environment for the exchange of opinions and ideas. The intention is that experienced, thought
provoking lecturers will share their knowledge and expertise for the benefit of the larger community. Each lecture will focus on a different aspect of
sustainable development under nine diffrent themes such as development, economics, environment and natural resources, food and agriculture, health,
governance, information and communication, science and technology, social policy and gender equality. And also may draw on a variety of disciplines
including, but not limited to, resource economies, social and economic issues related to development, issues related to design capacity, policy
discussions and the global challenges of urban and rural communities.
Pearson Global forms a multi-disciplinary and diverse community that includes distinguished senior scholars and eminent members of society beyond
the academic world. Dr. Neville Hewage, program director of Ontario International Development Agency, was one of the founders of the Pearson Global.
Our Speakers
Professor W. Andy Knight is former Director of the Institute of International Relations in Trinidad and past
Chair of the Department of Political Science of the University of Alberta, Canada. He is currently Professor of
international Relations in the Political Science Department at the University Alberta, Canada and a Fellow of
the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC). He has written and edited several books on Global Politics, the United
Nations, Terrorism, Building Sustainable Peace and Regional integration movements.
His most recent books include: Female Suicide Bombings: A Critical Gendered Approach (with Tanya
Narozhna of the University of Winnipeg) published by University of Toronto Press in 2016; Remapping the
Americas: Trends in Region-Making, with Julian Castro-Rea & Hamid Ghany (Ashgate 2014); The Routledge
Handbook of the Responsibility to Protect (with Frazer Egerton) – Routledge 2012; Towards the Dignity of
Difference?: Neither 'end of History' Nor 'clash of Civilizations' (with Mojtaba Mahdavi) – Ashgate 2012; and
Global Politics (with Tom Keating) – Oxford University Press 2010.
Chair of the Department of Political Science of the University of Alberta, Canada. He is currently Professor of
international Relations in the Political Science Department at the University Alberta, Canada and a Fellow of
the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC). He has written and edited several books on Global Politics, the United
Nations, Terrorism, Building Sustainable Peace and Regional integration movements.
His most recent books include: Female Suicide Bombings: A Critical Gendered Approach (with Tanya
Narozhna of the University of Winnipeg) published by University of Toronto Press in 2016; Remapping the
Americas: Trends in Region-Making, with Julian Castro-Rea & Hamid Ghany (Ashgate 2014); The Routledge
Handbook of the Responsibility to Protect (with Frazer Egerton) – Routledge 2012; Towards the Dignity of
Difference?: Neither 'end of History' Nor 'clash of Civilizations' (with Mojtaba Mahdavi) – Ashgate 2012; and
Global Politics (with Tom Keating) – Oxford University Press 2010.
Dr. Andy Knight, Ph.D.
University of Alberta, Canada
Christopher Isike, PhD is a Professor of African Politics and International Relations Department of Political
Sciences, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa. An Africanist scholar by research standpoint, Prof
Isike’s teaching and research interests revolve around the quality of women’s political representation in
Africa, women and peace-building in Africa, African immigration to South Africa, human security, human
factor development in Africa, African soft power politics and development dynamics. A C3 rated researcher by
South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF), Prof Isike has published scores of quality articles in
international peer-reviewed journals. He consults for the UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women and the KwaZulu-
Natal provincial government on gender equality and women empowerment issues in the province. In
recognition of his work on gender equality in Africa, he was selected by the South African government to be
part of a KwaZulu-Natal government delegation to Ethiopia on a study tour to explore its social
transformation model in ending early childhood/forced marriages in 2013. Prof Isike has just finished a one
year sabbatical stint as Senior Research Advisor at the Shell Petroleum Development Company in Nigeria
where he was a programme monitoring and evaluation specialist in the External Relations Department of the
company. He is a Council and Executive member of the South African Association of Political Science
(SAAPS), a member of the International Political Science Association (IPSA), Canadian Association of
African Studies (CAAS), EPOS; Global conflict mediation and resolution network and Ontario International
Development Agency (OIDA).
Sciences, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa. An Africanist scholar by research standpoint, Prof
Isike’s teaching and research interests revolve around the quality of women’s political representation in
Africa, women and peace-building in Africa, African immigration to South Africa, human security, human
factor development in Africa, African soft power politics and development dynamics. A C3 rated researcher by
South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF), Prof Isike has published scores of quality articles in
international peer-reviewed journals. He consults for the UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women and the KwaZulu-
Natal provincial government on gender equality and women empowerment issues in the province. In
recognition of his work on gender equality in Africa, he was selected by the South African government to be
part of a KwaZulu-Natal government delegation to Ethiopia on a study tour to explore its social
transformation model in ending early childhood/forced marriages in 2013. Prof Isike has just finished a one
year sabbatical stint as Senior Research Advisor at the Shell Petroleum Development Company in Nigeria
where he was a programme monitoring and evaluation specialist in the External Relations Department of the
company. He is a Council and Executive member of the South African Association of Political Science
(SAAPS), a member of the International Political Science Association (IPSA), Canadian Association of
African Studies (CAAS), EPOS; Global conflict mediation and resolution network and Ontario International
Development Agency (OIDA).
Dr. Christopher Isike, Ph.D.
University of Pretoria, South Africa
University of Pretoria, South Africa
Dr. Neville Hewage, Ph.D.
Laurentian University, Canada
Neville Hewage, Ph.D. is an Adjunct Professor of the Law and Justice Department Laurentian University.
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. He also is a research fellow of the International Centre for Interdisciplinary
Research in Law at Laurentian University. He is a managing editor for OIDA International Journal of
Sustainable Development. The OIDA IJSD Journal indexed in SSRN, EBSCO, DOAJ, AMICUS Canada
Library and Archives databases. He involved in a wide variety of international development projects across
the world.
Dr. Hewage is a conference co-chair for International Conference on Sustainable Development organized by
the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA). The conference is a multidisciplinary forum and
discusses all issues related to human development and solutions adapted.
Dr. Hewage is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and licensed to provide legal services. He is a senior
partner of the Hewage Law Group.
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. He also is a research fellow of the International Centre for Interdisciplinary
Research in Law at Laurentian University. He is a managing editor for OIDA International Journal of
Sustainable Development. The OIDA IJSD Journal indexed in SSRN, EBSCO, DOAJ, AMICUS Canada
Library and Archives databases. He involved in a wide variety of international development projects across
the world.
Dr. Hewage is a conference co-chair for International Conference on Sustainable Development organized by
the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA). The conference is a multidisciplinary forum and
discusses all issues related to human development and solutions adapted.
Dr. Hewage is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and licensed to provide legal services. He is a senior
partner of the Hewage Law Group.
Symposium on Genocide and Reconcilliation : Canada and Beyond
Wendsday, November 27, 2019 at 6:30 PM
Conference Centre
Marriot Downtown Hotel
CF Eaton Centre
525 Bay Street
Toronto, ON M5G 2L2
The event is concluded.
Please read summary of findings here.
Symposium Objective
The symposium proposes multidisciplinary strategies for economic socio-political, cultural and institutional changes, and support reconciliation efforts.
Symposium will also analyze social, political, legal issues surrounding genocide claims against Canada, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and beyond.
Masudur Rahman, Ph.D, Emeritus, Nord University, Norway, has a long academic carrier as a teacher and
researcher, at various universities in Norway. Educated as a sociologist and an economist, Dr. Rahman has
an eclectic range of research interests, embracing economy and society relations, both at micro and macro-
levels. Dr. Rahman’s research works are diverse and multifaceted.
Those include macroscopic studies of the structures of power as well as interpersonal network relations, at
a variety of levels. Divers, yet, Dr. Rahman’s research works fit broadly under the umbrella of development
process, including economic and social organizations and political mobilization, in Bangladesh and South
Asian countries. Dr. Rahman’s recent studies include the sustainability of the Norwegian welfare model.
Dr. Masud Rahman, Ph. D.
Nord University, Norway.
Anwar Shah Arkani B.Sc. is a two-time refugee, a lifelong activist and human rights defender for the
Rohingya people. His mother is a survivor of the 1942 massacres and his father was killed by the Burmese
regime alongside thousands of others during the 1978 Rohingya cleansing operation. Anwar fled from Burma
into Bangladesh in 1984 to escape persecution as the situation continued to deteriorate.
In 1998 Anwar resettled in Canada as a government sponsored refugee. Shortly afterwards, he was awarded
a scholarship by the United State Information Agency to study at Indiana University where he graduated with
a Bachelor of Science in December 2002.
In 2006-2007 Anwar intervened in person by coming to the aid of and freeing thousands of stranded
Rohingya at the Thai-Burma border, who had been intercepted and detained by Thai authorities while fleeing
from Burma into Thailand and Malaysia using fishing boats through the Bay of Bengal. As a result of this
work Anwar was invited by NGOs to talk at the United Nations, Geneva, about the Rohingyas’ plight: first
time in March 2009 at the UNHRC, and a second time in April 2009 at the Durban Review Conference [held
in UN Geneva].
Anwar is the founder and president of the Rohingya Association of Canada [RAC] established in December
2007. RAC has been a leading Rohingya organization in Canada advocating for Rohingyas' rights. RAC has
been at the forefront of various Canada-wide advocacy campaigns highlighting the Rohingya crisis. RAC
contributed significantly toward the production of "Time To Act: Rohingya Voices," a Rohingya exhibition at
the Museum which opened on June 15th, 2019 to be displayed for the next six months.
On the national scene [within Canada] and also internationally, Anwar has been a frequent speaker at
conferences and seminars addressing the issue of the Rohingya. Along with other distinguished panelists,
Anwar was invited to testify at Canada’s Parliament and Senate on several occasions as a subject matter
expert.
Since 2007, RAC has also been helping the newcomer Rohingyas resettled in Canada with their post
settlement work. To maintain the cultural identity, Anwar has established a Rohingya Language School in
2009 where Rohingya language and cultural norms are thought on the weekends. Since 2011, the school
has been integrated into the International Language School.
Anwar works as an IT professional in Waterloo for a living.
Rohingya people. His mother is a survivor of the 1942 massacres and his father was killed by the Burmese
regime alongside thousands of others during the 1978 Rohingya cleansing operation. Anwar fled from Burma
into Bangladesh in 1984 to escape persecution as the situation continued to deteriorate.
In 1998 Anwar resettled in Canada as a government sponsored refugee. Shortly afterwards, he was awarded
a scholarship by the United State Information Agency to study at Indiana University where he graduated with
a Bachelor of Science in December 2002.
In 2006-2007 Anwar intervened in person by coming to the aid of and freeing thousands of stranded
Rohingya at the Thai-Burma border, who had been intercepted and detained by Thai authorities while fleeing
from Burma into Thailand and Malaysia using fishing boats through the Bay of Bengal. As a result of this
work Anwar was invited by NGOs to talk at the United Nations, Geneva, about the Rohingyas’ plight: first
time in March 2009 at the UNHRC, and a second time in April 2009 at the Durban Review Conference [held
in UN Geneva].
Anwar is the founder and president of the Rohingya Association of Canada [RAC] established in December
2007. RAC has been a leading Rohingya organization in Canada advocating for Rohingyas' rights. RAC has
been at the forefront of various Canada-wide advocacy campaigns highlighting the Rohingya crisis. RAC
contributed significantly toward the production of "Time To Act: Rohingya Voices," a Rohingya exhibition at
the Museum which opened on June 15th, 2019 to be displayed for the next six months.
On the national scene [within Canada] and also internationally, Anwar has been a frequent speaker at
conferences and seminars addressing the issue of the Rohingya. Along with other distinguished panelists,
Anwar was invited to testify at Canada’s Parliament and Senate on several occasions as a subject matter
expert.
Since 2007, RAC has also been helping the newcomer Rohingyas resettled in Canada with their post
settlement work. To maintain the cultural identity, Anwar has established a Rohingya Language School in
2009 where Rohingya language and cultural norms are thought on the weekends. Since 2011, the school
has been integrated into the International Language School.
Anwar works as an IT professional in Waterloo for a living.
Anwar S. Arkani, B.Sc.
Rohingya Association of Canada
