By Duke Michael of Mecklenburg
On Friday, 1May 2015, the Academic Committee of BASIS (BA Students of International Studies) and Diplomat Magazine co-hosted an evening event on the topics of “Security and Female Empowerment”. At the event, six guest speakers, including Yanina Berra Rocca (Second Secretary for Culture, Embassy of Argentina, The Netherlands), Anne Leigh Cooper (Film Producer), Selma Senese (OSMTH), Marquis Ennio H.A.R. Senese (Phi Energy Limited), Dr. Willem F. van Eekelen (Chairman of the European Investment Council and former Minister of Defence) were present to discuss these topics.
First, Duke Michael of Mecklenburg opened the event with an introduction to the event’s guest speakers and their approach on the relevant topics. He was followed by Selma Senese’s speech on female empowerment; giving insights into the general theme of woman empowerment, raising awareness on the current situation in the world by presenting data on female rights and the enforcement to the audience.
Thereafter Yanina Berra Rocca’s sampled the situation of female empowerment in peacekeeping missions. Women do not tend to declare war upon another country, as fast as males do; hence females may have more peaceful consultancy values and status to prevent and solve wars and conflicts.
Afterwards, Anne Leigh Cooper presented a film trailer to the participants. The topic was human trafficking and the life of the affected woman. It contained graphic images, but showed how reality can be and is. This led into a discussion on her movie about human trafficking, female empowerment and how important it is to have a more equal and just world.
Having seen many aspects of female empowerment, an allocution on security by Dr. Willem F. van Eekelen was held. He gave great insights into different situations, which he personally worked on as for example his work as Permanent Representative to the North-Atlantic Council and the later position as former Minister of Defence.
By the examples given, he explained the past and current relations amongst The Netherlands, the European Union and other states within or outside the EU. He concluded with the fact that the past, and especially the Cold War era will continue to affect the present and future international relations.
In the third section, Marquis Ennio H.A.R. Senese explained his work as CEO of Phi Energy Limited and at the Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani (OSMTH). He gave a general overview of the norms of the two organisations and how female rights in these two organisations are considered and enforced. Furthermore, he gave an in-depth example of ongoing projects involving communication and creation of bridge building between nations, religions and ethnicities.
Towards the end of the event, the audience constituted mostly by students gave their opinion on and asked questions about the different topics. This led to a discussion on what is just and what is not. Overall, the event was a successful one, due to the guest speakers and an active audience.
