Women Economic Forum to take place in The Hague this week

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On the picture His Excellency J. S. Mukul, Ambassador of India. By Liudmyla Palamar. Women Economic Forum (WEF) will take place in the World Forum in The Hague on the 27th and 28th of January 2017. The program of the international conference, aiming to foster empowering conversations and connections among women, will include a range of prominent speeches, professional workshops and networking events. Women Economic Forum takes place on a regular basis in different cities around the world. The conference in the Netherlands will be followed by multiple events in the USA, Canada, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cyprus and more than ten other countries. Being focused on mutually beneficial knowledge exchange, learning and networking Women Economic Forum creates an avenue for women to expand their professional and business connections.
H.E. Jean Pierre Karabaranga, Ambassador of Rwanda.
  The program of the WEF in The Hague includes the speeches of H.E. Alphonsus Stoelinga, Ambassador of Netherlands to India, H.E. J. S. Mukul, Ambassador of India to Netherlands, H.E. Dr. Momar Diop, Ambassador of Senegal to Netherlands, H.E. Jean Pierre Karabaranga, Ambassador of Rwanda to Netherlands, H.E. Judge Sanji Monageng,Vice-President, International Criminal Court, H.E. Judge Joyce Aluoch, First Vice-President, International Criminal Court and other prominent members of the diplomatic community. During the 2-day conference participants will also have an opportunity to attend a broad range of workshops and parallels on diverse topics such as “EU – Creating Environment for Sustainable & Inclusive Growth,” “The Future for Youth,” “Social Media and Youth,” etc. Among other side events, a workshop titled “The Happy Me” will be organized by the author of the book “Life Outside Your Comfort Zone” Marwa Saleh. The professional trainer from Dale Ca
Marwa Saleh
rnegie Corporation, will give an engaging training, designed “to help people start removing their limiting beliefs.”   Information: More information about the Women Economic Forum (WEF) can be found on the official website of the event: www.wef.org.in More information about “The Happy Me” workshop can be found on http://www.wef.org.in/marwa-saleh/

IX President of Malta opens Maltese EU presidency

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Monday, 16 January 2017, Brussels: HM the VII King of the Belgians received the IX President of Malta, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca for an afternoon meeting concerning Belgian-Maltese relations as well as the state of the European Union as Malta assumed the rotating presidency of the council from 1 January 2017.  The meeting between King Philippus and President Coleiro Preca took place at the centrally located Royal Palace of Brussels.  Later in the evening President Coleiro Preca partook at the inaugural reception, and subsequent concert to open the Maltese EU presidency. In her remarks to attending EU authorities, EU permanent representatives, ambassadors and officials of the EU and Belgium, President Coleiro Preca called for European unity as well as a common ground in dealing with the refugee crisis in spite of its unpopularity in many countries.  The Centre for Fine Arts BOZAR in Brussels was the venue for the prestigious opening attended likewise by Malta’s Prime Minister Dr Joseph Muscat, and co-hosted by the Maltese Permanent Representative to the EU, HE Ambassador Marlene Bonnici and bilateral ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and NATO, HE Ray Azzopardi.    Programme for the Maltese Presidency of the EU Council: https://www.eu2017.mt/Documents/Maltese%20Priorities/EU2017MT%20-%20Presidency%20Priorities%20(EN).pdf https://www.facebook.com/EU2017MT   Photography by the Belgian Royal Household.      

The Ambassador  of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, H.E. Ms. Ngo Thi Hoa

H.E. Mrs. Ngo Thi Hoa is the new Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. She is bringing decades-worth of diplomatic experience to her new term in The Hague along with a very clear goal.

After graduating from the Diplomat Academy of Vietnam in 1987, Mrs. Hoa spent the next few years honing her foreign language skills. In addition to French and English, which she learned in the Academy, she studied Russian at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in Ukraine throughout 1988. After returning to Hanoi, Vietnam, she also spent time learning Khmer until 1989.

When she joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam (MOFA) in 1991, Mrs. Hoa was assigned to be an expert in the Southeast Asia – South Asia – South Pacific Department (SEA-SA-SP). She served her first term abroad as an attache at the Embassy of Vietnam in the Philippines from 1996 to 1999, during which she earned her Master’s degree in International Studies at De La Salle University situated in Manila.

After returning from the Philippines, she was appointed as the Assistant to the Director-General of the SEA-SA-SP Department and later promoted to be the department’s Deputy Director-General in 2005. Three years later, Mrs. Hoa served her second term abroad in Cambodia as Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission until 2011.

Following her term in Phnom Penh, she was appointed Deputy Director-General of the Personnel Department as well as the head of the Women’s Committee at MOFA. Two years later, Mrs. Hoa was appointed Inspector in Chief – a position she held until her third term abroad. In 2016, she was named the Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and she recently presented her credentials to His Majesty King Willem-Alexander on January 25th, 2017.

In the upcoming years, Mrs. Hoa aims to strengthen and elevate the multi-faceted cooperative relationship between Vietnam and the Netherlands. She wishes to facilitate more collaboration between these two countries, especially in the areas of climate change, water management, modern agriculture, and more. Her additional goals during this term are also to promote Vietnamese culture and support the Vietnamese community here in the Netherlands. She has her mind set on organizing an array of events and activities to achieve these aims.

Furthermore, Mrs. Hoa hopes to successfully represent her country in the multilateral domain as Vietnam is a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Committee of The Hague.

In her free time, Mrs. Hoa likes to do sports (such as cycling, tennis, and golf), reading, watching movies, traveling, and she is also a foodie. Additionally, she is passionate about feminism and charity as well. Mrs. Hoa wishes to bring these hobbies and interests into the events that she will hold in the future; at the moment, she is already thinking about an event that would promote Vietnamese cuisine.

In addition to her aforementioned hobbies, Mrs. Hoa is also interested in home decor and gardening. The Vietnamese Embassy recently moved to a new location and the building is currently under renovation, meaning that it is a blank canvas waiting to be painted on. Upon knowing this, she is extremely thrilled to decorate the embassy in a way that would showcase the Vietnamese style. The idea is to have traditional Vietnamese decor and artwork displayed throughout the embassy, with flowers and trees being in various places including the courtyard.

The diplomat community in The Hague sends a warm welcome to Ambassador Hoa and we are very excited to see her ideas come to fruition.

The Feel at Home in The Hague Fair

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Welcoming Internationals to The Hague  On Sunday 5th February 2017, The Feel at Home in The Hague Fair will celebrate its 10th Anniversary.  The Fair will be officially opened by the Mayor of The Hague, Jozias van Aartsen, who will address a special welcome to the international community which plays such an important role in the region. More than 4000 visitors attended the event in the Hague City Hall in 2016 and appreciated the unique ambiance created by the combination of 150 diverse exhibitors with a dynamic programme of activities and entertainment, workshops and seminars.   A meeting point for the whole community  No other expat event in the Netherlands engenders quite the same sense of community as The Hague Feel at Home Fair, where nearly a half of the stands are local sports and social clubs or volunteer organisations. These groups exhibit free of charge and relish the opportunity to network, advertise their activities and recruit new members.   Showcase for Small Businesses  Alongside these community groups are dozens of small business stands, many of them run by internationals who themselves moved to The Netherlands as an expat. They take great pleasure in animating the Fair with activities, tastings and performances which help them to connect with fellow internationals.  A Free Seminar Programme This year, Education will be the central theme, covering the range of educational choices from pre-school to adult education. Contributors to the Education Programme of talks, seminars and workshops  include many of region’s international schools and universities, and visitors will also have the opportunity to meet the speakers and panelists informally in the Education Zone. There will also be a complementary series of seminars and workshops on all aspects of life in The Netherlands, from buying a house to learning about Dutch culture. Attendance at all seminars and workshops is free. Entertainment and Food  The day is made richer through a lively entertainment programme provided by our international schools, amateur clubs and local professional cultural organisations. This year, with its focus on culture, the Fair will be especially animated, with three different performance spaces – The Podium, Central Park and STET’s Children’s Theatre.  Furthermore, The Feel at Home in The Hague Fair will be taking its entertainment programme out into the city centre, with some performances being repeated in De Bijenkorf department store. The icing on the cake is an International Food Court taking a culinary trip around the World, from Africa to India, Peru and back to Europe . The combination of these elements  gives the Feel at Home in The Hague Fair a unique flavour, which explains why the event plays such a special role as a meeting point for the entire international community.  A Dynamic International City As you might expect, around a fifth of our visitors last year were newcomers to The Netherlands, but perhaps more surprisingly, over a third had lived here more than 10 years! What these two groups had in common was a desire to learn more about things to do and events and activities happening in their region.     By showcasing the huge range of clubs to join and things to do locally, The Feel at Home in The Hague International Community Fair is a celebration of the region as an interesting and dynamic place for internationals to live. For Internationals and internationally-minded locals to come meet with friends and share in the pleasure of the great city of The Hague.  Registering for Free Tickets  Entrance is free for visitors who register in advance on our website: www.feelathomeinthehague.com  On our website and  Facebook page visitors  can also keep up to date with developments    

Indonesia Festivity

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By Roy Lie A Tjam. The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in the Netherlands under the acumen leadership of Ambassador H.E. I Gusti A. Wesaka Puja, hosted the Indonesia Cultural Festivity or Gebyar Budaya Indonesia on  December 26th, 2016. Hundreds of guests descended upon Emplaza Hall, Rijswijk in order to participate in what could only be called an incredibly interactive and exciting way to end the year. The festival helped to showcase the harmonious and rich aspects of Indonesian culture. The night began with a welcome address by Ambassador Puja who thanked everyone for attending; the following groups participated in the program: Stichting Peduli Seni, Ina Dance, Boi Akih Band, Leidhsche 1922, Bandit Band, OEsman Arif & Silvia van Santen Jazz Trio, Night Breaker and  Justin Palmeley. Furthermore, as expected of Indonesian hospitality, several food stalls provided the vast number of guests with the range of savoury Indonesian dishes. Gebyar Budaya Indonesia was the last event in the busy 2016 calendar (Culinary week Rotterdam, Film week, Jazz Festival) hosted by the Indonesian Embassy and it will certainly go down into history as an unforgettable day. .  

The Majida Mouasher Collection

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Modern and Contemporary Arab Art from the Levant The Haque will witness for the first time an exhibition fully dedicated to modern and contempory Arab art from the Levant. It will be organized mainly by the wives of former diplomats who established the Foundation for the Promoting Art from the Middle East (BKM) The collection belongs to Majida Van der Meulen- Mouasher the wife of a former EU ambassador to Jordan. Her collection will be exhibited from 22nd January until 22nd February 2017 at Pulchri Studio, The Hague,under the patronage of HRH Princess Wijdan al-Hashemi. Majida Mouasher is chairman of the BKM and her fellow board members are Vanessa Bentinck and Luitgard Mols. ‘We need art more than ever before. We live in a time when we try to deal with our problems and try to describe our world through words, figures and logic. But to understand humans and to look at the bigger shifts – the tectonic plate shifts in the human condition, so to speak – we need to rise above, or go below, the 24/7 news cycle, and we need art to give us a different language to understand the human condition.’ Kasper Holten, Director of Opera, Royal Opera House, London Majida Mouasher was the owner of the 4 Walls Art gallery in Amman, Jordan between 2000 and 2006. During that time, she worked with more than ninety artists, forty-four of whom form the nucleus of her stunning and vital private collection comprised of modern and contemporary Arab art from the Middle East in general and the Levant in particular, and spanning over sixty years of outstanding quality art. At the time, there were very few contemporary galleries to be found in Jordan and artists were largely dependent on their own personal efforts and contacts to promote their work. There was a vacuum that needed to be filled and a public demanding to see contemporary art and get to know the artists. The aim of 4 Walls was to promote the artists by exhibiting their works and helping to sell them. Throughout that period, Majida Mouasher consistently bought work from these artists. What makes this collection so unique is its astonishing diversity, despite the fact that the Levant is so heavily represented. The artists all have deep cultural roots in whatever the source of their inspiration might be, whether that is China, Russia, the West, or their own country of origin. Though many of them are now living in the diaspora, they all have in common an honest reaction to their environment, their cultural and social or historical backgrounds, their ethnic origins or political upheavals. The wars and instabilities in the Middle East have forced people to move across continents and to the shorelines of Europe, bringing with them new and different cultural ways. Now that the Middle East is so much in the spotlight, an urgency exists to show its contemporary art to the Western public. Art is able to bypass conflicts, to enhance and promote understanding between cultures. At the occation of the exhibition a book is published with an overview of the collection. The texts are by Majida Mouasher; HRH Princess Wijdan al-Hashemi PhD (painter and founder and president of the Royal Society of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan); Nada Shabout PhD (Professor of Art History and Director of the Contemporary Arab and Muslim Studies Institute at the University of North Texas) and Dr. Luitgard Mols (owner of Sabiel: Research, Curating, Education and Consultancy in Islamic Art, lecturer in Islamic art at the University of Amsterdam).  

A British Secondary School

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The British School in The Netherlands  today announces its plans to expand its primary school campus in Leidschenveen to include a secondary school, which will generate up to 550 additional learning places. The development of a secondary school at the existing Junior School Leidschenveen (JSL) campus is testament to the BSN’s ambition to create a learning continuum (from the ages of 3-18) with purpose-built design. When discussing the school’s plan for growth, CEO/Principal Kieran Earley commented: “Our plans are not to grow in an acquisitive way but we see this as an opportunity to continue our organic growth whilst continuously meeting demand.” The Leidschenveen campus development addresses the growing demand for international education not only in The Hague area, but in The Netherlands. Subject to planning approval, the expansion will add 7202 m2 to the existing 9567 m2 of the current JSL facilities. In September 2018, the school will welcome its first cohort of secondary school students in Year 7 (ages 11-12).  It is planned for the secondary school to grow year on year as it adds a Year 7 cohort each new school year. More information, please visit here: http://britsc.nl/2BDkqpC      

Artworks as means of payment: What of a work of art is a fake?

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 As the value of art is rising more rapidly than inflation, artworks have become an attractive means of payment. What can you do if the artworks you purchased turn out to be fake and you have been paid in counterfeits? Three recent decisions by the Amsterdam District Court regarding the sale of a collection worth millions of Euros give more clarity.
By Paul W.L. Russell, LL.M. In January 2014, the owner of an art collection sells it via a holding company for EUR 1,636,000 to All Art Initiatives B.V. (AAI) to pay off part of his debts to the group company to which AAI belongs. In January 2013, the collection was appraised at EUR 3,759,100 on behalf of the owner. AAI seems to have made a good buy with the collection including works by Piet Mondrian, Max Liebermann, Mary Cassatt, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, August Macke, Jan Sluijters, George Hendrik Breitner, Isaac Israëls, Maximilien Luce, Edouard Vuillard, James Ensor and Constant Permeke. This is in original work by Mondrian (1920)

Fake art

When in 2015 two experts commissioned by AAI examined the art collection they concluded that a large number of the artworks were fake. Thereafter, AAI required documentation regarding the authenticity of the artworks from the original owner, such as certificates of authenticity, purchase invoices and catalogues raisonnés. The original owner only produced taxation reports that said nothing about the authenticity of the artworks, which did not satisfy AAI.

Damage and warranty

AAI then asked the court to terminate or annul the purchase agreement, because of fraud or error, or to compensate the damage because of non-conformity. As the owner should have known this, not just the holding company – which held the practically worthless collection – but also he himself is liable for the claim. As error was excluded in the agreement as a reason for termination and there was no conclusive evidence for fraud, only compensation due to non-conformity is dealt with in the proceedings. The original owner argues that no warranty for authenticity was given and that AAI, as a professional buyer, should have performed an appraisal. The court does not go along with this. AAI could rely upon three appraisal reports the owner submitted to them prior to the purchase. In addition, the owner had guaranteed the value of the artworks.

Experts

As the opinions of the parties’ appraisers differ with regard to the value of the collection, the court decides to appoint its own expert. AAI claimed that the artworks were fakes and thus has to prove that this statement is correct. Therefore, it is not the task of the expert to determine that the artworks are authentic but to view whether it can be said with a great degree of certainty that the artworks are a fake. Due to this requirement the artworks will be considered as “authentic” more quickly.

Amount of damage

After an examination of 127 works of art, it turned out that one third was certain to be forged and the major part of the other works had been overvalued. The collection was not worth EUR 3,759,100, but only EUR 906,700. And that is a lot less than the amount of EUR 1,636,000 the collection was bought for. The seller, the holding company, therefore has to compensate the damage AAI incurred. That amounts to EUR 755,300, which is the difference between the purchase price and the actual value of the artworks. As the art collection was the major asset of the holding company, it will be difficult to obtain compensation. The Court does not consider it proved that the director of the holding company consciously harmed AAI and therefore only the holding company has to cover the damage and legal costs, and costs for seizure incurred.

Prevent fake art sales

The problems were caused because AAI had the collection thoroughly assessed after the purchase instead of before to it. This could be prevented by an upfront investigation regarding authenticity and provenance of artworks. About the author: Paul Russell is a lawyer for international and national businesses, art dealers, museums, and affluent individuals. He specializes in corporate governance, contracts and corporate litigation. He has been a lawyer at Russell since 1976. Russell Advocaten will gladly help you finding independent experts and drafting a sales agreement that provides you with the opportunity to recover the costs in the event of forgeries. @: paul.russell@russell.nl t: +31 20 301 55 55  

Dutch biologist Freek Vonk in Rwanda!

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The most famous biologist in the Netherlands, Freek Vonk visited Rwanda last summer and his dream came true while discovering the country. Four TV episodes have been broadcasted in November; with his enthusiasm, Freek gave a wonderful impression about nature and wildlife in Rwanda. Herewith you can see the list of all four episodes, which will give you the opportunity to watch the episodes online. Episode 1 – broadcasted on 13 November Volcanoes NP – gorillas https://npo.nl/freeks-wilde-wereld/13-11-2017/VPWON_1283229   Episode 2 – broadcasted on 16 November Nyungwe Forest NP & Chimps https://npo.nl/freeks-wilde-wereld/16-11-2017/VPWON_1283232   Episode 3 – broadcasted on 24 November Colobus Monkey https://npo.nl/freeks-wilde-wereld/24-11-2017/VPWON_1283239   Episode 4 – broadcasted on 30 November Volcanoes – Bambooforest – Golden Monkey https://npo.nl/freeks-wilde-wereld/30-11-2017/VPWON_1283244    

Revisiting Dictatorship: Democracy is Worst Form of Government, Indeed

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On the picture Mr Endy Bayuni. “Democracy is both: the procedure and the content. It is a periodically revisited, fine-calibrated social contract that ties all horizontal and vertical segments of society. Although sometimes slow, tedious and consuming, this is still a truly comprehensive, just and sustainable way to build on its past, live the presence and pursuit the future of a nation.” Following the known lines of professor Anis H. Bajrektarevic on ties that bind, hereby is the fresh take from one of the largest democracies of the world – that of Republic of Indonesia. By Endy Bayuni. The late Soeharto has become something of a poster boy for leadership as the nation searches for a president who can effectively deliver the goods. Photos of the smiling president, who ruled Indonesia between 1966-1998, appear everywhere, with the caption in Javanese “piye kabare, isih penak jamanku, tho?” (How are you, better in my era, wasn’t it?), a reminder that for some, life was so much better then. The Soeharto posters and memes have been going viral since the 2014 election and are still circulating now. Soeharto was a dictator, there is no doubt about it, though his supporters would claim that he was a noble one. But the point of the poster is that Indonesia had a leader who delivered the goods, something that no other president since then has been able to match, so his supporters claim. Soeharto, who ruled with an iron fist, did deliver justice, security and welfare, but it is debatable whether his successors have fared better or worse. Ruling the country for 32 years, he was bound to have delivered something, while his successors have been subject to periodic democratic elections and limited to ruling for no more than two five-year terms. The bigger question, and this was one of the topics discussed at the recent Bali Civil Society and Media Forum, is whether democracy can deliver justice, security and welfare to the people, all the people. Indonesia, now a democracy for nearly 20 years, albeit a struggling one, makes a good case study to answer this question, by comparing the ability of the two political systems in bringing greater prosperity to the people. The track record of Indonesia since 1998 has not been bad, although perhaps underappreciated. The economy has improved significantly, in terms of overall GDP and per-capita-income growth, and the government today provides many services such as free health care, 12-year compulsory free education and cash assistance for the poor. Indonesia is today the 16th-largest economy in the world, and many predict that it will be in the top 10 by 2025 and top five by 2040. We have a growing middle class, reflected by the number cellphones, cars and motorcycles, and a growing appetite for holidays, both at home or abroad. And there is freedom, all kinds of freedom, something that distinguishes today’s era from that of Soeharto’s. Why then, do some people still feel that they miss Soeharto? Perhaps they don’t really miss him, but they miss the certainty, the swift way decisions were made and the security he provided. They miss the effectiveness and efficiency that an authoritarian regime can deliver. Democracy, unfortunately, is almost anything but. Decisions are made through an arduous and cumbersome process, and the government is often mired in stagnation. Every single major decision has to undergo the democratic processes, meaning noisy public debates and endless deliberation by legislators. We also have legislators who are good at grandstanding but ineffective in producing laws that reflect the aspirations of the people. In many ways, Soeharto’s regime produced some better laws because they did not go through the lengthy debates we see today. On security, Indonesia faces challenges in ensuring protection for people who are attacked or persecuted because of their faith, race, sexual orientation or even ideological leanings. The attacks on the Shia and Ahmadiyya followers, the forced closures of places of worship, the recent attacks against people because of their leftist ideological leanings, and the return of anti-Chinese sentiments, reflect that freedom and the protection of freedom have been denied to some. Soeharto would not have tolerated any of this, but then, he would not have tolerated a lot of other things, including dissent and differences of opinion. Populism, the hallmark of democracy and one way of getting elected, also means leaders addressing only popular issues but avoiding more fundamental problems. These failings of democracy in Indonesia may have revived our memory of the “good old days” of Soeharto (while forgetting the worse aspects of his regime), but they should not be used as a pretext for a return to authoritarianism. Democracy in Indonesia is still a work in progress. We have been in this game for only 20 years, and it still has not been able to ensure justice, security and welfare for all. Democracy, as the popular saying goes, is the worst form of government, except for all the others. The alternative, an authoritarian regime, may be swift and efficient. But if authoritarianism comes at the cost of our freedom, an absence of checks and balances and endemic corruption, then yes, give us democracy any time. We just have to work harder, through the democratic process, to fix these problems. We have to have faith in democracy. ————- About the author: The writer, editor-in-chief of The Jakarta Post, took part in the Bali Civil Society and Media Forum, organized by the Institute for Peace and Democracy and the Press Council, on Dec.5-6.