Northern Ireland Apprenticeship Week- Call for Company Events
Manufacturing NI sits on the regional planning committee for Apprenticeship Week which will be held on 6th-10th February 2023. We would like to encourage manufacturers to hosts events or activities to coincide with this week. Some examples include;
* Social media activity highlighting the role of apprenticeships in the organisation w/ role models
* Student competitions
* Job sampling / apprenticeship talks / job fairs
* School site visits / open days
* Meet the parents Q&A

Click here for the 2023 proforma (https://www.manufacturingni.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Blank-Proforma-NIAW-2023-inc.-feedback.docx?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID) . Detailed within this form you will see that it will need you to return it to The Department of Economy by COB on Friday 2nd December 2022 at the latest. Your public facing event details will then be listed on NIDirect in preparation for the Department’s Press Release which will launch the NIAW.

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Search begins for new board members for the Labour Relations Agency
The Department for the Economy (DfE) has launched a public appointment competition to recruit four new board members to the board of the Labour Relations Agency (LRA).

The LRA is a non-departmental public body with responsibility for promoting the improvement of employment relations in Northern Ireland. The LRA contributes to organisational effectiveness by providing impartial and independent services for promoting good employment practices and preventing and resolving disputes.

The Department wishes to appeal to people of all ages from a wide range of backgrounds and experience across the community, voluntary, business or public sector, who can bring a wide range of skills and experience to the role. DfE would particularly welcome applications from females, people with a disability, those from minority ethnic communities and young people, as they are currently under-represented on the board. The Department is operating a Guaranteed Interview Scheme in this competition for applicants with a disability.

This competition will be of particular interest to people who wish to develop their skills as part of a board and are willing to learn. Previous experience of serving on a board is not necessary as new appointees will undergo an induction programme, as well as being offered peer support.

The rate of remuneration for the LRA board members is £5,643 per annum, for which they will be required to attend the monthly board meeting and undertake other occasional duties on behalf of the LRA. The board members can claim reasonable travel and subsistence costs while undertaking board duties.For further information or to receive an application pack visit: https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/lra-members?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

This is an open competition which involves a simple application form and interview. The closing date for receipt of applications is 12 noon (GMT) on 24 November 2022

https://www.manufacturingni.org/invest-ni-launch-ambition-to-grow-programme/?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

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Ambition to Grow
Ambition to Grow is Invest NI's exciting new regionally focused competition aimed at innovative, ambitious businesses is now open for applications.

40 spaces are available and successful applicants will be eligible to apply for funding up to a maximum of £45,000, broken down as follows:
* £5,000 per new job (a minimum of three) created over and above existing employment levels within the business (to a maximum of £30,000).
* £10,000 towards business development activities, where the amount of support provided shall be no more than 50% of the cost eligible activities listed in the application.
* £5,000 on the completion of an export health check and development of an export plan, to the satisfaction of Invest NI.

This initiative has been designed with businesses which are not currently Invest NI client managed customers in mind, and it is anticipated to be extremely beneficial to businesses throughout Northern Ireland.

For more information on the competition please visit the Ambition to Grow webpage (https://www.investni.com/support-for-business/ambition-to-grow?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID) .

Closing date for applications is 12 noon on Friday 25 November 2022.

https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/apprenticeawards2023?mc_cid=256636b6f3&mc_eid=UNIQID&mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

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NI Apprenticeship Awards 2023 Launched
Nominations are now being sought for the prestigious NIAA2023.
The NIAA2023 will recognise and showcase excellence and best practice in the participation and delivery of Apprenticeships. Finalists will be selected and invited to a special awards ceremony on Wednesday 29th March 2023.
These awards honour:
* Valued Apprentices who are making a significant contribution to their workplace and have shown a dedication to excel in their professional development and learning;
* Influential partnerships between Employers and Training Providers that support the continuous growth of skills development in Northern Ireland; and,
* For the first year, Mentors who provide an outstanding contribution to the Apprenticeship programmes.

Applications are now open for five award categories:
* Apprentice Award (Levels 2-3);
* Higher Level Apprentice Award (Level 4+);
* Large Employer in partnership with a Training Provider Award (employers with more than 250 employees);
* Small to Medium-sized Enterprise in partnership with a Training Provider Award (employers with less than 250 employees); and,
* Outstanding Mentor Award.

All nominees for the Apprentice and Higher Level Apprentice Awards must have been on the ApprenticeshipsNI or Higher Level Apprenticeship Programme in 2022.
Completed nomination forms must be returned before 12:00 noon on Friday 18th November 2022 to: niaa.2023@economy-ni.gov.uk (mailto:niaa.2023@economy-ni.gov.uk)
Full details on application criteria for each of the awards, and how to apply, are available on the Department’s website at:
https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/apprenticeshipawards2023?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

(https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/apprenticeshipawards2023?mc_cid=256636b6f3&mc_eid=UNIQID&mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID)

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/londonderrychamberofcommerce/786714/?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

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2022 North West Annual Future of Energy Conference
Thursday 17th November
Everglades Hotel, Derry

This full day conference is jointly hosted by the Chambers of Commerce in Londonderry and Letterkenny, kindly supported by the North West Regional Development Group, and will focus on the opportunities for investment, growth, innovation and job creation and also address the challenges to businesses of rising energy costs.

This event aims to
* Encourage cross border collaboration in the energy sector to the benefit of the whole North West city region
* Provide a platform for knowledge transfer and sharing to support economic growth of the North West region
* Support business growth and innovation in the energy sector
* Support NW businesses to meet sustainability goals in the move to net zero

BUY TICKETS HERE
(https://www.tickettailor.com/events/londonderrychamberofcommerce/786714/?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID)Direct

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Bolivia: The Struggle For Democracy Is Not Over       printable version

31 Jan 2020: posted by the editor - Human Rights, International, Bolivia

U.S Peace Council Statement In early January 2020, the Trump Administration's assassination of a top Iranian general in Baghdad, Iraq brought the US and Iran to the brink of a major war. Understandably, that crisis shoved many other crises to the sidelines. Accordingly, Bolivia is not now in the headlines. But even at the start of events on November 10, 2019 there was confusion in the headlines about what was happening in Bolivia. Compounding the confusion, some "progressive" and "alternative" media outlets were slow to acknowledge that a coup had begun. The coup regime's racist violence towards Evo Morales" protesting Indigenous supporters was hardly given adequate coverage anywhere. In the US corporate media support for the coup took the form of denying it was happening at all, thereby disorienting the peace movement response. Evo Morales, in office 2006-2019, was the first Indigenous president of Bolivia, a country with an Indigenous majority. Under the 14 years of rule by his Movement for Socialism party (MAS), Bolivia had the one of the highest economic growth rates in the hemisphere. The country slashed poverty dramatically. Bolivia became a trailblazer for the rights of the Indigenous and poor, aligning itself with the progressive governments of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.* Morales was re-elected president on October 20, 2019. Because the US-backed candidate lost, the US government called Morales' election "fraudulent." A US-dominated Organization of American States (OAS) disseminated misleading information on the validity of the election. Thus, the stage was set for the November 10 coup, when Morales was forced to resign under duress by the military. Key figures behind the coup had allies in Washington. The OAS Secretary General embraced coup leader Luis Fernando Camacho. The coup was endorsed by the right-wing neighboring countries (Chile, Brazil). President Trump "applauded" the Bolivian military despite its well documented systematic violations of human rights. Evo Morales is now in exile in Mexico, and the Indigenous continue to protest in the face of lethal, racist repression. An example of the racism: the self-proclaimed President Jeanine Áñez has smeared Indigenous communities' religious beliefs as "satanic." At this writing, Morales, the MAS, and most of the popular parties and movements have agreed to new elections but efforts are underway by backers of the de facto government to disqualify the MAS from participating in an eventual election. Several prominent US peace organizations were first out of the gate in condemning the coup. CODEPINK on Nov 19, 2019, challenging the mainstream media narrative, emphasized the coup was indeed a coup. CODEPINK highlighted the need for international monitoring. It demanded that that the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet join CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin in Bolivia. Veterans for Peace on Nov. 21 stressed US complicity in the coup, and the coup's racist nature. There has been a limited response from the UN. As early as Nov. 16, 2019 "the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet "urged the authorities to ensure that security forces comply with international norms and standards on the use of force and guarantee the right to life and physical integrity of protesters." Since then the toll of repression has risen. Recent and reliable accounts state that more than 30 have been killed and 600 injured in protests against the coup government. What are the demands that the US solidarity and peace movements should raise now? The best chance of peacefully restoring lawful government and majority rule in Bolivia is the projected May 3, 2020 elections, but at the rate things are going the elections will be rigged. USAID, which financed anti-Morales opposition groups in Bolivia for years, is returning to Bolivia at the invitation of Jeanine Añez's coup government allegedly to "monitor" - in reality to manipulate and corrupt - the forthcoming elections. The coup is not consolidated, witness the strenuous efforts of the coup government to fix the forthcoming elections. We call upon all peace and solidarity organizations in the US to: Put Bolivia back on the front burner as a campaigning issue between now and the May 3, 2020 elections. Sign the CODEPINK Petition on Bolivia demanding that the chief of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, visit Bolivia in person. There should be a powerful, institutional UN Office of Human Rights presence on the ground in Bolivia. It will serve as a restraint on the coup government. Demand a Congressional investigation to find out exactly to what extent the US was involved in the coup. Organize full international monitoring of the May 2020 elections by independent experts and groups. Oppose USAID and kindred NGO funding of election manipulation, including purges of Indigenous voter rolls. Voter suppression is already under way and it must be exposed, condemned, and stopped Demand that police and army violence against Indigenous protestors and the medical professionals who care for them come to a halt. After September 11, 1973, when the Allende government in Chile was overthrown in a US-supported coup, our peace and solidarity movement and its allies launched years of campaigning to restore democracy in Chile and end the bloody rule of Pinochet. We must do no less for Bolivian democracy today. * Roger D. Harris, 2019 Latin America in Review, Council on Hemispheric Relations. Tags: Bolivia, coup, Evo Morales

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