SHARJAH // Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan will be among the guests at the emirate's second annual government communication forum.
A host of international statesmen, political thinkers and strategists will participate in the two-day event, which has the theme 'Effective Communication ... Unified Speech'.
Mr Annan, the former secretary general of the United Nations, will be joined by Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade, and Amr Moussa, former secretary general of the Arab League.
Other guests include Samir Rifai, the former prime minister of Jordan; Andrew Young, former US ambassador to the UN; Jim Messina, campaign manager for the relection bid of the US president, Barack Obama; and Gordon Johndroe, former spokesman for the National Security Council and a former White House deputy press secretary.
Also attending are Martin Luther King III, human-rights advocate, community activist and political leader, and Colleen Harris, a former communications secretary to Britain's Prince Charles and his sons, Princes William and Harry.
Ten sessions, including four panel discussions, two case studies and two special discussion sessions along with two influential speeches will be held.
Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qassimi, chairman of the Sharjah Media Centre, which is organising the forum, said: "Civil movement, whether political, economic, social, or humanitarian, is witnessed across the world.
"Such protests have placed pressure on governments to think of creative ways of communication with people and on how to respond positively to their demands, questions, concerns, and possible fears."
