HelloDive, First Green Fins’ Outreach Partner in the Greater China Region
WEBWIRE – Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Green Fins is a global conservation programme coordinated internationally by The Reef-World Foundation, supported by the United Nations Environment Programme. It aims to protect coral reefs and reduce the negative environmental impacts associated with marine tourism by developing and promoting a series of sustainable diving and snorkelling guidelines. Since 2004, over 700 marine tourism operators have joined as Green Fins Certified Members, adopting the code of conduct and improving their compliance over time.
As an advocate of sustainable dive travel, HelloDive firmly believes in the Green Fins initiative. Over the last few years, they have promoted Green Fins guidelines at various DRT (dive) expos and marketing activities, including translating Green Fins materials and environmental reports. Through this partnership, they will continue to help expand the reach of Gren Fins in the audience in China.
As HelloDive transforms into a comprehensive diving information and booking platform, there is much more they want to do for the environment. Becoming the first Green Fins outreach partner in the Greater China Region will help them move forward with various initiatives. Such as helping sustainably operated dive shops to stand out or incentivise their customers/divers to practice a responsible travel style.
In the post-pandemic era, Chinese travellers will no doubt pay more attention to the relationship between the environment and themselves. They believe that more and more people will participate in marine conservation and be an advocate of sustainable travel. As part of the Chinese diver community and the tourism industry, HelloDive looks forward to contributing in protecting our ocean and flourishing together with customers and partners.
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – WEBWIRE – Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Save the Children has suspended its operations in Afghanistan following the Talibans announcement that women are banned from working for INGOs. We cannot andwill not operate without the full participation of and guarantees of safety for our female front line and office-based staff. A Save the Children spokesperson said: Female staff members are at the heart of Save the Childrens work in Afghanistan. They are our doctors, nurses, midwives, they are our counselors, case workers and teachers, they are our finance, security, and human resources experts. Most importantly, our female staff members enable us to access women and children. Most women in Afghanistan are only allowed to see female health professionals and case workers, and girls can only be taught by female teachers. If female staff are removed from the NGO workforce in Afghanistan, we will no longer be able to provide life-saving services to millions of women and children. Without them, we simply cannot safely operate. The ban on female staff will have a direct impact on the life-saving assistance Save the Children provides and we are calling for an immediate reversal to this decision. Save the Children is one of the largest INGOs in the country and has been operating in Afghanistan since 1976. Here are nine facts about Save the Childrens work in Afghanistan: For more information, or to arrange a media interview, contact media@savechildren.org. Notes to editors: Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, weve changed the lives of more than 1 billion children. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children every day and in times of crisis transforming their lives and the future we share. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
WEBWIRE – Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Koro Castellano, Vanina Farber, Carmina Ganyet, Therese Jamaa and Teresa Sanjurjo make up, together with CaixaBank executives, an advisory body that will offer new perspectives to enhance diversity and inclusion.
The committee will help to reinforce things like female access to executive positions, for which CaixaBank has set a target of 42% before 2024.
Bloombergs Gender Equality Index 2022 ranks CaixaBank as one of the worlds top five companies in this field. CaixaBank has created a diversity advisory committee whose purpose is to provide new perspectives to encourage diversity and equal opportunity in all of the Banks areas of activity, both internal and external. The committee consists of leading executives in their respective fields, five of whom are independent of the bank and associated with preeminent companies in their sectors: Koro Castellano, Director of Amazon Prime Video in Spain; Vanina Farber, economist and political scientists who teaches Social Innovation at the Swiss business school IMD; Carmina Ganyet, Corporate General Manager at Colonial; Therese Jamaa, Vice-President of Huawei Spain; and Teresa Sanjurjo, Director of the Princess of Asturias Foundation. Representing CaixaBank on the committee are Juan Alcaraz, Managing Director of Business; David Lpez, Director of Human Resources; and Anna Quirs, Director of Culture and Development. The creation of an advisory body exclusively dedicated to diversity, a pioneering initiative for a large business in Spain, is part of CaixaBanks commitment to encourage diversity and inclusion in all its activity, both internally, within its organisation and professional teams, and externally, through initiatives directed at its customers and society at large. This commitment boasts significant acclaim; in fact, CaixaBank is among the top five companies in the world in Bloombergs Gender Equality Index 2022. The committee members will meet every four months to offer CaixaBank their vision and experience on essential matters to promote diversity. The topics they will periodically consider include, for example, strategies to boost the presence of women in managerial posts; initiatives to showcase CaixaBanks diversity policies internally and externally; how to promote an inclusive culture within an organisation; identifying bias; and promoting initiatives for inclusion. Gender equality: a strategic goal As the end of FY 2021, 41.3% of executive positions were held by women, one of the highest percentages in the sector, and CaixaBank expects to close out 2022 at 41.6%. As part of its 2022-2024 Strategic Plan, the bank has set itself the goal of having women occupy 42% of executive posts in 2024. In addition to the new advisory committee, the bank has various instruments and initiatives created to boost diversity, such as Wengage, a Group-wide project developed by people from every area of the organisation that relies on meritocracy and on promoting equal opportunity. Wengage includes initiatives to promote diversity, such as women mentoring women, through which the female executives at the Group advise other women on their careers. Wengage also implements external activities for customers and for society intended to promote diversity and equal opportunity in several areas: leadership and entrepreneurship, innovation and education, sport and rural settings. In addition, CaixaBank has an Equality Plan to promote the principles of equal opportunity and the diversity of work teams, to enhance the presence of women in managerial positions, and to reinforce measures to balance personal and professional life. The plan features the scope of gender in managerial development programmes and in recruitment and training processes, and the fostering of teleworking and flexibility. The companys Board of Directors also boasts one of the highest ratios on the IBEX35, with 40% of the directors being women. Acknowledging the commitment to diversity In addition to being recognised by the Bloomberg Equality Index, CaixaBank has earned significant accolades in the field of equality, such as the Equality in the Company Seal, managed by the Instituto de la Mujer, and the Family-Friendly Certificate presented by the Msfamilia Foundation. It has received recognition elsewhere, such as for the 25th anniversary of the FEDEPE Award (the Spanish Federation of Female Managers, Executives, Professionals and Entrepreneurs). Furthermore, in 2020 the Fundacin para la Diversidad granted CaixaBank the award for the best practice of a major corporation for its diversity programme Wengage. In addition, CaixaBank ranks first in Spain in the 2021 EWoB Gender Diversity index. It is also part of the new IBEX Gender Equality Index. CaixaBank is associated with the international programme Target Gender Equality and the Womens Empowerment Principles, of the United Nations; and the Diversity Charter, promoting equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory measures. It is also a member of Closingap, the cluster that studies the economic impact of gender gaps in Spain. It is also one of the entities associated with the STEAM Alliance for Female Talent Girls on the Science Stand, an initiative led by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training to promote STEAM careers in girls and young women. The banks commitment extends to all the Group companies. As a result, CaixaBank Asset Management has been recognised as a European leader in gender diversity for the second year in a row, and as the Asset Manager with the best gender representation for the first time in the category of firms with 20-50 managers at Citywire magazines Gender Diversity Awards.
The Renegade by Martin Hicks is published
Exciting new seafaring novel and fourth Spartan novel
About the Book:
Martin Hicks lives in Fraserburgh in Scotland and began writing after a career in education. The Renegade is his sixteenth book and the fourth Spartan story. He is currently working on a fifth title in the series.
About the Author:
Books by the same author:
The Renegade by Martin Hicks is available in paperback from Amazon UK at:
The e-book is also available to purchase from Amazon at:
Press/Media Contact Details: ### Released this spring, Christiania is set in Freetown – Copenhagens crown jewel of artist expression – and centers on social medias disruptive impact on a defiant Danish teenage girl. After her parents are forced out of the community, a Christiania is left to raise herself and thrives despite excessive peer pressure – until a close connection seeking online fame begins aggressively targeting her.
When I thought about making the female character, I wanted her to have experiences similar to girls my age, says writer Abi Behe. I hope people can relate to her because I sometimes feel how she feels in the story.
In the tradition of noir Danish comics portraying idealistic societies with a darker, dysfunctional underworlds, the lead character is a personification of Freetown – an energetic community resisting mainstream superficiality whilst struggling to deal with crime within its boundaries.
Christiania the girl represents what the real place is all about, says Behe. She has gone through all sorts of problems over the years and survived. But then a social media villain tries to destroy Christianias real spirit.
Wordless double page spreads emulate the vivid single-scene, multi-character street art created on the walls throughout Freetown – a stark contrast to rapid-fire content streams flowing in the dark digital world it seeks to expose.
We wanted to make big double page spreads so readers could soak up each scene and calmly pick up all the meaning, says Abi. And that is completely different to reading lots of social media messages or news feeds on our phone.
Both of Behes books are set in the world of Contraband, an exploding dark web app attracting people jaded with state censorship, sponsored spam and cancel-culture on mainstream social media. Contraband becomes a voyeur digital underground where profit hungry mobs prowl city streets filming radical events to satisfy societys insatiable demand for sensational content. But when activists hack the app giving control to any influencer with the most followers, chaos ensues as people everywhere go to any lengths to get the money and fame of being Contraband #1.
Released later in 2023, Charlie Dirtbags is a dark action thriller about sensationalist social criminals seeking fame and wealth on Contraband at the expense of vulnerable followers. CharlieDirtbags, SeamStressed, OllyGark and other online crime titans share investment and schemes promising to split the billions if one of their ultra-radical clips hits Contraband #1 – but chaos ensues when the villains decide not to play ball.
Markosia publisher Harry Markos is excited about the upcoming publications. These graphic novels are both excellent. Christiania clearly shares a personal message from the author and Charlie Dirtbags will be quite a lot of fun.
For more information: tjbehe ( @ ) gmail dot com / harry ( @ ) markosia dot com / contrabandgraphicnovel.com/christiania ### Fact Sheet: Nine Facts about Save the Children’s Work in Afghanistan
CaixaBank creates a diversity advisory committee to harness the vision of leading female corporate executives in its equality initiatives
“The Renegade” by Martin Hicks is published
It is early 1854 and war looms with Tsarist Russia. James Rutherford and his ship Spartan are transferred to Royal Navy service and given a role patrolling Oriental waters in search of a powerful enemy warship which seeks to prey upon allied shipping. Reluctant to be confined to such tedium, Rutherford adopts a more proactive approach but this will lead to grave risks for Spartans crew.
Martin Hicks lives in Fraserburgh in Scotland and began writing after a career in education. He has since published a number of novels between 1850 65.
A Season for Killing (2007)
A Deepening Twilight (2007)
A Gathering of Soldiers (2008)
Hard Passage North (2009)
The Rappahannock Line (2011)
Mirage of Victory (2012)
The Bitterest Enemy (2013)
Bond of Blood (2014)
Palmetto (2015)
An Instrument of War (2016)
Nothing Without Honour (2017)
The Turn of Fate (2018)
An Independent Command (2019)
The Trail of the Scorpion (2020)
The Final Stronghold (2021)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Renegade-Martin-Hicks/dp/B0BPJPB6FM
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Renegade-Martin-Hicks-ebook/dp/B0BPJPQYYH
Darin Jewell
Managing Director
Inspira Group Literary Agency
Tel. 0208 292 5163
E-mail: darin ( @ ) theinspiragroup dot com13-year-old signs deal for two graphic novels exposing darker side of social media
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