The Global Village: Journalists’ Initiative to Promote Diversity in the North West with an International Perspective

The Global Village Editorial Board is at a crucial juncture in their services to the community. We have just started to work as an independent editorial board, in an effort to expand our services to regional and national levels. We will be incorporating a number of ambitious elements to our work in the next few weeks. This article is a wee reminder of who we are, and what we hope to do in the near future.

The Global Village editorial board is composed of professionals who are proficient in several European and non-European languages. They are all foreigners currently based in Northern Ireland, who are committed to promoting diversity and multiculturalism in the region. We also have a vast network of contributors from a myriad of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, who continue to enrich the Global Village with their work.

The editorial board of the Global Village is composed of the following members:

Melvin Abdon FLORES YANES, Senior Editor

Melvin was born in Honduras and brought up in Belize. After completing a Degree in Mass Communication, he began working as a journalist with Amandala Press, a local newspaper in Belize the age of 21. He served there as an investigative journalist for over twelve years. He also worked as a stringer for the Reuters News Agency. Throughout his career, he was able to cover a wide variety of investigative articles within Central America, the Caribbean and in the United States. Melvin also assisted in covering diplomatic issues within Belize and Guatemala. Currently, he resides in Northern Ireland.

Juliana RESENDE, Editor
Journalist for almost 20 years, graduated in Social Communications at the Pontifícia University of Sao Paulo (PUC-SP), Brazil, Juliana Resende is the co-founder and executive-editor of BR Press news agency and has been working as a correspondent in the UK for the Brazilian press, since attending an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Ulster in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland. In the 90's she has worked for the largest Brazilian media corporations as a reporter. While working for O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, she wrote the journalistic book Rio Operation - Stories of a Brazilian War (1995), about the violence due to the organised crime domination in Rio de Janeiro's shantytowns (favelas).

Chaminda WEERAWARDHANA, Assistant Editor
Born in Sri Lanka, Chaminda has all his third level qualifications (DEUG, Licence, MA in Politics and History) from the Université François Rabelais in Tours, France. As a high schooler at Trinity College, Kandy, he used to volunteer for local NGOs and community care organisations. Currently, Chaminda is completing a PhD in Peace and Conflict Research at the Universities of Tour (France) and Ulster. As a young researcher, he has presented several papers at international conferences in France, UK and Ireland. He is also interested in creative writing and is presently working on his maiden novel. Chaminda is also a member of a number of academic bodies including the Conflict Research Society (UK) and the Political Studies Association of Ireland (PSAI).

Nazomi YAMADA, Support Editor

Having completed her BA degree in International Politics, Nazomi is currently reading for an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Ulster. She has been based in Northern Ireland for the past three years, and has studied the Northern Ireland conflict closely. Nazomi has been interested in the field of journalism since her high school days, and her areas of academic interest include UN peacekeeping in South Asia and community relations.
Copyright The Global Village Newsline 2007