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Georja Calvin-Smith

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Georja Calvin-Smith (often misspelled Georgia Calvin-Smith) is a British Paris-based international television news presenter, producer, writer, and journalist who hosts and moderates various forums globally.[1][2][3][4][5] Calvin-Smith is best known for her role at France 24 as a news anchor and presenter of the daily series Eye on Africa and the weekly television news magazine Across Africa.[1][6][2][5]

Early life and education

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Calvin-Smith was born in Trinidad and emigrated to England when she was seven years old.[7] Calvin-Smith studied law in the United Kingdom,[2][8] and was subsequently invited to join the diplomatic service of Trinidad and Tobago but turned to journalism instead.[8] She became a naturalised British citizen in 2010.[7]

Career

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Media career

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Since 2007 Calvin-Smith[9] has worked as a journalist in the United States, Britain and France, on news, current affairs, and international documentaries.[1][2][8] Early in her career, she worked as a news reporter and presenter in Manchester, England[2][7] on TV station Channel M (circa 2010),[7][10] and produced stories, features and documentaries for the BBC,[9][11] ITV Network, and HBO in New York City.[2]

In recent years, Calvin-Smith has worked in various reporting, producing and presenter roles for France 24. After years of presenting news bulletins, she became the presenter for The Week in the Maghreb, which covered developments in north-central and northwest Africa. Eventually moving to cover the entire continent, she currently produces and presents the network's daily Eye on Africa bulletin, and anchors its weekly Across Africa TV-magazine show.[1][6][2][5][12] Calvin-Smith has reported from around the world, and interviewed many heads of state including the presidents of Nigeria, Mali, Ivory Coast, Namibia, Angola.[2][13] and Zambia.[14][15]

Event leadership

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Calvin-Smith has hosted numerous high-level debates and dialogues at international summits, organisation forums, and corporate events, particularly throughout Africa,[2] including events of the United Nations,[3][4][16] the OECD,[17][18][19] the World Bank,[20] and several African-based international organisations.[2][5][12]

As chair of the OECD's Africa Forum in Paris, Calvin-Smith oversaw a panel of ministers and presidents discussing Africa's economic challenges.[2] She has also moderated other OECD panels.[17][18][19] In 2018, she conducted conversations with policy makers about Africa’s economy at the World Export Development Forum in Zambia.[2] In 2019, at the initial Luanda Biennale and pan African Forum for the culture of Peace, she chaired a presidential panel.[2][16]

Calvin-Smith routinely leads events for the African Development Bank. In the past, she has moderated televised debates for the African Development Bank in Ahmedabad, India and Busan, South Korea.[2][21]

Calvin-Smith served as Master of Ceremonies at the Invest in African Energy Forum in Paris for the African Energy Chamber (AEC).[12][22] and at the 2021 Global SME Finance Forum.[23] She also led a panel for the Africa CEO Forum.[5]

At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) held in Paris, Calvin-Smith guided keynote sessions with California governor Jerry Brown, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and other leaders.[2][3] She led discussions at the UN’s World Press Freedom Day event in Jakarta, Indonesia.[2][4]

Recognition

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Calvin-Smith has been featured in Le Monde's "Women in Africa" conference, along with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee and the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda.[2]

In 2020, Calvin-Smith was a judge for the annual Rory Peck Awards which recognize "the most outstanding work of freelance journalists and filmmakers" in international media.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Georja Calvin-Smith - Presenter," France 24, retrieved 4 June 2023
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Featured Speaker: Georja Calvin-Smith, journalist, France 24," 13 April 2021, The World Bank, retrieved June 4, 2023
  3. ^ a b c "Session 2: Engager: Habiter le territoire de demai," 5 December 2015, Journée de l’Action: COP21 (the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference), Lima-Paris Action Agenda, Ecology Ministry, Government of France, retrieved 5 June 2023
  4. ^ a b c "Georja Calvin-Smith," World Press Freedom Day 2017, UNESCO, retrieved 9 June 2023
  5. ^ a b c d e "Speakers," A New World Coming, 'Digital Edition 28, 30 September 2021, Africa CEO Forum, retrieved 4 June 2023
  6. ^ a b "TV Guide", France 24, retrieved June 6, 2023
  7. ^ a b c d "'I was surprised how much I cared' ...granted full British citizenship...," 19 April 2010, updated January 12, 2013, Manchester Evening News, retrieved 4 June 2023
  8. ^ a b c "Let’s Talk Africa-Asia Partnerships," 2017, President Special Panel on "Accelerating Implementation of the Bank’s Ten-Years Strategy with the High 5s Agenda," African Development Bank Group (AfDB Group), retrieved 4 June 2023
  9. ^ a b Calvin-Smith, Georja: "Samba," May 31, 2007, Woman's Hour, BBC, retrieved 4 June 2023
  10. ^ "My bootcamp hell," 19 April 2010, updated 12 January 2013, Manchester Evening News, retrieved 4 June 2023
  11. ^ "Minuto a minuto: sitio al sospechoso de la matanza..." (translated, Spanish to English: "Minute by minute: siege of the suspect in the Toulouse massacre"), 21 March 2012, BBC News Mundo, retrieved 4 June 2023
  12. ^ a b c "France 24 Georja Calvin-Smith to Host the Invest in African Energy Forum Paris," May 29, 2023, African Energy Chamber (AEC), retrieved June 4, 2023
  13. ^ "Jonathan says PDP will bounce back," 29 January 2016, DailyTrust at Ventures Africa, retrieved 5 June 2023
  14. ^ "President Lungu confident of being re-elected," (summary, in English, of interviews by France 24 and Radio France International), 11 February 2016, Zambia Daily Mail on Lusaka Voice, retrieved 4 June 2023
  15. ^ "President Edgar Lungu’s Interview with France 24’s Georja Calvin-Smith," (video), 12 February 2016, Lusaka Times, retrieved 5 June 2023
  16. ^ a b "Ideas," 2019, Biennale of Luanda, Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace, UNESCO, retrieved June 4, 2023; similar references at [1] and [2]
  17. ^ a b "Acknowledgments," Outcome document, High Level Dialogue with Africa: Road to TICAD7 in Yokohama and Africa’s Development Dynamics 2019 (May 21, 2019), October 1st, 2019, OECD, Paris, retrieved June 4, 2023; also cited in post-action "Acknowledgements"
  18. ^ a b "Agenda," June 10, 2022, "21st International Economic Forum on Africa: Africa in the emerging global economic order," OECD, Paris, retrieved June 4, 2023
  19. ^ a b "Agenda," May 23, 2023, "Symposium: African Diaspora, Trade and Investment: What Economic and Social Impacts?," OECD, Paris, retrieved June 9, 2023
  20. ^ "Moderator: Georja Calvin-Smith," April 13, 2021, The State of the Africa Region: COVID-19 and the Future of Work in Africa, (virutal conference), World Bank, retrieved June 5, 2023
  21. ^ "Speakers," "Finance in Common" Spring Meeting, May 11, 2021, African Development Bank, retrieved June 9, 2023
  22. ^ "France 24 Georja Calvin-Smith to Host the Invest in African Energy Forum Paris," May 29, 2023, Gulf Oil and Gas, retrieved June 9, 2023
  23. ^ speakers list, Global SME Finance Forum 2021, retrieved June 9, 2023
  24. ^ "Judges", 2020, Rory Peck Awards, retrieved June 5, 2023
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