Paying for Power

A gender quota requires 1 out of  5 participants are women.

Davos is all about networking. But this is high speed, broadband networking. Tucked away (probably because security is much easier here... anyone not connected with the Forum is easily noticed) in this small Swiss mountain resort, the movers and shakers sort each other out. So, if you had had the idea of such a conference, what would you charge the richest people in the world?

Now, I'm digging my information from the Herald Tribune. You have to be a member of the club to get invited to the Forum. Yearly membership for a single person is around 52.000 US$. Then you have to pay the entrance fee of 18.000 Swiss francs... a total of about 71.000 US$. That's your ticket to come and listen to the powerful of this world. But as one participant told me, "At that price, you're a loser." To get into the more exclusive conference rooms, access to influential people and rooms of your own, you can pay upwards to 600.000 US$!

Promoting instead of policing, Canadian Mounties
woo investors.

We, the press, don't pay that and work 15 hours a day for our honest salaries. But, we do get to meet and hobnob with the best of them. Last night, Friday, was a night of parties. Being here, we had to see what that was all about. After a nice Indian cocktail party with delicious and spicy finger food, we had drinks with CEOs the world over. The big event of the evening was the Google party. They had a robot which could solve the Rubrik's cube in 27 seconds, men completely wrapped up in bright orange or green or red sort of tights from head to toe, carrying illuminated, electrical plants. As we walked in (having sort of crashed the party because not invited) we crossed John Kerry, US Senator, as he was leaving. There were many other prominent people inside letting go, dancing to the DJ's music. A great evening, ending, for us at least, around three in the morning.

Back up this morning, albeit not so early, we are doing a last stand-up and packing up. At right is Isabelle Kumar, the other half of our gender quota, telling it like it is in Davos.

Next stop Lyon and then Astana, Kazakhstan on Sunday!

With the powerful in Davos

Every year, the rich and powerful gather in this small alpine village to discuss the world situation. The World Economic Forum's motto is "Committed to improving the state of the world." And if they all could agree, the people here are surely those who have the means to make a difference. This is a place to meet, to exchange and to absorb new ideas. You can do that everywhere, even in the shuttle vans transporting participants in a circle around this small town. This morning I rode in with a man who runs tens of non-profit hospitals in the United States and we had a great conversation about health reform. The driver of the van said he had given the head of Google a ride earlier.

Some of the veterans of this well revered conference even have battle scars. Kumi Naidoo is the International Executive Director of Greenpeace International and comes from South Africa. He isn't used to the cold. He showed us different scars on his legs from previous falls on his six trips to Davos. "This one is from Davos 2005," as he rolls up his trouser leg.

Invest in Canada!

Walking all over the town, mostly up and down steep, snowy streets to get beauty shots, works up an appetite. On the way back to the Press Center, we run across a Canadian stand, enticing the rich and powerful to invest in Canada. Their argument here comes in the form of a sort of crèpe with chocolate sauce and bananas. Hard to resist!

A very complicated situation in the Ivory Coast.

Well, I finally got my bags back, but not until I went to the airport on my next shoot and not until I went back to the baggage belts myself and found them! I came out of the baggage claim and then right back to check-in and checked in for my next destination.

My next destination was an urgent departure for Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Euronews had the chance to get an exclusive interview with the incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo. At left you see me with his councillors, Gbagbo, and with François Chignac, the journalist from Euronews. There are lots of interests involved in this election and that makes things of course very confusing to find out what is behind all the statements for each side. You can see the interview at http://fr.euronews.net/2010/12/31/exclusif-laurent-gbagbo-sexplique-sur-euronews/

Euronews also did an interview with the opposing camp of Alassane Ouatara which you can see on the same site. I know it sounds naive to wish they could all just sit down and talk it out, but both Gbagbo and Ouatara sound like intelligent men who both want the best for their country. Reminds me of the story of King Salomon and the two women who say a baby is theirs. To solve the problem, the king says he will cut the baby in two and give each half. The real mother then gives the baby to the other so as not to harm the baby. Who will make such a gesture in the Ivory Coast?

Snowy day and nervous wait.

It is a snowy day in Luxembourg and the ground is completely white. It looks very nice, but is probably the reason why I am a bit nervous. You see, my bags didn't make the flight to Luxembourg and are apparently still in Paris. It has been three days now and still no bags. I have another shoot tomorrow and need my equipment! Waiting for the call...

Winding things up in Bamako.

An evening extra lesson in a village in Mali.

Winding up things here in Bamako. Making sure I have everything I need and going through the interviews to pick out the most important parts. The two reports, I think, will be quite interesting. I will post them when they are on the air on Euronews "Reporter".


I took a quick swim in the hotel pool just to say I did go swimming before heading to cold and snowy Europe. Last time I was in Mali it was a volcano keeping planes on the ground. But I may make it without problems. The weather seems to be improving, but it may take a while to absorb all the passengers still waiting for their flight.

Not sure what to write about this.

It is hard to believe, but you have to try to convince them not to mutilate their daughters. "It's tradition" they say to cut, in varying levels, the female genitals. "If they aren't cut, they won't find a husband and they won't be able to control their desires later."


Bafla, at left, has cut young girls for over 40 years... about 50 a year. She seems like a nice old lady with no front teeth. She says the profession is part of her caste, that her mother and her grandmother did the same. Her hands are long and thin, but I imagine them holding the small blades she showed me in a dusty shack with a screaming little girl as her mother and other women hold her down. Officially, one in every five girls suffers complications, from infections, hemorrhages, complete blockage or even death. And those are from statistics where people want to talk about it to officials, so I imagine the real number would be higher.

Oumou is Bafla's daughter. She once saw a girl almost bleed to death and is since a starch opponent of the practice. She persuaded other family members not to have their daughters cut. "If you go ahead with it and something happens, you will be responsible", she tells them. Even her mother shows a bit of doubt and said she started to worry something might one day go wrong.


Of the men present during our discussion, 2 were for, 2 against and 2 couldn't decide. That is a better statistic than for the rest of the country. The average is 84% of women are circonsised. In some areas, it is as high as 98%. In the north, the prevalence is much lower.


Will be working more on this story. Will let you know when the report will be on RTL and on Euronews, around February 6th, International Day of Female Genital Mutilation.

Four poor chickens and a goat with nice eyes.

Today took me to a small village about 200 km from the capital, Bamako. I was searching for children with leprosy. Luckily for them, I didn't find any. Any visit to an African village entails first meeting the elders and going through a series of  courtesy speeches. At the left are the village elders. They were very nice, but you have to go through the motions because tradition is very strong. They live 70 km from the paved road and have no clinic or any health support. But the village chief said he was 95 years old, so he must have been doing something right.


It would be interesting to stay longer in such a village, but being accustomed to comforts such as a good bed, might make the going very rough. I think you can get used to anything and it would be a great experience.

After having looked at most of the children in the village, we decided to head back to Bamako and try to get back before dark. But, the village had prepared a meal and we had to politely explain that we really needed to get back. It would have been interesting to stay, but maybe another time. They were very understanding, but didn't want us to go home empty-handed. This poor goat was our present and had to ride in the back of our 4x4 Toyota in a bag with his head sticking out. At every stop, I gave him a scratch on the head and he looked up with his big eyes, maybe knowing what awaited him, maybe not. We also were given 4 chickens which rode on the floor at our feet in the back. They all survived the trip and may already be heading for someone's plate at this hour.

A couple elders and the next generation.