Claudia Romo Edelman is an advocate for the Hispanic community in the US and the founder of the We Are All Human Foundation. Courtesy photo
Claudia Romo Edelman is an advocate for the Hispanic community in the US and the founder of the We Are All Human Foundation. Courtesy photo
Claudia Romo Edelman is an advocate for the Hispanic community in the US and the founder of the We Are All Human Foundation. Courtesy photo
Claudia Romo Edelman is an advocate for the Hispanic community in the US and the founder of the We Are All Human Foundation. Courtesy photo

The advocate championing the Hispanic contribution to the US economy


Mustafa Alrawi
  • English
  • Arabic

Claudia Romo Edelman is an advocate for inclusion, equity and representation and the founder of the We Are All Human Foundation, which is committed to advancing diversity. Ms Edelman is also the co-host of Global GoalsCast, a podcast highlighting global progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The Mexican-Swiss former diplomat has advised Unicef, the World Economic Forum and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Married with two children, she speaks six languages. Here she tells Mustafa Alrawi about her latest initiative.

You describe yourself as an advocate for the Hispanic community in the United States. Why does the community need an advocate at this time?

Why advocate now for US Hispanics? Latinos in America have never been stronger. We amount for more than 20 per cent of this country, more than 12 per cent of the gross domestic product, more than 80 per cent of every new job created since the great recession and we will be 30 million voters by 2020. We are the youngest majority minority in America. And the reason why the community has to work now is two folded- firstly because the American economy is very strong right now and there is the opportunity to consolidate, secondly because our young people - meaning the Latinos under 25 - are getting disillusioned, losing faith in the American dream. And that should be prevented if we want a strong American middle-class.

Traditionally it is young people that are the optimists in every country. It could be dangerous if 20 per cent of young people in America are pessimistic. Also we need to look forward to the elections in 2020, not only to have more representation on politically, but also to have a better turn out in the elections.

The purpose of advocating for unification of Hispanics, to create a sense of community would be for Latinos in America to be able to exercise the potential power we have. Close to 80 per cent of Latinos have no idea of our own strength and power; 77 per cent have not realised our own contributions to this country. We need Hispanics to talk to Hispanics about our own strength - we need leaders to step forward and speak about not focusing on our differences but on our similarities to win this battle. But I am confident we can, that is why I left my job at the United Nations to take a year off and focus on the unification of Latinos.

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Listen:

Business Extra podcast: The one thing you need to know about the US economy

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A career in diplomacy came before your current media profile. How did that shape your thinking and approach to issues like diversity and the environment?

Diplomats have the advantage of seeing the whole picture. I learned that a lack of a joint agenda is often the very issue that stops progress towards objectives. Diplomacy helped me understand that ambitious goals cannot be achieved by one single sector of society and have to be worked through a variety of stakeholders. In many instances of my professional life I have used these lessons to create platforms for different groups of society to create a shared agenda. That is what I would like to achieve over the next year, use my experience and neutral platform to galvanise Hispanic leaders to get together and create a common dream.

You are a co-founder of the Global GoalsCast podcast about the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Why do SDGs matter? 

The sustainable development goals are the master plan for the future of the people on the planet. They are a perfect framework for anyone willing to do social good in the world. I decided to create a podcast in January 2018 to talk about progress of the champions making a difference towards the global goals. The issues contained in the development goals are complex and require business, government and media to work together on them. They have to be explained in an intimate, genuine way and in the right channel to engage millennials and Gen Z to take action. Private sector and business are the two main players to advance their goals faster. Public trust is on brands who they expect to have leverage, which they’re not going to get from the government. Companies need to do better as well. But also they have to communicate their progress, through alternative channels that allow them to be genuine and direct.

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Read more:

New financial apps demystify stocks and bonds for American Hispanics

Financial literacy test finds the world is not ready for retirement

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This year you attended the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore and will be in Davos for the World Economic Forum annual meeting. Both initiatives are working on a new vision for globalisation that is more inclusive and fair. What are your thoughts?

Globalisation has not yet fully happened. There are certain issues that have been totally globalised like trade, music and in some instances food. But we have to globalise the rights that belong to every person on the planet. We have to globalise the right for education and health. While we cannot stop globalisation, we certainly can improve it.

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The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

It's up to you to go green

Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.

“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”

When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.

He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.

“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.

One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.  

The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.

Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.

But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Ipaf in numbers

Established: 2008

Prize money:  $50,000 (Dh183,650) for winners and $10,000 for those on the shortlist.

Winning novels: 13

Shortlisted novels: 66

Longlisted novels: 111

Total number of novels submitted: 1,780

Novels translated internationally: 66

The Brutalist

Director: Brady Corbet

Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn

Rating: 3.5/5

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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2)
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Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions
UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels