Track III: Health and Growth
January 29, 2006 by admin · Comments Off
| Panel I: The Eonomic and Social Impact of Infectious Disease in Developing Countries |
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This panel will explore how infectious disease impedes economic growth in developing countries. Panelists will discuss the social and economic impact of HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria on developing countries and prospects for lessening the effects of these pathogens.
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| Panel II: Sectors & Strategies: Public, Private and NGO Response to the Health Needs of the Developing World |
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In response to Global Health challenges, such as HIV/AIDS the public, private and non-governmental organizations have all responded. The debate lies in which sector has responded in the most effective manner. And can often disjoint aid efforts better work together to provide solutions to the health needs of the developing world. Through a discussion of the various types of initiatives from government agencies such as USAID, private multi-nationals such as Merck, and most recently high level non-governmental initiatives such as the Gates Foundation a comparison will be drawn. Which sector is providing the most innovative response? How can the sectors better work together? Through a discussion of the different sector approaches and better opportunities for them to collaborate together a framework of best practices and successful strategies for future collaboration will emerge.
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| Panel III: Women and Healthcare: Challenges Facing Healthcare in Developing Nations. Read more |
Track II: Environment, Natural Resources and International Development
January 28, 2006 by admin · Comments Off
| Panel I: Improving Access to Modern Energy Services: Lessons Learned and Future Opportunities |
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Two billion people, or roughly one third of humanity, still lack access to modern energy services such as heat, light and mechanical power, all of which are integral to economic development. Employing sustainable energy technologies to increase access to these services has proven beneficial to poor, underdeveloped communities by improving livelihoods and generating sources of income. In addition to the significant environmental benefits associated with sustainable energy technologies, cleaner technologies are often the most cost-effective solutions in remote, rural areas. In the case of electricity, for example, conventional grid-extension can be prohibitively expensive. Moreover, studies indicate that poor energy consumers have a high willingness and ability to pay for these technologies given the proper financial mechanisms. If the provision of modern energy services through sustainable energy technology creates a potential win-win solution for the environment, the private sector as well as poor, rural energy consumers, why haven’t more projects succeeded? Which economic, financial and policy barriers exist to successful implementation of profitable rural energy programs? What is the role of government, multi-lateral institutions, and the private sector? What are the important lessons to be learned from past rural energy efforts and how can we make projects more self-sufficient in the future? Lastly, what creative solutions can we employ to improve access to energy services in underdeveloped countries? Read more
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Keynote Speaker 2
January 28, 2006 by admin · Leave a Comment
WILLIAM EASTERLY
Economist & Professor at New York University
William Easterly is Professor of Economics at New York University, joint with Africana Studies, and Co-Director of NYU’s Development Research Institute. He is also a non-resident Fellow of the Center for Global Development in Washington, DC. William Easterly received his Ph.D. in Economics at MIT. He has spent sixteen years as a Research Economist at the World Bank. His work has been discussed in media outlets like National Public Radio, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, the Economist, and Financial Times.
Easterly’s areas of expertise include the determinants of long-run economic growth and the effectiveness of foreign aid. He has worked in most areas of the developing world, including Mexico, Jamaica, Ghana, the Gambia, Colombia, Thailand, Russia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Bolivia, South Africa, and Pakistan. Easterly is an associate editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Economic Growth, and of the Journal of Development Economics.
He is the author of the upcoming book, The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (Penguin 2006), as well as the much acclaimed, The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists’ Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics (MIT, 2001).
Opening Keynote Speaker
January 28, 2006 by admin · Comments Off
ZACKIE ACHMAT
HIV/AIDS Activist in South Africa
Born in Johannesburg, Zackie Achmat was raised in a Muslim community in Cape Town. He started his political life at 14, as one of the leaders of the 1976 anti-apartheid school boycotts. Between 1976 and 1980 he was arrested and detained by the security policy, and tried and imprisoned at some point in each of those years – which prevented him from completing high school.
After his release in 1980 he turned to underground work, revealing a flair for strategizing and tactical application as well as political education. He built a series of NGOs providing educational support to disadvantaged youth, skills training for school leavers and in the health sector. He was active in promoting the ANC at a mass level – from organizing the first open mass ANC funeral in the Western Cape, to publicizing the Freedom Charter in massive meters high murals spray painted onto walls all over Cape Town.
At the same time, Zackie remained critical of the leadership of the ANC, and never compromised his principles for the sake of political position or favor. This characteristic earned him intense loyalty from some, respect from others, often enmity from those in power. Zackie’s political philosophy was based on Marxism. As the events of the early 1990s unfolded he revised his ideas on Marxism and embraced the achievements of the new South African constitution. He realized that the struggle for social justice was going to be much more protracted than the perspective of 1980s suggested. He understood that the “human rights culture” required by the new South African constitution was not something automatic and would have to be fought for.