Rapport de Conférence

La Conférence internationale sur la biodiversité pour le développement durable en Papouasie (Jayapura, 11–15 novembre 2009) a rassemblé des contributions et les meilleures pratiques de diverses sources, et a mis en branle des engagements en faveur de la conservation et du développement durable dans l'un des héritages les plus riches de la Terre sur le plan bioculturel et de la biodiversité.

Cet article présente un compte rendu de la Conférence de Warwick sur l'humanitarisme, lors de laquelle des praticiens et des universitaires ont partagé leurs expériences des problèmes et limites de l'humanitarisme, et les manières dont ils s'y sont confrontés.

 

It may not be scientific, but it was interesting to hear journalists passing judgement among themselves on the 2009 World Food Summit organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ‘A waste of time and money’, one told this author. ‘What did it achieve? Nothing.’ The BBC and other news crews had already packed up their gear and departed well before the final day because, they said, the story had gone: ‘Our editorial desks have lost interest in it’.

The author reports on this conference, held in Tokyo in 1999, which brought together leading development thinkers and practitioners, and finance experts. The main discussions are summarised, often with reference to the recent Asian financial crisis, and the author states that the IMF's apparent neglect of the link between finance and development was worrying, and evidence of the need for its reform.

In November 1990 the South-North International Conference on Linking For Development was held in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, involving 100 participants from local authorities and NGOs from 21 countries. The representatives unanimously agreed on an Appeal, `From Dependency To Justice', and insisted on greater initiative from agencies and authorities in the South. The conference identified four priorities for future linking initiatives: development education, training, mutual development Cupertino, and working for change.

The author provides an overview of a seminar on the promotion of small enterprises, organised by the Aga Khan Foundation (UK). Representatives from official agencies, the private sector and NGOs discussed barriers to NGOs working effectively in this sector, and how these can be overcome, as well as best practice in the provision of credit and technical assistance, and the potential support role of other public and private institutions.

This Conference Report presents the recommendations taken from a Summary Report of the South Asian Agenda Regional Meeting for South Asia, held in New Delhi, India in 1999. The event was convened by the Disaster Mitigation Institute (DMI) and supported by the Department for International Development (DfID) of the British government. Measures to reduce the disaster vulnerability of poor communities, to improve the standard of, and review public expenditure on, relief, for example, are discussed.

The author reports on this conference held in Tromsö, Norway, in June 1999. Discussion centred on the discourse of `gender' and on the women's movement, and the author considers these themes from the dual viewpoint of the practitioner and the academic.

The author reports on the triennial conference of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), held in Paris in 1999. He found a disturbing lack of historical analysis and awareness, and a surprising dearth of discussion of the value of knowledge, or information sharing, in the North-South relationship of the future.

Dans son compte rendu de la conférence annuelle de 2005 d’AccountAbility, Jenny Hyatt observe que l’“industrie de la redevabilité” impulsée par les pays du Nord se soucie surtout de prédire les résultats et de contrôler les ressources et laisse donc largement passer la nature morale et politique de la redevabilité sur le plan de la promotion de l’équité et de l’intégrité et se soucie peu de l’échec à apprendre et à encourager l’apprentissage.