Please click on the sections below for details. The order of consultations is based on the date in which they took place. Consultations with Director, Steen Jorgensen: Consultations with Sector Manager, Judith Edstrom:
Consultations with Director, Steen Jorgensen: Philippines Materials: Letter received from UNICEF dated 30 August 2004 (TIF image) Feedback received from National Economic & Development Authority (NEDA) on 6 September 2004 (TIF image) Presentation for the ADB (PowerPoint) Presentation for the Philippines' World Bank staff (PowerPoint) Presentation for civil society, government, and academia (PowerPoint) Back to the top
Consultations with Director, Steen Jorgensen: Japan On July 26, 2004, The Japan Times carried an article by Steen Jorgensen, Director of Social Development at the World Bank. Click here to go to the article . If you would like to see what FASID (Foundation for Advanced Studies in International Development) highlighted for the discussion, please click here (site in Japanese). Material: Presentation for JBIC (PowerPoint) Back to the top
Consultations with Sector Manager, Judith Edstrom: Malaysia ICSW Biennial Conference (Portions taken from Ms. Edstrom's BTOR dated August 31, 2004) I was invited by the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) to chair one panel and speak on another at their August 15-20 Biennial Conference, this year's theme of which was Social Justice and Social Welfare. The International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW), founded in Paris in 1928, is a non-governmental organisation which now represents national and local organisations in more than 50 countries throughout the world. It's member organisations collectively represent tens of thousands of community organisations which work directly at the grass-roots with people in poverty, hardship or distress. Almost all of them are independent organisations working in their own communities rather than branches of organisations based in other countries. Member organisations have traditionally focused on service delivery and welfare of vulnerable segments of the population--disabled, youth, aged, but have increasingly taken on advocacy roles for poor people more generally. Significantly for the Bank, ICSW is one of the few international NGOs that has the highest level of consultative status at the UN ECOSOC and UN specialized agencies; hence, it played an important role in the Copenhagen Summit and since. Its magazine, Social Development Review, covers global advocacy issues. Over 1000 delegates from 60 countries attended the Kuala Lumpur conference. Through the roles I was able to play at the podium as well as through informal dialogue, I believe that participants emerged with a more positive attitude toward the Bank as well as a "taste" of some of the global social development issues about which they may not have been aware. Opening Plenary: Social Consequences of Globalization. I chaired the opening plenary on the Social Consequences of Globalization, with a panel which included Bob Deacon, Professor of International Social Policy at University of Shefield; Deepak Nayyar, Vice Chancellor of the University of New Delhi and member of the ILO-led World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalization; and Ann Pettifor, who spearheaded the Jubilee 2000 Campaign to write off third world debt. Panel on Financing for Development: Achieving Millennium Development Goal 8. I was one of 3 speakers, along with Manfred Bardeleben, Director of Friedrich Ebert Foundation, USA; and Chan Chee Khoon, health policy professor at University Sains Malaysia; on a panel on Financing for Development: Achieving Millennium Development Goal 8, which covers trade, investment and debt, as well as official flows. The Bank came in for some fire from the other panelists, as expected, but I was able to draw out some of the broader issues, based in large part on the Bank/Fund's newly released Global Monitoring Report, which is the first of what will be an annual report on the status of attainment of all MDGs. The Report provides some fascinating data, as well as some of the most pointed (and damning) statistical evidence that I have seen produced by the Bank on the varying quality and quantity of trade and aid by the Bank's major shareholders. My PowerPoint highlights some of these. ICSW Global Committee of Representatives--Civil Society. I was also asked to participate as an advisor in the meetings of the ICSW Global Committee of Representatives to discuss North-South Partnerships and South-South dialgoue. The Eastern and Southern Africa regional affiliate of ICSW has been struggling to remain afloat. At the same time, a multi-country civil society group for the SADC countries is now being put in place to undertake advocacy work at the level of SADC, and ICSW would like to work with them. The chair of this nascent group, Abie Ditlhake, South African, as well as another member, Judith Kaulem, Zimbabwean coordinator of the Poverty Reduction Forum at the University of Zimbabwe, were therefore present as part of the Global Committee. The ICSW Executive Director, Denys Correll, had previously inquired about possible Bank support for training of civil society groups in eastern southern Africa. I have remained noncommital but have flagged his interest to Jeff Thindwa, and included Gibwa Kajubi in my meeting with Denys when he was in Washington. I also raised with Abie and Judith the possibility of collaboration on training, possibly through WBI. However, Abie's previous role in the South African NGO Committee (SANGOCO, which Kumi Naidoo previously headed) has led him to be cautious about being seen to collaborate with the Bank at this point. Social Development Strategy Consultations Kuala Lumpur: ICSW Conference. I presented the SD strategy at a conference workshop of about 70 people. Mary Racelis, who participated in Steen's strategy consultations in Manila and who has worked on the KALAHI-CIDSS Project, was a discussant. Comments tended to be directed to the Bank more generally and demonstrated a historical lack of trust in the Bank. My presentation and summary of comments by participants are attached. Back to the top
Consultations with Sector Manager, Judith Edstrom: Thailand (Portions taken from Ms. Edstrom's BTOR dated August 31, 2004) Bangkok: consultation with regional partner agencies. Thanks to preparatory work by Gillian Brown, Sr. Social Development Specialist, we got a good turnout from a diverse group (attendees attached). Ian Porter, Country/Regional Director, chaired the meeting and Gillie gave a brief presentation on SD work in the region. I gave the same presentation as at ICSW conference, in Malaysia. Perhaps the most important thing to come out of the meeting was the overwhelming support for the Bank's work on social development and agreement on the need to do more. Certainly there was a conformity of thinking in the room and the themes of inclusion, cohesiveness and accountability struck a resonant note with most of those present. Gillie prepared these detailed comments by participants on my presentation. Back to the top |
RSS