“Partnerships to End Poverty and World Hunger”

Written by Administrator Saturday, 27 February 2010 20:29

News

Marcia Brewster, UNA-USA Southern NYS Division Vice President and VP of the UNA Westchester Chapter, prepared the following report on the February 19 conference sponsored by the Southern NYS Division.

An impressive group of experts was on hand to discuss three major crises facing the world over the past year—Afghanistan, the Global Economy, and Nuclear Weapons—at the United Nations on February 19. These were the themes of the three panels at the UNA Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference and 2010 Members’ Day. The conference, entitled ―A Year of Crises: Opportunities for Change -- was organized by co-chairs Jeffrey Laurenti and Catherine White, with George Garland serving as Executive Director. A full Web cast of the proceedings is available at www.tcf.org, the Web site of the Century Foundation.
The 500 plus participants (many of them students) were welcomed by: Jeffrey Laurenti, the Century Foundation; Ramu Damodaran, UN Department of Public Information; Ambassador Byrganym Aitimova, the Vice President of the General Assembly; Tom Miller, President of UNA-USA; and Robert Orr, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning.

The first Panel, on ―Afghanistan: From Ramping Up to the Exit Ramp,‖ was moderated by Linda Fasulo, NBC News correspondent at the UN. The excellent panel included: Hassan Abbas, Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the Asia Society; Valentin Gatzinski, Director of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan; and Jeffrey Laurenti. Much of the discussion centered on the failure of nation building in Afghanistan and the difficult situation in that country. Dr. Abbas suggested some of the elements that would be needed to reconcile all of the factions, the hard core Taliban, war lords, and other local people. Religious deradicalization, a larger education project, regional arrangements, and an active international role will be needed.

The second panel, ―Hitting the Reset Button on the Global Economy,‖ was moderated by Jeffrey Laurenti and featured: Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development; Anita Sharma of the UN Millennium Campaign; and Werner Puschra, UN Office Director of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (Germany). Much of the discussion focused on the unregulated and ad hoc international system for dealing with trade and financial flows. The panel also discussed the Millennium Development Goals, foreign assistance, and globalization. The panelists suggested that a ―Tobin tax‖ on international financial transactions would contribute to financial stability and to meeting the MDGs.

The final panel, on ―Turning Back the Bomb: Hard Cases and Grand Designs,‖ was moderated by Christine Wing of NYU’s Center on International Cooperation. Panelists were: Ambassador Gérard Araud of France; Trita Parsi, President of the National Iranian-American Council; and Randy Rydell, Senior Officer in the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs. Much of the discussion was on Iran’s nuclear program and the upcoming sessions on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty at the UN in May.