Home | Our Constitution | Our Projects | Business Opportunities | Links

MAKING GLOBALIZATION WORK FOR THE POOR

The HSRC takes pleasure in inviting you to two important public discussions on the possibilities for poverty alleviation in the context of a rapidly globalising world.

They will take place next Monday afternoon (February 12) and will serve to launch the Southern African Poverty Network.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Making globalisation work for the poor
Ms Clare Short, British Secretary of State for International Development
February 12th: 2pm, finishing at 3.30pm

Poverty reduction in Southern Africa: can globalisation help?
Dr Stephen Gelb, Development Bank of Southern Africa
February 12th : 3.45pm, finishing at 5.15pm

The policy issue… The impact of globalisation has been much debated. Two recent contributions to the debate have been the British government's new White Paper and President Mbeki's Millennium Africa Renewal Programme. In their own ways they are responding to the developmental and social challenges faced by governments, development agencies, NGOs and civil society. But what are the policy challenges which globalisation entails for governments who are committed to poverty alleviation in a national, regional or international context. These issues will be debated at the workshop. The British Government, through its Secretary of State for International Development, has just released a comprehensive white paper entitled Eliminating World Poverty: Making Globalisation work for the poor. The document sets out an agenda for managing the globalisation process in a way that ensures that "the new wealth, technology and knowledge being generated brings sustainable benefits to the one in five of humanity that live in extreme poverty". The British white paper notes: "It is not inevitable that globalisation will work well for the poor - nor that it will work against them. This depends on the policies that governments and international institutions pursue. We need developing countries, developed countries, international institutions, the private sector and civil society to rise to the challenges of globalisation, to exploit better its opportunities and minimise its risks". The document accordingly ranges over issues such as international trade, development assistance, capital flows, the digital divide, environmental sustainability and the reform of international institutions. It commits the UK government to very specific policy positions on a wide variety of issues impacting on globalisation. The full document, and its supporting inputs, may be accessed at www: globalisation.gov.uk Against this background the HSRC, in conjunction with DFID (SA) is proud to host Ms Clare Short, the British Secretary of State for International Development during her forthcoming official tour to South Africa. Ms Short will speak to the White Paper after which she will take questions from participants. After this discussion Dr Stephen Gelb, a member of the technical team supporting President Mbeki's Millenium Africa Renewal Programme (MAP) will speak to the same broad topic, but from a more focussed Southern African perspective. About the speakers….. Ms Clare Short Ms Short has occupied the post of Secretary of State for International Development since the Labour Party won the general election in 1997. A former Civil Servant at the Home Office, she entered the House of Commons in 1983 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Midlands constituency of Birmingham Ladywood, which she has held since that election. From 1996 until the 1997 General Election she was Opposition spokesperson on overseas development. She was Shadow Minister for women from 1993 to 1995 and Shadow Secretary of State for Transport from 1995 to 1996. She has been Opposition spokesperson on environment protection, social security and employment. A member of the Home Affairs Select Committee from 1983 until 1985, she was Chair of the All-Party Group on Race Relations from 1985 to 1986, Member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party since 1988, Chair of the NEC Women's Committee from 1993 to 1996 and Chair of the NEC International Committee since 1996. She is also Chair of the Human Rights Committee of the Socialist International. Dr Stephen Gelb Stephen Gelb is an economist at the Development Bank of Southern Africa. He was born in Cape Town, and studied at the Universities of Cape Town, Toronto and Manitoba in Canada, from where he obtained a PhD in Economics. While in Canada between 1976 and 1984, he was an activist in the Canadian anti-apartheid movement, including 2 years as full-time organiser for the Toronto Committee for the Liberation of Southern Africa. He has taught Economics and Political Science at the Universities of the Witwatersrand, Natal and Durban-Westville, York University (Toronto) and the New School for Social Research (New York). He has published 2 books on the political economy of South Africa, as well as numerous articles on South African economics and politics. Between 1984 and 1994, he worked with COSATU, the SA Council of Churches and the African National Congress, assisting in developing economic policy positions for these organisations. He also advised several foreign governments on their sanctions policies. Since 1994, he has been a policy consultant for many government and public sector organisations, including the Office of the President, the Office of the Deputy President, the Department of Finance, the Department of Trade & Industry, NEDLAC and the Presidential Review Commission on the Public Service. He has also advised the World Bank and the US Agency for International Development. During the past year, he led a research project for the Office of the President examining fixed investment in South Africa, and he is a member of the technical team supporting President Mbeki's Millennium Africa Renewal Programme (MAP).

Details to diarise: Date: 12 February 2001 Time: 2pm - 5.15pm Venue: HSRC conference centre 134 Pretorius Street Note: 1. Please RSVP (acceptances only) to RHumphries@hsrc.ac.za 2. Secure parking is available at the HSRC's commercial parking facility.

Home | Our Constitution | Our Projects | Business Opportunities | Links