News

Major International Development Forum Takes Place at Georgetown

June 15, 2012

A host of world and business leaders, academics and U.S. government officials were those among attending a conference at Georgetown hosted by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Kay Warren speaks while seated and gestures with her hands

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, Mandy Moore speaks while seated and shrugging

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, Barbara Bush speaks in front of a backdrop

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, Jim Kolbe speaks with head tilted slightly in front of a backdrop

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, Christy Turlington Burns speaks with left hand raised

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, Sheryl WuDunn speaks in front of a backdrop

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, Carolyn Miles speaks and gestures while sitting in front of a backdrop

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, Michael Elliott speaks while Christy Turlington Burns looks on

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, James Habyarimana speaks into a microphone while standing in front of a backdrop

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, Ben Cardin speaks into a microphone while standing in front of a backdrop

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, William Jack speaks into a microphone while standing in front of backdrop

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, Paul Collier speaks into a microphone while standing in front of a backdrop

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, Mary Robinson speaks while seated on a panel

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, Njack Kane speaks while seated at a table with a microphone

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, Paul Weisenfeld speaks while seated into a microphone

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, Joyce Banda speaks while seated in front of a backdrop

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, Ariel Pablos-Mendez speaks while seated in front of a backdrop

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, John Kufor speaks while sitting in front of a backdrop

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, Julio Frenk speaks while seated in front of a backdrop

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, Walter Gwenigale speaks while seated in front of a backdrop

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, Judith Rodin speaks in front of a backdrop with projection

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, Atifete Jahjaga speaks while seated in front of a backdrop

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, Emilia Pires speaks while seated in front of a backdrop

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, Nancy Lindborg speaks while seated in front of a USAID backdrop

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, Sarah Cliffe speaks while seated in front of a backdrop

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, Mark Schneider speaks while seated in front of a backdrop

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, Emilia Pires, Nancy Lindborg, Kaj Larsen, Sarah Cliffe and Mark Schneider speak on a panel in front of a backdrop

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, Ray Suarez talking with Ellen Sirleaf Johnson while seated at a table in front of a backdrop

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, Carol Lancaster speaks at a podium in front of a backdrop

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, James Stavridis speaks while standing with a microphone

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, Johanna Mandelson Forman, James Stavridis, Ray Suarez, Gayle Smith and Nadwa Al-Dawsari speak on a panel while seated

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, Nadwa Al-Dawsari speaks while seated in front of a backdrop

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, Gayle Smith speaks while seated into a microphone

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, Johanna Mendelson Forman speaks while seated in front of a backdrop

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, Judy Woodruff seated with Mary Robinson, Joyce Banda, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Atifete Jahjaga and Helen Clark

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, Joyce Banda smiles while sitting and speaking on a panel

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, Atifete Jahjaga speaks on a panel while sitting and gesturing with hands

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, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf speaks on a panel while seated in front of a backdrop

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, Mary Robinson speaks on a panel while seated in front of a backdrop

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, Helen Clark speaks on a panel while seated in front of a backdrop

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, Richard Lugar speaks into a microphone in front of a backdrop

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, Rajiv Shah speaks into a microphone in front of a backdrop

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, John J. DeGioia welcomes participants

A host of world and business leaders, academics and U.S. government officials were those among attending a conference at Georgetown hosted by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The inaugural Frontiers in Development forum, June 11-13, was designed to address the most important issues facing the future of foreign assistance and international development.

The forum was a public-private partnership betweenUSAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service (SFS), The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, The MacArthur FoundationandThe Rockefeller Foundation.

Foremost Experts

“We are honored that USAID has chosen Georgetown as the venue for its inaugural Frontiers in Development forum,” said SFS Dean Carol Lancaster, a former USAID deputy administrator. “Given that this forum brings together some the world’s foremost international development experts from across the globe, it has the potential to serve as a catalyst for solving some of the long-term issues that continue to challenge foreign assistance and international development.”

SFS has a number of academic programs in the field, including the master’s in global human development, an academically rigorous skills-based graduate program designed to produce highly qualified development professionals.

The invitation-only forum audience comprised 700 prominent leaders, including confirmed speakers Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia; Atifete Jahjaga, president of Kosovo; Joyce Banda, president of Malawi; Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland; Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.); and Admiral James G. Stavridis, NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe; several CEOS of major companies and more.

Stimulating Debate

“USAID is engaging the most innovative and experienced thought leaders and practitioners from around the world to stimulate debate around key development challenges and opportunities,” said USAID Administrator Raj Shah.

Georgetown faculty members who presented at the forum included economics associate professor William Jack and James Habyarimana, an associate professor with the Georgetown Public Policy Institute and the university’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. The institute is run by both the university’s School of Nursing & Health Studies and its law school.

The forum also included a number of other well-known individuals, including actress and activist Mandy Moore; George W. Bush’s daughter, Barbara, now president of Global Health Corps; and Christy Turlington Burns, supermodel and founder of Every Mother Counts. Media serving as forum moderators included PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff and Ray Suarez; CNN’s Kaj Larsen; and the Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin and Cecilia Kang.

Key themes of the forum were:

Development, Democracy and Security (Monday, June 11)
Addressing Critical Challenges of Development (Tuesday, June 12)
The Future of Development (Wednesday, June 13)

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