International Development Research Network

THE UNITED NATIONS MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS: PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS 

Over the past two decades, the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs—eight guiding objectives to reduce global poverty and improve the standard of living of the world’s poor—have became the foundation of the United Nation’s international development framework. As the suggested timeline for these targets is soon coming to an end (2015), there is a need for discussion and evaluation of what progress has been made towards meeting these goals, what obstacles remain, and what the effects of the MDGs as a policy instrument and set of guiding principles have been. This series engages with the set of goals on the whole, as well as several specific mandates, to improve understanding of issues related to poverty alleviation in the developing world, and also to address key governance issues and outstanding concerns.

IDRN, the Liu Institute for Global Issues and Green College are partnering to bring to the UBC community a series of lectures and student roundtables with experts in areas ranging from hunger and poverty to gender and health. The upcoming 2012 events include:

Jan 30th:

“AIDING” DEVELOPMENT? THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, FOREIGN ASSISTANCE AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION.
Ashok Kotwal, Department of Economics, UBC John Hariss, School for International Studies, SFU Philippe Le Billon, Department of Geography, UBC Patrick Francois (Moderator), Department of Economics, UBC

Feb 16th:

GLOBAL HEALTH: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES BEYOND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS.
Majid Ezzati, Chair in Global Environmental Health, Imperial College London

Feb 29th:

NEW GOALS FOR A NEW MILLENIUM? THE POLITICS OF GENDER, ENVIRONMENT AND BIODIVERSITY
Ferida Akhter, Executive Director, UBINIG, Bangladesh

Mar 28th:

OFF TRACK, ONSIDE? REALISING THE WATER AND SANITATION MDG MAY BE POSSIBLE BUT WHAT WILL IT ACHIEVE?
Lyla Mehta, Research Fellow, Institute for Development Studies, Brighton, England

Full poster with additional information is available here. 

Anyone who has tried to access the IDRN blog in the last little while and come up against some pesky malware warnings. As we were unable to resolve the warnings even after the files at fault were removed, we have moved our blog now has a new home, hosted by UBC blogs. Everyone should now happily be able to access the IDRN blog warning-free. Stay tuned for new entries, coming soon!

The International Development Research Network, based at the Liu Institute for Global Issues, is seeking a student to work on website development and to improve the online presence of the Network.  The Network Website Developer will be responsible for developing new functionality for the current website, for website maintenance and for implementing a social networking plan.  The coordinator will work under the direct supervision of Dr. Hisham Zerriffi, Faculty Mentor to IDRN, and in coordination with the IDRN Steering Committee.

The deadline to apply has been extended to November 15th. For full details, please see the posting on the Liu Institute website.

After a break for the summer, IDRN is back at it. Stay tuned for fall networking events, including Speed Networking Bingo, the Green College speaker series, and a visit from a Ugandan working on the UN Millenium Village project. As well, we will be developing our website into a new, more functioning networking and collaborating space. We look forward to meeting you!

We are actively recruiting international development experts (i.e., academics and practitioners) to participate in our first grad student conference on May 10 and 11, 2011. The participation of experts as reviewers, discussion leaders and teachers is critical to the success of the conference.

We invite you to join us either for a half day – as a reviewer during the Student Research Portfolio Reviews – or for the full day-and-a-half as we engage grad students in thought-provoking activities, network across disciplines and institutions, and foster collaborative and critical thinking on emerging issues in international development.

Please respond to idrn.ubc+conffac@gmail.com for further details, indicating your availability and any activities in which you would like to participate.

We are seeking enthusiastic undergraduate and graduate student volunteers to help make our first international development grad student conference a roaring success. On May 10 and 11, 2011, the conference will bring together grad students from southwestern British Columbia and Washington State to discuss international development, learn about research challenges specific to graduate work, receive constructive review of their programs of research, network across disciplines and institutions, and engage in collaborative and critical thinking on emerging issues.

Volunteer tasks may include contributions to planning, logistics and event-day tasks, including advertising and promotion, registration, activity planning, note-taking during discussions, ushering, technical support, set-up and tear-down.

We invite undergraduate and graduate students interested in volunteer opportunities to contact us at idrn.ubc+confvol@gmail.com.

On May 10 and 11th, 2011, we will host our first conference, bringing together grad students from universities in southwestern BC and Washington State. We will discuss international development and research challenges specific to graduate work, provide constructive review of student research, encourage networking across disciplines and institutions, and foster collaborative and critical thinking on emerging issues.

Detailed information on the proposed activities may be found on the conference website.

Interested grad students are encouraged to complete an application form and return it by e-mail to idrn.ubc+conf@gmail.com.

Experts (i.e., academics and practitioners) who are interested in contributing as reviewers, facilitators or leaders are invited to contact idrn.ubc+conffac@gmail.com for further information.

October 5, 2010 — We had a large and diverse turnout for our pre-launch creative session, with grad students from across campus and a smattering of faculty and staff. Judging from the feedback about our event posters and the topics that cropped up during this session, there is an immense unmet need for cross-campus networking on international development topics.

The session also generated the spark of new partnerships with other organizations, both on- and off-campus.

We’re very excited by the response so far and we hope to fill the room for our official launch on October 13th.

Spread the news! Mention us to your friends and colleagues.

Keep your eyes open for the promotional poster! Forward it to anyone interested smart and lasting international development through research and outreach.

Complete — thank you for your support!

October 5, 2010 — IDRN’s pre-launch mixer.

From 5:00–6:45pm on October 5th, IDRN will host a pre-launch event – a social mixer and creative events-brainstorming session for all students and faculty interested in development research.

Join us on the 3rd floor of the Liu Institute for Global Issues for a free, fully catered spread, stimulating conversation and a welcoming atmosphere.

The mixer will be followed at 7:00pm with a talk by Steward Brand, author of the Whole Earth Discipline, and controversial proponent of small-scale nuclear power, GMOs and dense urbanization.

Brand’s talk is being hosted by the IDRN @ UBC and the Liu Institute for Global Issues and is being organized by UBC Reads Sustainability. Register for the free talk here.

If you’re curious about the IDRN, or just interested in international development, come join for some or all of the above!

The International Development Research Network (IDRN) will officially launch in the Fall of 2010.

We begin on October 13 at 5:00pm, with introductory refreshments, followed by a panel discussion on a cutting-edge international development issue.

Following the launch event, Prof. Leila Harris, of IRES and CWAGS, will begin leading a regular reading and discussion group. Throughout the year, the IDRN will continue to host a range of thought provoking events, including speaker panels, workshops, field debriefings, movie nights, book launches and more.