Reporting On Poverty and Sustainability from the Rehovot Conference

The relationship between poverty and environmental degradation is a major impediment to sustainability. Specialist from throughout the world gathered for the Rehovot Conference in Israel to discuss sustainable development initiatives.

The inherent connection between development and environmental concerns was a major theme of the 2010 Rehovot Conference organized by the Weitz Center for Development Studies (WCDS). The conference on “Inclusive Sustainable Development Initiatives,” took place between Dec. 5-7 at the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University in Rehovot. The conference brought participants from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Russia and Europe for a biennial conclave sponsored by the WCDS. For many of the participants, this was an alumni gathering since a significant number were among the 4000 students from more than 80 countries who have studied in the Center’s programs since 1963.

The Rehovot Conference offered an opportunity for the in depth discussion of issues involved in poverty alleviation, socioeconomic change, planning and environmental welfare. The consensus among these participants is that it is impossible to speak of development without addressing environmental degradation and global change.

38% of Europeans see tackling poverty as a main challenge for EU-Africa relations, says Eurobarometer

Image via Wikipedia

A special Eurobarometer on EU-Africa relations published ahead of the EU-Africa Summit in Libya on 29/30 November shows that European citizens broadly agree with the focus of cooperation between the two partners. For Europeans, the main challenges for cooperation are to tackle poverty (38%), peace and security (34%), and human rights (33%). This focus is consistent with the primary EU development policy goal of eradicating poverty, as laid out in the Lisbon Treaty and reflected in the Commission’s recent Green Paper on “EU Development Policy in Support of Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development”.

European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs said: “Achieving the Millennium Development Goals and overcoming poverty remain at the heart of Europe’s partnership with Africa. I am encouraged to see that this is also a priority for citizens across Europe. Earlier this month, the European Commission has presented proposals on how to consolidate our relationship, by adding strength to it and focusing on inclusive and sustainable growth in the long term. The Summit in Tripoli will be an excellent occasion to discuss ways of how to improve our cooperation in this respect.”