New York events highlight leadership, economic growth

ISSUE 41: MARCH-MAY 2006

The newsletter of United Nations University and its international
network of research and training centres/programmes

First it was the challenges of leadership, then economic development took centre stage at separate UN headquarters events organised by the UN University Office in New York (UNU-ONY).

Panelists at the leadership event (from left): Abdel Salam Majali, Hans van Ginkel and Jairam Reddy.

On February 23, more than 200 people attended a panel discussion hosted by UNU-ONY and UNU International Leadership Institute (UNU-ILI). The event, Dovetailing Leadership and Good Governance, addressed the challenges facing today's international leaders.

The panel comprised UNU Rector Hans van Ginkel, former Prime Minister of Jordan, Dr. Abdel Salam Majali, UNU-ILI director, Dr. Jairam Reddy, and New York University president, Dr. John Sexton.

Discussing the work of UNU-ILI, the panel agreed on the need to train leaders with a global outlook in a world that is is now more complex and interlinked and where national frameworks are no longer sufficient. Since 1995 UNU-ILI has had the mandate to train future leaders, focusing on developing countries. Dr. Majali briefed attendees on a new leadership training programme initiative aimed at giving emerging leaders a global outlook.

Southern Engines of Growth were the focus of a seminar organised by UNU-ONY and UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) at United Nations headquarters March 2.

The purpose of the seminar was to provide input for UNU-WIDER’s research project on recent economic growth in Brazil, China, India and South Africa and its impact on the global economy. Representatives from permanent missions to the UN, economic institutions, NGOs and academia were invited.

Participants shared their ideas on the key topics of Commodity Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, Service Trade and Capital Market, Political Economy and International Governance.

Jean-Marc Coicaud, head of UNU-ONY, and Guanghua Wan, senior research fellow and project co-director at UNU-WIDER, joined six other experts in making presentations at the seminar which was attended by about 90 people.

Click here for a full seminar report.

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