CIDOB Programmes - [03/03/2008]

More than 500 participants from different countries meet in Brisbane to discuss the role of physical security

CIDOB attends the 9th GDN Conference

Under the title “Security for Development: Confronting Threats to Survival and Safety”, the conference brought together over 500 participants from different countries to discuss the role of physical security as a precondition for human development. Some of the subjects under discussion at the conference included the preventive management of natural disasters, the response to contagious diseases, interpersonal violence, the strengthening of the State of Law and post-conflict rebuilding, all of which were discussed from an essentially economic standpoint. Meanwhile, the parallel sessions examined the regional dimension of these same subjects. Of the work groups that took place after the conference, Pinyol took part in “Development on the Move: Measuring and Optimising the Economic and Social Impacts of Migration on Development”, while Enric Royo participated in “Promoting Innovative Programs from the Developing World: Towards Realising the Health MDGs in Africa and Asia”. Another workshop that featured significant participation from Spanish centres was “Fragile States: Addressing Vulnerability”.

GDN ( www.gdnet.org ) is a worldwide network created to promote research in the area of development, mainly in developing countries and transition economies, with the aim of strengthening the link between research and politics as one of the ways of accelerating development processes. Created in 1999 within the World Bank, in 2005 GDN moved its headquarters to New Delhi and began the process of becoming an international organisation. In 2007, Spain was the latest state to sign the organisation’s charter, joining the previous signatories India, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Egypt, Italy and Senegal.

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