News and Events

MDGs 6th Round Table in Danang, Vietnam

On 22-23 April, Prof. Jayant Routray and Ms. Jagriti Shankar visited Danang, Vietnam to participate in the 6 th MDG Regional Round Table conference. The conference was organized and hosted by Vietnam Peace and Development Foundation (VPDF) and co-sponsored by ARCMDG. High level government officials, NGOs and civil society representatives of 12 Asian countries participated in the conference which was a preparatory step for the UN- ECOSOC Meeting in New York in July 2010. The 2 days conference discussed the MDGs status in the region. Prof. Routray presented AIT and ARCMDG as the training and research centers to serve the needs of the region. Many participants expressed their wish to participate in the upcoming events and trainings offered by ARCMDG.

The roundtable was held on Peace Boat at Danang port. The chief guests of the event were Madam Nguyen Thi Binh, Former Vice President of Vietnam and the current president of VPDF and Mr. Vo Duy Khuong, Executive Vice President of Danang City People’s Committee. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Hanifa Mezoui, Permanent Representative to the United Nations and ECOSOC, Dr. Francois Loriot, AIFOMD, Prof. Jayant Routray, ARCMDG, Mr. Yoshioka Tatsuya, President Peace Boat and Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Van, VPDF.

Dr. Hanifa Mezoui had played a key role in establishment of ARCMDG at AIT. She showed appreciation on the work ARCMDG has been doing since establishment and especially the workshop conducted by ARCMDG in last January. The workshop had produced Expanded Operational Indicators for MDGs. She congratulated Prof. Routray and Ms. Jagriti Shankar for the good outputs of the workshop which is going to become a milestone for MDGs. They have also highly appreciated the efforts taken by Prof. Irandoust for setting up ARCMDG at AIT for a cause well demanded at present and also for the future.

The roundtable produced a declaration to be known as ‘Danang Declaration on Women Empowerment’. The declaration included a full paragraph on the ARCMDG and the MDGs Operational Indicators produced by ARCMDG. The declaration will be produced in ECOSOC meeting in New York and thus it will promote ARCMDG worldwide.

The event was big news in Danang, Vietnam, a lot of media persons were there to cover the event on Peace Boat. The event was extremely successful as it promoted ARCMDG in the region, as well as it provided networking opportunities with many potential partners to be part of our National Centers of Excellence.