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Since the 1960s, Canada has sought to be a leader in fostering development abroad. Yet the international context for understanding the challenges of promoting development has changed considerably – and often dramatically – in recent years. So, what role should Canada play in the developing world today and in years to come?

On March 23 and 24, the new McGill Institute for the Study of International Development (ISID), which will absorb The Centre for Developing Area Studies (CDAS), will host a conference to flesh out ideas that will yield new perspectives on the future of Canada’s role in working with developing nations.

Co-sponsored by the ISID and the Public Policy Forum, the conference will play host to an impressive and diverse array of top development practitioners – from donor agencies to businesses and foundations to policy researchers and youth organizations.

The event gets under way at the Omni Hotel, 1050 Sherbrooke St. W, in the Salon Saison on March 23, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The conference will continue the following day from 9 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Confirmed participants include:

• Margaret Biggs , President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
• David Malone , President of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
• The Rt. Hon. Joe Clark , former Prime Minister of Canada
• Christopher P. Manfredi, Dean of McGill’s Faculty of Arts
• Philip Oxhorn, Director of McGill’s ISID
• Pratap Bhana Mehta , President of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi
• Berit Olsson , former Director of the Department for Research Co-operation, Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)
• Kevin Colgan , Senior Development Specialist in the Policy Planning and Effectiveness section at Irish Aid
• Ronald Denom, President of SNC-Lavalin International
• David Morley, President and CEO of Save the Children Canada
• George Roter, Co-CEO of Engineers without Borders Canada
• Catherine Awad, MBAs without Borders
• Natasha Sawh, Program Manager, Global Citizenship, Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation
• Robb McCue , Senior Education Specialist, Agriteam Canada
• Erin Nesbitt, Canadian Programs Director, Youth Challenge International

For the full program please go to: /cdas/events/conferences/

This conference marks the official inauguration of the ISID. Its mandate remains the same as the CDAS when it was founded in 1963: to focus on multidisciplinary research and teaching on development, establish new relations with the international development community, and to train future generations of researchers, teachers, policymakers and development practitioners. But the new institute will ultimately become home to undergraduate programs in International Development Studies, African Studies, Middle Eastern Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies, as well as a new Development Studies option at the Master’s level. This will make ISID one of the largest undergraduate teaching units in McGill’s Faculty of Arts.

The conference is free and all are welcome. Please RSVP at: adm.cdas [at] mcgill.ca