Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

Opening Remarks at the Water Institute Water and Health Conference   Where Science Meets Policy  by   Dr. Aaron Salzberg    Director of the Water Institute Don and Jennifer Holzworth Distinguished Professor Gillings School of Global Public Health University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill For many of us in the global North, it’s probably pretty easy as we connect from the comfort of our homes or offices; but for some of you in the south, we know you’ve been scrambling out at odd hours to find a place with good wifi so you can watch or listen, perhaps on your phone. We appreciate the special effort that you’ve made to join us and to be part of the conference. And we want to acknowledge that we know that the way in which we are holding our discussion about systemic inequalities is itself an example of a systemic inequality. Those of you that know our conference, know that we like to use these plenaries to challenge ourselves - to review the evidence, stimulate cr...

The co-chairs have released a revised version of what should be the six themes for the  the post-2015 Summit i nteractive dialogue in the UN GA September 25-27th.   As per Decision 69/555 on the modalities for the process of intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda, the overarching theme for the dialogues will be " Transforming the world: realizing the post-2015 development  agenda". It is envisaged that each interactive dialogue would address the three dimensions of sustainable development. There will also be scope to address in each dialogue issues such as gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and prioritising the needs of all vulnerable groups . Proposed themes for the interactive dialogues: Ending poverty and hunger, and addressing humanitarian emergencies Tackling poverty in all its dimensions; addressing malnutrition and achieving food security; completing the unfinished business of the M DGs; addre...