2-day int'l conference on dev model begins today

A two-day international conference on “People's Empowerment and Development”, aimed at empowering billions of voiceless, marginalised and deprived people worldwide, begins in Dhaka today.
The conference is based on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's "People's empowerment and a peace-centric development model", which was presented and adopted at the 66th session of the UN General Assembly.
Addressing a press briefing, Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes yesterday said one of the main objectives of this conference was to move this innovative concept based on PM's experiences in politics over four decades.
The prime minister will inaugurate the conference at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel at 10:00am, while Foreign Minister Dipu Moni will preside over the session. Around 80 foreign delegates from 62 member states of the UN are expected to attend the conference to give this model a global shape, Quayes said.
He said the conference's seven areas of focus are eradication of poverty and hunger, reduction of inequality, mitigation of deprivation, creation of jobs for all, inclusion of excluded people, acceleration of human development, and fighting terrorism.
The foreign delegates, including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Nepal Narayan Kaji Shrestha, External Affairs Minister of Sri Lanka GL Peiris, Minister of Rural Development and Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation of India Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Works and Human Settlement of Bhutan Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, and Deputy Foreign Minister of Maldives Ali Hameed, will also address the opening session.
The UN delegates include Under Secretary General and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT Dr Joan Clos; Under Secretary General and Deputy Director General, Unesco, Paris Getachew Engida; and Director, UN Secretariat in New York Nikhil Seth.
Among civil society members from home and abroad, who will be panellists are Barkha Dutt, managing editor, NDTV, India; Ana Mangas, editor, Foreign Policy on Espanol; economist Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud; and Editor and Publisher of The Daily Star Mahfuz Anam.