20th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS-MARCH 2003
Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) celebrated its 20th Anniversary in March 2003. The celebrations was marked by a ‘Partnership Conclave’ at New Delhi, India on 12-14 March 2003. The theme of the conclave is “Governance and its Relationship with Poverty Reduction”. The purpose of the Conclave was to look at rights-based approach on issues of governance, which affect development, in particular poverty reduction, by showcasing instances of successes and non-successes from around the world. Case studies were selected by looking at the various governance areas where rights-based advocacy groups, that include consumer organisations, have made efforts in the following areas:
The case studies of successes and non-successes formed a key element of the empirical issues that aim to provide a better understanding of advocacy at grassroots level. The objective was to share this knowledge systematically, analyse it in a broader context, which can be catalysed further actions in similar situations in developing countries. Speakers
GOVERNANCE
AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO POVERTY REDUCTION Day 1 – Wednesday, 12 March, 2003 0900-0930 Opening
Session Speakers Arun Jaitley, Minister for Commerce & Industry and Law & Justice, India Chair
Muchkund
Dubey, Former Foreign Secretary of India
Pradeep S. Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS 0930-1100 Plenary
I: Countdown to 2015 Chair
Muchkund
Dubey, Former Foreign Secretary of India Speakers Eveline Herfkens, UN Secretary General’s Executive Coordinator for
the Millennium Development Goals Campaign Charlotte Seymour-Smith, Head of the India Office of Department for International Development, UK Kaushik
Basu,
Professor of Economics, Cornell University, USA Moderator David
Kalete, Programmes Director, CIVICUS Inaugural address by I. K. Gujral, Former Prime Minister of India 1100-1130
Tea/Coffee 1130-1300
Workshops
Workshop
I: Integrating Sustainability into Development Planning Destruction
caused to natural wealth through economic development, Solomon Islands Model
for Millennium Development Goals, Paraguay Cross-border
issues affecting poverty reduction in Southern Africa
Workshop II: Privatisation
of Public Goods
Water privatisation in West Africa: Lessons from three countries
Privatisation
of the power sector, Orissa, India
Towards Universalisation of Primary Education in India- The experience
of 'Pratham'
Workshop III: Promoting
Health for the Poor
Community-based health insurance scheme, Gujarat, India
Politics of Essential Drugs in Bangladesh
Traditional System of Medicine 1300-1430
Lunch 1430-1600
Workshops
Workshop
IV: Reaching the Masses
Antyodaya:
An approach for poverty alleviation, India
Flood
Action Plan in Bangladesh Gram
Phone in Andhra Pradesh, India
Workshop V: Livelihood Security-
What are the Issues?
Code 95: Revision of Housing Laws in Kenya
Protecting
interests of the fishing community in India
Direction for possible interventions in poverty alleviation: A case
study of Srilankan Tea Sector
Workshop VI: Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair Campaign
Biranchi Upadhyaya, Country Representative, Oxfam GB in India About the Campaign: Anand K Das, Oxfam GB in India 1600-1630
Tea/Coffee 1630-1830
Plenary
II: Beyond Johannesburg Speakers
Erna Witoelar, Commissioner
of the Earth Charter and Former Minister of Human Settlement
Kirit Parikh, Professor Emeritus, Indira Gandhi
Institute of Development Research, India Moderator
Leena Srivastava,
Director of Regulatory Studies & Governance Division, Tata Energy
Research Day
2 – Thursday, 13 March, 2003 0900-1100
Plenary
III: Critical Issues Faced by the Poor
Speakers
James
Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology, USA Zafrullah Chowdhury, Director, Gonoshashthaya Kendra, Bangladesh Malcolm
Damon, Economic Justice Network of FOCCISA, South Africa Moderator Subhashish
Gangopadhyay, Director, India Development Foundation 1100-1130 Tea/Coffee 1130-1300
Workshops
Workshop
VII: Promoting Effective Governance Taking
administration to the villages, Rajasthan, India Economic
PolicyResearch to Promote Effective Governance in Southern Africa
Workshop
VIII: Rethinking Investment for Development Laveesh Bhandari, Indicus Analytics, New Delhi, India Indicus Analytics, New Delhi, India Atiqur
Rahman, Associate Professor and Chairman, Dept. of Economics, North
South University, Workshop
IX: Trade and Labour Linkages P. Haridasan, Director, ICFTU-APRO, New Delhi Gautam Mody, Centre for Workers Management, India Allistair
Smith, National Labour Economic Development Institute, South Africa* Nabin Sen, University of Calcutta, India Ghayur Alam, Centre for Sustainable Development, India 1300-1430
Lunch 1430-1600 Workshops
Workshop
XI: Making Markets Work for the Poor
Hindustan
Lever Ltd. and Bhutan Government conflict on marketing issues Bank
mergers in Canada
Workshop
VIII (Contd.): Rethinking Investment for Development Speakers Sanjib Pohit, NCAER, India Shalini
Subramanyam, NCAER, India Discussants David Ongolo, Adviser, CUTS-Centre for International Trade Economics & Environment* Flora Kessey, Research Fellow, The Economic & Social Research Foundation, Tanzania
Workshop
XII: Trade and Environment Linkages Ricardo Melendez Ortiz, Executive Director, ICTSD, Switzerland Meeta Mehra, Fellow, Policy Analysis Division, TERI, India Thiery de Oliveira, Programme Officer, UNEP Workshop
X (Contd.): Farmers’ Rights: Options Before Mountain Communities
Ashish Ghosh, Centre for Environment and Development, Kolkata, India Biswajit
Dhar, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade* 1630-1830
Plenary
IV: From Doha to Cancun Speakers
Pascal Lamy, Commissioner
for Trade, European Commission S. N. Menon, Additional Secretary, Department of India
T. N.
Srinivasan, Professor of Economics, Yale University, USA Discussants T. K. Bhaumick, Senior Policy Adviser, Confederation of India Industry David Luke, Trade, Debt and Globalisation Advisor, UNDP Moderator Martin Wolf, Associate Editor
& Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times, London 1900-2200
Dinner Day
3 – Friday, 14 March, 2003 0900-1100 Plenary
V: What Type of Economic Liberalisation Speakers Gesner Jose de Oliveira, Ex-Chairman, CADE Competition Bureau, Brazil
R. Shyam Khemani, Adviser,
Competition Policy, The World Bank Discussants Peter Muchoki Njoroge, Commissioner, Monopolies and Prices Commission, Kenya Veena Jha, Coordinator, UNCTAD Moderator Suman Bery, Director, National Council of Applied Economic Research, India 1100-1130
Tea/Coffee 1130-1330
Plenary
VI: Consumer Rights and Responsibilities Speakers Wajahat Habibullah, Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, India
Rhoda Karpatkin, President Emeritus, Consumer Union, USA
Sriram Khanna, Managing Trustee,
VOICE, India 1330-1500
Lunch 1500-1700
Closing Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS Muchkund Dubey, Former Foreign Secretary of India Tejendra Khanna, Chairman, Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited V. S. Vyas, Member of Prime Minister of India's Economic Advisory Council Wajahat Habibullah, Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, India
Erna Witoelar, Commissioner of the Earth Charter and Former Minister
of Human Settlement Bipul Chatterjee, Director, CUTS * TBC
CUTS’ work today is divided into five operational areas:
The CUTS was born in 1983 (and registered in 1984) out of a need
to provide protection to the exploited consumer in Rajasthan, where
there was no organisation for this purpose at that time. It began
by operating out of a garage on a zero budget. Today, CUTS has five
Centres in India, two at Jaipur, one each at New Delhi, Chittorgarh
and Calcutta, and one in Africa in Lusaka, Zambia. It also has representatives
in Nairobi, Kenya and London, UK. The organisation’s budget today
is nearly US$1mn, and its staff strength is nearly 100. |
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Number of Offices & Space
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