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It was the best time of year for those of us that study International Development and Globalization because it was International Development Week! Time for everyone – young and old alike – to reflect on how our world works, changes and how it could improve. From February 8th to the 13th, we take an opportunity to explore any of the multiple facets that International Development has to offer, from economics and politics to sociology and women’s rights. Take a moment or two to think about all the interlocking cogs in the machine that we call our home; start up a conversation about the importance of representation in the media at the dinner table, try your hand at shopping fair trade and learning where your things come from, or sit down with a bowl of popcorn to a good social documentary. Here at uOttawa, we like to take IDW a step further and throw a conference for students and to the general public that might want to learn more about recent world issues.
With over 150 attendants and 10 panels and workshops compressed into a single weekend, uOttawa’s International Development Week Conference is the largest of it’s kind in Canada and attracts students and academics from across the country. This year, two of my friends and I were able to grab some tickets to this great event, one of them even preferring to attend over her own program’s political policy conference. Though the conference itself is not very long, only an short evening and the following day, the Development Students Association (DSA) prolonged the week by organizing multiple free panels throughout the week prior to the event.
I was able to attend a panel discussing the controversial Nordic Model for prostitution one day and a presentation by the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea regarding South Korea’s economic growth over the past 50 years the next. There were also several showings of documentaries throughout the week and a few social events as well. These are always a treat for students! I loved being able to attend these panels because they reminded me of why I chose this major in the first place; there is so much going on in the world that I want to know about but don’t yet. It’s easy to get lost in endless theories, terminology, statistics and studies only to forget how they actually apply to real life situations, especially in a modern context.
The conference, held in the university’s administration building at the end of last week, was an even better reminder at just how hard so many people are working to change the world for the better. We were able to start off the conference by grabbing our lanyards and schedules and an encouraging speech by the president of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation. The next morning, we were at Tabaret Hall by 9:30 to grab some croissants and fruit before the panels were to begin.
Being a bilingual university in a bilingual city, there were panels and workshops offered in both French and English. I decided to attend the first French panel in the morning regarding food security then a panel on a recent economic plan for foreign aid before we had a break for a lunch. Out of the two, I preferred listening to the debate on food security. Knowing that in 2050, there will be about 9 billion mouths to feed on this earth, it was shocking to hear that the possible answer to would simply be to stop wasting so much food that we can already produce! Combined with new ways of growing food and changes to the world’s diet, it may not be as difficult a task as you might think! We were lucky to have a surprise drop in from the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development who gave a short speech on her position and the new government’s initiatives towards International Development. (Now that’s what I call Ottawa perks!)
Following lunch, I learnt about the current situation with Colombia and the FARC and finally, finished off the day with a workshop in indigenous rights around the world. All of the workshops were great and featured panellists from various academic backgrounds. I especially appreciated the professors that took the time to go over the history of Colombia in it’s state of civil war between the military, paramilitaries and guerrillas. That was not easy to explain. Being one of the most complicated development situations in the world, and hour and 40 minutes was not enough to cover ever aspect of the decades long conflict, but I was lucky enough to attend an additional talk on peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC only a couple days later hosted by the Faculty of Social Sciences. I certainly look forward to learning more about this situation in my future studies.
To finish off the evening, there was a final speaker and a gala where a multicultural dinner was served thanks to the gracious donations of several embassies in the city. Bulgogi from the Korean embassy, dumplings from the Nepalese embassy and Indian food from a local restaurant. The food was delicious and the last speech, given by a former Canadian ambassador and spokesperson for the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada was all at once inspiring and very educational.
What did you do for International Development Week?
Lauren Ibbott is a second year University of Ottawa student, blogger and freelance writer. She frequently writes for DownshiftingPRO. Please follow her on Instagram @Lauren_Patii All opinions are her own. You can read more of her post below:
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