Drafted by Carlo; Edited by Zheng Yuyang
On October 16 and 17, COHD’S international students participated in the 2019 China Poverty Reduction International Forumand the 2019 Global Forum on Development and Poverty Reductionheld at Hotel Nikko New Century, Beijing and Guo’erzhao Hotel, Beijing, respectively. Prof. Tang Lixia and Associate Prof. Wang Yanlei from the Department of Development Management, COHD, attended the forums. The attendance also included around 70 local and international students of COHD who are currently studying in their undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral programs.
During the daytime of October 16, the international students enjoyed the 2019 China Poverty Reduction International Forum with the theme of “Joint Efforts on Knowledge Sharing to Promote Global Poverty Reduction Governance”, where they learned a great deal from the plenary session and several parallel sessions together with other participants from government sectors, international organizations, academia, and local and international media. In the plenary session, they learned the importance of sharing knowledge and experience as this will help in replicating poverty reduction practices around the globe and be part of a solution that might end poverty; while in the parallel sessions, they were involved into and got insights from the discussions on macro- and micro-level policies and interventions of poverty reduction, where they listened with pleasure to the presentations on “Tanzania-China South-South Cooperation Case” and “Value Chain Model for Poverty Reduction” given by COHD’s Prof. Tang Lixia and Associate Prof. Wang Yanlei respectively. Additionally, during the opening ceremony of the forum, they witnessed the opening of the Global Solicitation on Best Poverty Reduction Practices, which will be the 2ndcall for poverty alleviation papers. The first solicitation was conducted last year and garnered 110 case studies around the globe. Alongside the forum agenda, they also got to learn from the book entitled “A Foreign Lens: How Global Partners View China’s Poverty Alleviation Efforts”, which is a collection of views on China’s poverty reduction stories from the country’s international partners like Asian Development Bank.
On the afternoon of October 17, COHD’s international students got their knowledge and thoughts refreshed through another international convention, the 2019 Global Forum on Development and Poverty Reduction, with the theme of “Poverty Governance: Global Experience and China’s Practice”.They enjoyed the parallel session entitled “Policy Dialogue on Poverty Reduction among Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Countries” together with other participants who take leading roles in the local and international government sectors, international organizations and academia, where they gained insightful opinions from the discussion on the importance of BRI in fostering the growth and development among BRI countries, and benefited considerably from the highlight part – the policy dialogue among BRI countries and presentations of partner-agencies about the contribution of BRI to the development and regional cooperation.
The international students from COHD not only attended and listened during the forums but also actively participated in the discussions. Ms. Chikondi Deborah Kateta, a post-graduate student from Malawi, said that the data and cases provided indicate the depth of the issues that developing countries have encountered across the globe experiences. Mr. Kapelieli Toni Lanumata, a post-graduate student from the Kingdom of Tonga, said that his country shares the same experience as to what has been presented in the session. He added that information dissemination and tailor-fitted strategies should be implemented in the grassroots to help them realize sustainable development.Mr. Innocent Kadammanja, a post-graduate student from Malawi, shared his insight from the forum and said that programs and projects for development should be meticulously reviewed and empirical evidence should be a guide in designing an intervention or strategy. Ms. Safiatou Drammeh, a PhD student from Gambia, said that the forum showed how “development” has moved from largely being mainstreamed to using alternative strategies like People for Progress and Farmer Field School, in which these strategies offer practical solutions to real problems that people from developing countries face.In general, the students who attended the two forums all find the experiences relevant, fruitful and timely while meeting the needs of their respective countries.
