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VULNERABLE POPULATIONS: INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITIES Humanitarian Symposium Proceedings October 31, 2005 World Meteorological Organization Geneva, Switzerland TABLE OF CONTENTS VULNERABLE POPULATIONS: INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITIES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7 OPENING COMMENTS Steven M. Hilton, President, CEO and Chairman, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation 14 Ralph Begleiter, Distinguished Journalist in Residence, University of Delaware; 15 former CNN World Affairs Correspondent—Symposium Moderator Martine Brunschwig Graf, President of the State Council of the Republic and 17 Canton of Geneva SYMPOSIUM KEYNOTE ADDRESS “International Cooperation in 2005: Half Full or Half Empty Glass?” 18 Ernesto Zedillo, Ph.D., former President of Mexico and Director, Center for the Study of Globalization and Professor in the Field of International Economics and Politics at Yale University Q & A 22 MORNING SESSION: DELIVERING A FUTURE THROUGH THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS “Gender and the Millennium Development Goals” 24 Mayra Buvinic, Sector Director, Gender, Development, Poverty; World Bank “Reaching the MDGs for Water and Sanitation: Targeting the Poorest and Most Vulnerable” 26 Vanessa Tobin, Chief of Water, Environment/Sanitation Section; UNICEF “Injecting pace and rhythm to the Millennium Development Goals” Jim Yong Kim, M.D., Ph.D., Director, HIV/AIDS Department, World 28 Health Organization Q & A 31 LIVE VIDEOCONFERENCE Jeffrey D. Sachs, Ph.D., Director, The Earth Institute at Columbia University and 34 Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals Q & A 40 “The Millennium Challenge Account and the Millennium Development Goals” 42 Richard Morford, Managing Director, Millennium Challenge Corporation “Harnessing the Positive Potential of the Private Sector” 45 Ambassador John Maresca, President, Business Humanitarian Forum Q & A 49 AFTERNOON SESSION – OPENING COMMENTS Pierre Muller, Administrative Councillor and member of the Executive Council, 53 City of Geneva. AFTERNOON SESSION – ASSURING A FUTURE FOR THREATENED POPULATIONS “Responsibility to Protect: The End of Ambiguity?” 54 Louise Arbour, LL.L., United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights “When Theory Meets the Janjaweed” 56 Colin Thomas-Jensen, International Crisis Group, Africa Program “From Rwanda to Darfur: The Past Repeating the Present?” 59 Paul Rusesabagina, Founder, Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation “Sudan — A Nation in Turbulence in Search of Itself” 61 Francis M. Deng, Ph.D., J.S.D., Former UN Representative on Internally Displaced Persons; Former Ambassador from Sudan to U.S., Canada and Scandinavian Countries “Why is Gender still not on the Peace and Security Agenda in Africa?” 64 Bineta Diop, Executive Director, Femmes Africa Solidarité “Ending Wars Against Children” 66 Olara Otunnu, Former UN Special Representative for Children & Armed Confl ict; Former UN Ambassador from Uganda “North Korea: An Unseen, but Vulnerable Population” 70 Melvin L. Cheatham, M.D., FACS, Samaritan’s Purse Q & A 73 CONRAD N. HILTON HUMANITARIAN PRIZE PRESENTATION 81 Welcoming Remarks Walter Fust, Director-General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation 83 Keynote Address 84 Paul Rusesabagina, Founder, Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation Acceptance Speech 91 Dr. Paul Farmer, Founding Director, Partners In Health LIST OF SYMPOSIUM ATTENDEES 95 Vulnerable Populations: International Community Responsibilities Executive Summary of the Symposium “…I identify myself with those who propose that international cooperation, while certainly important for ethical, altruistic, and humanitarian reasons, is also critical for attaining the strict self-interest of the parties that happen to be more on the giving side of the cooperation equation. Any person whose own well-being is connected in one way or another to the well-being of people in other countries, close or far away, will fi nd that cooperation to address common challenges is in his or her own best interest. This has been the case for a long time, but never to the extent that it is now. Whether we like it or not — and I believe it’s a very good thing — interdependence among the peoples and the countries of the world has reached an unprecedented degree in human history….We must accept that war, confl ict and terrorism; extreme poverty and social polarization; fi nancial instability and trade wars; global pandemics; and abrupt climate change are risks to all, and therefore collective action to address them is indispensable.” —Ernesto Zedillo, Ph.D., Former President of Mexico and Director, Center for the Study of Globalization and Professor in the Field of International Economics and Politics at Yale University This international symposium in Geneva was hosted by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in conjunction with the tenth annual presentation of the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. The 2005 Hilton Prize was awarded to Partners In Health at a dinner following the day-long gathering. Paul Rusesabagina, former manager of the Mille Collines hotel in Kigali, Rwanda, whose heroic story was featured in the movie, Hotel Rwanda, was the keynote speaker at the Prize ceremony. Partners In Health is an American-based organization dedicated to providing high quality medical services to impoverished people and communities throughout the world. For 25 years it has been providing health care and training to the poorest members of society, from Haiti to Peru, Russia and Rwanda, while transforming beliefs and practices of the world’s health care establishment. “Vulnerable Populations: International Community Responsibilities” brought together 193 participants — leaders, policymakers and activists in the fi elds of humanitarianism and human rights. They represented governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foundations, corporations, multilateral institutions, and the media. Ernesto Zedillo set the theme for the day in his keynote address “International Cooperation in 2005,” responding to his own question: Is the glass half full or half empty? The year 2005 was a critical one for measuring accomplishments in peace and security, development and trade, Zedillo said. As planned, the world’s heads of state came together at the United Nations in a summit to assess the fi v e-year progress of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted in 2000; the Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting was scheduled for December to attempt to move the mostly failed Doha Round of trade talks further; the conference for the Parties to the Climate Change Convention was also scheduled for December in Montreal; the UN was grappling with a serious reform agenda that included taking on the restructuring of the Security Council. To those challenging scheduled events, as was noted throughout the day, came the natural catastrophes of the Asian tsunami, the Kashmir earthquake, and the unnatural, ungodly events of Darfur, terrorist acts and ongoing confl icts. Heading toward the end of 2005, a year full of so much promise, Zedillo declared the glass one-third full, two-thirds empty—saying success in Hong Kong and Montreal could raise it to one-half. The symposium was divided into two sessions, with the Millennium Development Goals providing the framework for the morning discussion; followed by a closer look at situations involving vulnerable populations, specifi cally minorities, women, and children who suffer from abuse by their oppressors—often their countrymen—and inadequate protection from the international community. 7 The sessions included the following topics: MORNING SESSION –DELIVERING A FUTURE THROUGH THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS • Gender and the Millennium Development Goals • Reaching the MDGs for Water and Sanitation: Targeting the Poorest and Most Vulnerable • Injecting Pace and Rhythm to the Millennium Development Goals • Millennium Challenge Account and the Millennium Development Goals • Harnessing the Positive Potential of the Private Sector VIDEOCONFERENCE • Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General on Millennium Development Goals AFTERNOON SESSION – ASSURING A FUTURE FOR THREATENED POPULATIONS • Responsibility to Protect: The End of Ambiguity • When Theory Meets the Janjaweed • From Rwanda to Darfur: The Past Repeating the Present? • Sudan – A Nation in Turbulence in Search of Itself. • Why is Gender Still Not on the Peace and Security Agenda in Africa? • Ending Wars Against Children • North Korea: An Unseen, but Vulnerable Population Steve Hilton welcomed participants, wishing them a productive day and reiterating the day’s focus: “Today we discuss vulnerable populations, those threatened by extreme poverty, disease, violence, war and confl ict, discrimination and oppression. But we focus not so much on their plight as on their resilience—what we can and must do to help them claim their future. We have a set of goals to guide our actions and our discussion today—the Millennium Development Goals. In 2000 the United Nations adopted a set of eight practical goals to be reached by 2015. They are attainable if only we will all—governments, organizations, agencies, individuals—make the commitment and work together.” It had been seven years since The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation held its fi rst humanitarian symposium on the eve of the Millennium and looked toward it with the theme “Humanitarian Aid: Challenges in the New Millennium,” aware already that the post-Cold War era was shaping itself into something different. By 2000, the Foundation came to Geneva, the city of humanitarianism and internationalism, to