Wids ‘inspires and engages’

The fifth annual Warwick International Development Summit (Wids) was held last week. This year’s theme was conflict and the resource crisis, with a special focus on the Caribbean.

A variety of high-profile speakers from the UN, WTO, World Bank and other NGOs spoke on pertinent development issues. Educational workshops by representatives from Christian Aid and Student-hubs were also held over the weekend.

In one talk, Dr. Pritam Singh of Oxford Brookes University spoke of the conflict between Indian nationalism and development. In India, nationalism is central to the development of capitalism. Giving a brief history of India post independence, Singh explained the three stages of development and how in his opinion, the country could now be seen as an expansionist power that brutally crushes any internal dissent or ethnic uprisings.

Following this, Dr. Anke Hoeffler of Oxford University spoke about her work investigating the factors that aid development and peace after conflict as well as those that make violent internal conflict more likely in certain countries. She explained how this relates to development, stating that the presence of certain hugely valuable natural resources such as diamonds, timber and illegal drugs in countries such as Colombia and Afghanistan facilitates civil wars. She also expounded on post-conflict risks and the huge financial and social implications of wars.

John Hancock of the World Trade Organisation, in one of the most popular and well attended sessions, gave a talk entitled ‘Conflict or Cooperation? The role of the WTO in natural resources trade.’ Although Hancock’s speech was oratorially excellent and humorous at times, he gave no easy answers as to the impending crisis of natural resources running out. He stressed that the role of the World Trade Organisation is not to provide solutions to oil or water shortages, but rather to facilitate trade between countries and improve international co-operation.

Other talks included themes on gender and development and supply and demand problems with the oil industry. Valerie Moska of the UN talked about her experience of working with former child soldiers in Sudan. On the final day of he summit, Julia Bucknall of the World Bank spoke via video link about water and resource issues.

Second-year history student Emilia Halton-Hernandez commented: “The organisers certainly fulfilled on their promise to inspire, engage and inform. There was a series of intellectually provoking and informed talks and the ethical questions that the speakers raised allowed the audience to interact through the questions that were raised.”

President of Wids Tara Rhomberg stated about the weekend: “I am extremely proud of my team who did an excellent job, not only during this year’s Summit but in the many months leading up to it as well. This year’s over-arching theme was ‘Resources, Crisis and Conflict’. The Summit consisted of 16 talks and seven presentations and workshops as well as our Third Sector Careers Fair. Our speakers represented organizations including the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Oxford University, Right To Play, the Global Poverty Project, Student Hubs, and Coethica.

“We also had several outstanding speakers from Warwick and the quality of the talks given was probably one of the highest I have ever experienced.”

Part of Wids, the Third Sector Careers Fair had several stalls including The New Internationalist, UNICEF on Campus, Amnesty International, AIESEC and REJED Togo. Rhomberg added: “I loved the liveliness of the Fair and the creativity put into the different stalls. We got excellent feedback from Warwick and external students, as well as our speakers. Well done to everybody involved.”