Warwick hosts International Aid Forum

**Warwick hosted its International Aid Forum (WIAF) in the Science building on Saturday 2 February.**

WIAF aims at increasing awareness, understanding and engagement of the issue of international aid. Over 70 students attended the forum hosted by Warwick Hub.

The forum was mainly composed of lectures given by speakers from various charitable organizations such as Oxfam and War on Want, and included a short video about people’s awareness and opinions about international aid.

Students also joined workshops of different themes and panel discussions.

Keynote Speaker Duncan Green, senior strategic adviser of Oxfam GB and author of the book _From Poverty to Power_, commented on the audience’s response: “The questions are deep and intelligent.

“Students are often willing to get involved and it’s always good to talk with students and academia.”

The idea of the forum came from Pete McNally, vice-president of Warwick Hub and president of Warwick Oxfam.

The third-year History and Culture student said: “People are suffering from poverty but the international aid can bring problems such as corruptions. It can’t be ignored. It’s everywhere.

“Last year I was engaged with Warwick Oxfam and I thought it would be interesting to discuss this issue on a wider scale, especially with opinions from the experts.”

First-year French and International Studies student, Sarah Bunting, came to the forum in support of her modules, while her friend Jodie Marsden, first-year English and Theatre student, came to fill the gap in her knowledge.

They said: “It allows us to see the problems, criticism and reality of the situation. The forum is small but very high-profile, and it would be better if people got more involved.”

Apart from WIAF, Warwick Hub also runs conferences and weekly speaker events on international aid, social enterprise and climate change.

“This is our first time hosting this forum, hopefully it will become an annual event and involve more people in this issue,” said Frances Ellis, WIAF coordinator.