Event Date: October 10, 2025 - 8:30am to 5:00pm
Location: FSS 4007 & online, 120 University Private, University of Ottawa
Presented by the Group of 78, CIPS and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
This conference is taking place against a backdrop of considerable economic and political turmoil and increasing uncertainty. Wars in the Middle East, Ukraine, the Sudan, and in other African countries; a new arms race (in both nuclear and conventional arms); escalating trade wars; deep cuts in foreign aid and mounting threats to international cooperation: a world of polycrisis confronts us in the years ahead. The SDGs and Agenda 2030 are far off-track. On climate action, too, it appears unlikely that we will reach climate sustainability targets.
Faced by such an inhospitable global outlook, the conference will discuss actions that could help facilitate opportunities for economic and social progress, particularly in developing countries. It will seek to address the following questions:
- Did globalization go too far, making the world vulnerable to the breakdown in international trade that erupted in 2025?
- Are there opportunities as well as threats from new technologies such as AI that would support sustainable and equitable development?
- Are there new or innovative sources of financing to replace shrinking ODA and other official or private flows?
- How can Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals be brought on-track?
The conference will generate key messages and recommendations that the Group of 78 will communicate to policy makers in Canada and will use for wider advocacy and dialogue at home and abroad. Check out the Group of 78 website for more information.
Registration
The cost to attend this conference in-person is $75. Register here.
The cost to attend this conference virtually is $25. Register here.
You can also mail a registration form and cheque. Find more details here.
Note: Students using the Student2025 discount code will receive $50 off their registration for the in-person event. The same code will make it possible for students to attend the virtual conference for free.
Program
8:30am – Welcome and land acknowledgement
- Speakers: Ted Jackson, Chair, Group of 78; Julie Delahanty, President, IDRC
- Indigenous Welcome: Elder Verna McGregor
9:00am – Opening Keynote: Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World
- Speaker: Dani Rodrik, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (joining virtually)
- Moderator: Manfred Bienefeld, Group of 78
Fighting climate change, saving democracy, and eradicating poverty are urgent global challenges, yet the world’s leaders continue to pursue outdated policies that focus on one while worsening the trade-offs between each of them. Dani Rodrik’s recent book, Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World, shows how the nations of the world can achieve all three objectives. He provides a bold new vision of globalization, one in which we accelerate the green transition to achieve a sustainable planet, shore up the middle class to restore democracy’s foundations, and hasten economic revitalization in the developing world to put an end to poverty. Is a pluralist, less globalized world order now more possible, where nation-states can fashion their own social contracts and economic strategies tailored to their own needs?
10:15am – Health break
10:30am – Panel 1 – Technology: Opportunities and Threats
- Speakers: Sathy Rajasekharan, IDRC; Rafal Rohozinski, CIGI
- Moderator: Leah Darbyson, Group of 78
What benefits will digital (particularly AI) and other technologies offer, and at what costs? What can be expected from AI in the health, education and productive sectors, and to advance peace and justice? What are the risks in each case and how can they be mitigated? What are the implications for the ownership and control of intellectual property? And for income and wealth inequality?
12:00pm – Lunch Keynote: Outcomes and Implications of Financing for Development Conference in Seville
- Speaker: Jose Antonio Ocampo, Professor, School of International and Public Affairs, co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) and Member of the Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University (joining virtually)
- Moderator: Laura Macdonald, Carleton University
The speaker will give a perspective on the outcome of the high-level conference on Financing for Development in Seville in July – what were the major achievements and shortcomings? In particular, was the developing country debt issue adequately dealt with? What happened to the proposal to mobilize Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) for development? What other reforms of the financial architecture are needed?
1:00pm – Panel 2 – Financing Development
- Speakers: Susan Spronk, University of Ottawa; Senator Rosa Galvez, Parliament of Canada
- Moderator: Lauchlan Munro, University of Ottawa
What are the implications of the massive cutbacks in Official Development Assistance and multilateral cooperation? Are there alternative sources of international financing for development, what are their advantages and disadvantages? What is the scope for international tax cooperation? What scope and potential for greater domestic resource mobilization?
2:00pm – Health break
2:30pm – Panel 3 – Beyond Agenda 2030
- Speakers: Adam Sneyd, Guelph University; Ruby Dagher, University of Ottawa
- Moderator: David Peck, Social-change consultant, & Teacher, Humber College, Toronto
Goals for sustainable development and climate emissions reduction are utterly off-track. Can and should the SDGs and climate goals be rescued? If so, what urgent actions are necessary to deliver meaningful progress for people and the planet, and just and sustainable peace, by 2030?
3:30pm – NPSIA Report – Moving the Needle: Re-imagining Canada’s Development and Humanitarian Engagement
- Speaker: Valerie Percival, NPSIA, Carleton University
- Moderator: Stephen Brown, University of Ottawa
4:30pm – Conference Wrap-up and Recommendations for Action
- Speakers: Richard Harmston, Group of 78; Susanne Ure, Chief Rapporteur; Student Rapporteurs
- Moderator: Ted Jackson, Group of 78
5:00pm – Conference concludes
Speakers
Manfred Bienefeld has a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics and is now Professor Emeritus at Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration where he headed their International Development program for many years after moving to Carleton from the well-known Institute of Development Studies located at England’s Sussex University. Having published widely on many aspects of international development and worked with many government, international and civil society organizations around the world, in his retirement, he is currently lecturing and writing about the increasingly problematic evolution of the Bretton Woods institutions. In recent years he has been focusing more widely on the seriously dysfunctional state of the international financial system as a whole and the enormous economic, social and political costs and risks that this is imposing on the global system.
Stephen Brown is Professor at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, where he is also affiliated with the School of International Development and Global Studies. Most of his research addresses the intersection of domestic and international politics in relation to democracy, peace, justice, development and human rights. He has published widely on foreign aid, including Canada’s. His current research focuses primarily on international LGBTQI+ rights. He maintains a website at https://stephenbrown.xyz/.
Ruby Dagher is an international development professional, researcher, consultant and instructor. She has worked in the private sector, the public sector, and academia. She completed her PhD in Public Policy (at Carleton University) where she examined the legitimacy of states in post-conflict countries, and particularly the importance of performance legitimacy acquired through the delivery of basic goods and services. Ruby has worked as a program analyst at the Canadian International Development Agency (now Global Affairs Canada), a financial analyst in the financial industry, a post-conflict workshop facilitator, and an evaluator of programs, projects and loans. Her research interests are focused on post-conflict development, the Middle East, fragile states, post-conflict legitimacy, decentralization and state legitimacy, foreign aid policy and donor programming, and the role of civil society in non-Western cultures.
Leah Darbyson is a Master’s student at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs where she specializes in Health, Displacement, and Humanitarian Policy. Her research focuses on climate-induced migration, property rights in conflict zones, and the intersection of legal regimes, development, and displacement. Her work reflects a strong interest in rethinking international cooperation, sustainable development, and the governance of emerging technologies.
Julie Delahanty is the IDRC President. With 30 years of applied international development experience, Julie is a strategic leader of mission- and impact-driven organizations, across the not-for-profit and public sectors. She served variously as the executive director, Oxfam Canada; director, Central America Program, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada; and as a senior advisor to development policymakers. Most recently, Julie brought her expertise to diverse organizations including Oxfam International, the United Nations, and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights. She is a subject matter expert on gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and on the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in international development programming. Earlier in her career, Julie held numerous posts supporting the Government of Canada’s development and human rights efforts, including as deputy director for human rights; senior advisor to the Iraq Task Force; and director for gender equality and child protection. She also held research roles with various organizations, including the North-South Institute, and has written extensively on issues of gender and employment, women’s rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and globalization. Through her career, Julie has lived and worked in Honduras, Jamaica, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. She holds undergraduate degrees in law and legal studies and a graduate degree in international affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Canada.
Senator Rosa Galvez is a civil-environmental engineer, an associate professor at Laval University, an independent senator for the province of Quebec, and President of the ParlAmericas’ Parliamentary Network on Climate Change and Sustainability. At the Senate, she is a member of the Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources and of the Standing Committee on National Finance. In March 2022, she published a white paper on Aligning Canadian Finance with Climate Commitments, which led to the introduction of Bill S-243, the Climate-Aligned Finance Act, legislation to help guide Canada’s financial sector in its transition to a net-zero economy. Her parliamentary work on climate and the environment has earned her several awards, including the Clean50 Award 2021, the 2022 Ecological Society of America Regional Policy Award, and the 2023 Top 25 Women of Influence Award.
Richard Harmston worked with and for internationally-focused civil society organizations for more than 50 years, primarily in the field of international development and North-South cooperation. He has specialized in organizational development, NGO-government relations, inter-organizational cooperation, and strengthening civil society, particularly on themes of development, peace, & governance. He directed the International Student Movement for the United Nations (Geneva), created and managed the Public Participation Program in the Canadian International Development Agency (Ottawa), and was Executive Director respectively of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (now Cooperation Canada) and South Asia Partnership Canada. He was on the founding board of directors of the North South Institute, the Group of 78, the Canadian Committee for UNIFEM, and the Civilian Peace Service Canada. He is retired in Ottawa, Canada, and continues engagement with the Group of 78 (Chair, 2006-24) and CPSC.
Edward (Ted) Jackson is Chair of the Group of 78. He is a professor, consultant, and editor with current research interests in sustainable finance, gender lens investing, jobs in the transition economy, and community-university partnerships. He is a retired tenured public-policy professor, former associate dean (research) and co-founder of the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation, at Carleton University, where he continues to serve as a senior research fellow. He is also an honorary associate at the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University. As president of the consultancy E. T. Jackson and Associates, he has advised bilateral and multilateral development agencies and banks, investment funds, foundations, non-profits, and universities in 60 countries, including Bangladesh, Belize, Ghana, Kenya, Singapore, South Africa, and Vietnam. An active volunteer, he co-founded the McLeod Group and has advised the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, an American farmworkers’ rights non-profit, and the Singapore-based Sweef Capital impact fund.
Laura Macdonald is a Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Institute of Political Economy at Carleton University. She has published numerous articles in journals and edited collections on such issues as the role of non-governmental organizations in development, global civil society, social policies and citizenship struggles in Latin America, Canadian development assistance, Canada-Latin American relations and the political impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Her recent work looks at transnational activism in North America around labour rights, migration, and human rights in Mexico, and labour reform in Mexico. She is the current president of the Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS).
Elder Verna McGregor is from the Algonquin Community of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, which is approximately 120 kilometres north of Ottawa. Ottawa is part of the Algonquin Nation’s traditional lands. Verna works at Minwaashin Lodge, the Aboriginal Women’s Support Centre located in Ottawa. Services and resources provided by Minwaashin Lodge assist in the empowerment of Aboriginal Women leaving violence. Verna has remained firmly grounded in her community and nation by also being part of the group of traditional Grandmothers (Kokomisag) and Elders. This includes promoting the retention of the Algonquin language and culture, which is so important when addressing issues and connection to the land.
Lauchlan T. Munro is Professor in the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa. Before joining uOttawa in July 2012, Lauchlan worked as Vice-President Corporate Strategy and Regional Management at Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) from 2008 to 2012. From 2004 to 2009, he served as Director of Policy and Planning and Chief of Staff to the IDRC President. Prior to joining IDRC, Lauchlan worked for UNICEF from 1989 to 2003 in DR Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe and at New York HQ. From 1985 to 1987, he was a member of the Royal Bhutanese Civil Service. He has taught project management at Fordham University, sociology and public economics at the University of Manchester, and economics at Sherubtse College. He twice served as Director of his School (2012-16 and 2018). His textbook (co-edited with Mahmoud Masaeli), Canada and the Challenges of International Development and Globalization (University of Ottawa Press, 2018), was shortlisted for the PROSE Award for the best social science textbook published in North America in 2018.
José Antonio Ocampo is Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs and Member of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. He has been UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and in his country, Colombia, Minister of Finance on two occasions, Minister of Agriculture, Director of the National Planning and Member of the Board of Directors of the central bank. He is also the Chair of the Committee for Development Policy of ECOSOC and is a member and has chaired the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT). He has published extensively on macroeconomic theory and policy, international financial issues, economic and social development, international trade, and Colombian and Latin American economic history.
David Peck is a writer, speaker, and award-winning podcaster who works at the intersection of storytelling, social change, and meaningful dialogue. As the host of Face2Face and former host of Toronto Threads on 640 AM, he has published over 650 in-depth interviews with some of the world’s most compelling thinkers, artists and storytellers, including Viggo Mortensen, Sarah Polley, Raoul Peck, Werner Herzog, David Cronenberg, Gillian Anderson and Wade Davis. With a background in philosophy and international development, David brings a thoughtful, globally aware perspective to every conversation. He’s a published author and experienced keynote speaker, known for creating spaces where complexity is welcomed and ideas come alive. Whether moderating panels, hosting live events, or speaking on issues ranging from ethics to media, David’s work is grounded in a deep curiosity about people. At heart, he simply loves good conversation — and believes it’s one of the best ways we grow, connect, and make sense of the world.
Dr. Valerie Percival is an Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University. She served on The Lancet Commission on Peaceful Societies through Health and Gender Equality, was a fellow with the Wilson Center, and has worked for the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and UNCHR. She led the International Crisis Group’s Kosovo office from 2001 until 2003, where her reports focused on the final status process, the transitional administration, the judicial sector, and ethnic relations. Her research focuses on the political impact of violence against civilians, the gender dimensions of health systems, rebuilding health systems after war, and the global backlash against gender equality.
Sathy Rajasekharan is an Independent Consultant working at the intersection of climate, health, and technology. He advises global organizations on AI strategy, climate-health integration, and the development of digital solutions for the social impact sector. Previously, he served as Co-Executive Director at Jacaranda Health, where he helped lead the organization’s mission to deliver low-cost, sustainable maternal and newborn health solutions through public hospitals in Sub-Saharan Africa. During his tenure, he oversaw multi-country expansion, scaled digital health platforms, and forged key partnerships with donors and technology leaders. Before Jacaranda, Sathy was a Senior Program Manager with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), leading drug access and health financing programs and supporting the Ministry of Health in Eswatini. He also held roles as Associate Director at the McGill University Centre for Biomedical Innovation, where he supported commercialization of health technologies, and at the Montreal Neurological Institute, where he led a translational research program. Sathy holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from McGill University.
Dani Rodrik is Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has published widely in the areas of economic development, international economics, and political economy. His current research focuses on inclusive economic growth, in both developing and advanced economies. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the inaugural Albert O. Hirschman Prize of the Social Science Research Council and the Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences. Professor Rodrik is co-director of the Reimagining the Economy Program at the Kennedy School and of the Economics for Inclusive Prosperitynetwork. He was President of the International Economic Association during 2021-23 and helped found the IEA’s Women in Leadership in Economics (IEA-WE) initiative. His most recent book is Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World: A New Economics for the Middle Class, the Global Poor, and Our Climate(2025, forthcoming). His previous books include Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas for a Sane World Economy (2017), Economics Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science (2015), The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy (2011), and One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth (2007).
Rafal Rohozinski is a CIGI senior fellow and a principal of the SecDev Group, where he leads its geopolitical digital risk practice. Prior to founding SecDev, Rafal served as an adviser to the United Nations and to other organizations in more than 37 countries and directed the Advanced Network Research Group at the University of Cambridge. He currently participates in a trilateral track 1.5 working group (US-Russia-China) on the military use of cyberspace and is a frequent adviser and a member of several corporate boards. Rafal has held appointments with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in the United Kingdom, the Munk School of Global Affairs and the International Development Research Centre in Canada, the Ford Foundation and the Social Science Research Council in the United States. He is the author of numerous books, reports and studies examining the digital transformation and the evolution of policy and practice in cyberspace and is a frequent commentator and keynote speaker.
Adam Sneyd is an Associate Professor with the Department of Political Science. Adam is the author of Hidden Politics in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Fernwood Publishing, 2024), Politics Rules: Power, Globalization and Development (Fernwood Publishing, 2019 – Critical Development Studies Series), Cotton (Polity Press, 2016 – Resources Series), and Governing Cotton: Globalization and Poverty in Africa (Palgrave MacMillan, 2011 – International Political Economy Series). He was also the Principal Investigator on the SSHRC Insight Grant project that produced the co-authored book Commodity Politics: Contesting Responsibility in Cameroon (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022). His research articles have been published in journals including the Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Development and Change, Third World Quarterly, and the Journal of Contemporary African Studies. Adam currently serves on the editorial boards for Scientific African and the Canadian Journal of Development Studies.
Susan Spronk is associate professor in the School of International Development and Global Studies. Her research focuses on the impact of neoliberalism on the transformation of the state and public services in the global South. She is currently a co-applicant in a SSHRC-funded project focusing on the role of public banks in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the targets on water and sanitation. Her previous projects funded by SSHRC (2016-2021) included a study of the impact of cash transfer systems on women’s empowerment in the context of the post-racialized (capitalist) transitions in South Africa and Bolivia and a study of local democracy and water service delivery in Bolivia and Venezuela (2011-2015). She is a research associate with the Municipal Services Project, which focuses on policy alternatives in municipal service delivery in Africa, Asia and Latin America (http://www.municipalservicesproject.org). She is also a co-founder of the Blended Finance Project (https://blendedfinancecritique.ca/), a coalition of civil society organizations, unions and academics who wish to provide Canadians with a more complete picture of blended finance in Canadian foreign aid policy.
Susanne Ure is a writer, editor, project manager, teacher, activist, and documentary photographer. As a digital communications specialist in public mobilization and engagement she has led and supported exceptional program and project teams in seven national and international NGOs over the past 2 decades, on staff and as a consultant, including Amnesty International Canada, Nobel Women’s Initiative, the Micronutrient Forum, Nutrition International, Inter Pares, Cooperation Canada, and the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative. She designs, innovates and optimizes channels and content in the digital space to drive powerful outcomes in human rights, social justice, global public health, peacebuilding and climate justice. In the last 10 years she has produced international conferences on women’s nutrition, optimizing micronutrients in food systems, and pathways to peace in Yemen. She holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in storytelling from Queen’s and the University of Toronto. Susanne is delighted to be joining the Group 78 as Chief Rapporter for the 2025 Policy Conference.
