Former President Leonel Fernández Arrives in Geneva for High Level UN Meetings

Dr. Leonel Fernández, former president of the Dominican Republic and current honorary President of the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development, and its sister organization Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo, will participate in the High-level Segment of the ECOSOC 2013 Substantive Session, to be held this week from Monday through Wednesday at the Palace of the Nations in Geneva. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is a United Nations
organization dedicated to the world’s economic, social and environmental challenges.

The central theme of the event is “Science, Technology and Innovation and the potential of culture for promoting sustainable development and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).” UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon will also participate in the meeting.

According to the program, former Dominican President and
current president of the Dominican Liberation Party will speak on Tuesday at a conference entitled, “High Level Political Dialogue with International Finance and Commerce Institutions on the Current Development in the World Economy,” one of the most important points in the meeting’s program.

In addition to the former Dominican president, others to attend the international event include American economist, Joseph Eugene
Stiglitz, co-recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics; Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA); Pascal Lamy, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO); Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary General of UNCTAD; Zhu Min, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund and Mahmoud Mhieldin, World Bank official.

According the organizers, the event will provide an
opportunity for organizations recognized by ECOSOC as having consultative status to be heard in the deliberations as well as to contribute to discussions of critical concern to the global development agenda.

It will also provide a platform to specifically address the question of scientific and technological innovation, which is an important issue in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Furthermore, it will provide an opportunity to promote
access to knowledge and increased productivity, industrialization, economic growth and the creation of decent jobs.

Other objectives include promoting health and access to essential medications and achieving food security through sustainable and equitable farming practices and increased production and wages, especially in the case of small farmers.

The promotion of renewable energy will also be approached with the goal of responding to the dual
challenge of reducing energy poverty and mitigating climate change.

The event is being organized while taking into account that science and technology are in a state of constant evolution, influenced by structural changes in the global economy, constant globalization of innovative activity, the surfacing of new stake holders and new ways of innovating. A Ministerial Declaration on “Science, Technology and Innovation and the potential of culture
for promoting sustainable development and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”is expected to come out of the meeting.