Diaspora to grill top politicians on aid policies
23/04/2010 14:58:00
Members of the diaspora community are invited to grill a panel of cross party politicians on the issues that matter most to them at a pre-election debate on Tuesday 27th of April, 6pm at SOAS London.
Designed to give members of the diaspora community the chance to have their say about current and future development policies, the debate panel will include:
Lord Eric Avebury, Liberal Democrats
Lord Avebury is the Lib Dems spokesperson on Foriegn Affairs in the House of Lords, specialising in conflict resolution, immigration issues and human rights. He founded the Parliamentary Human Rights Group, which he chaired for 21 years. He fought for British citizenship rights of ethnic minority residents in Hong Kong. He is also the president of Peru Support Group, advocating human rights in Peru.
Jayne Forbes, Green Party
Jayne Forbes has been involved with campaigning for people in developing countries as Chair of WDM (World Development Movement) and Chair of Tourism Concern. She worked in Gambia as a VSO volunteer. She is a lecturer at the University of the Arts teaching tourism with a particular emphasis on the impacts of tourism on people in developing countries.
George Lee, Conservative Party
George Lee was born in a converted pig shed in Hong Kong. He worked in toy factory aged five, came to the UK aged 10 and worked in his parent's takeaway. George spent 20 years in the public sector (MoD & Met Police), is the founding member of BPA and is highest-ranking Chinese police officer in the UK. He has a successful senior executive corporate career with various FTSE100 companies in diverse functions and industry sectors.
Gareth Thomas, Labour Party
Gareth is currently the Minister of State for International Development, in charge of Britain’s aid to Africa. He has also been responsible for Britain’s aid programmes to Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
Hosted by former BBC journalist and ex-Editor of the Voice, Onyekachi Wambu, the debate will focus on issues directly relevant to the diaspora community, and the country and region of their origin.
Organised by Development Impact for Nigeria, Inspirational Volunteer Journeys and Philippine Generations, and with the help of VSO, the debates aim to engage a traditionally hard to reach section of society.
Venetta Johnston from Inspirational Volunteer Journeys said:
Evelyn Rodrigues, Team Leader at VSO said:
“We want international development to be front of mind when people place their votes. Debates are an ideal opportunity to learn about what each party plans to do to tackle poverty.“
The debate is part of VSO’s Community Debate series, designed to galvanise interest in international development in the run up the general election period. By mobilising its network of supporter groups - people committed to tackling poverty overseas - VSO aims to ensure development moves up the political agenda.
