DRI Human Rights Conference 2015: Development Without Freedom?

DRI, the Bard College Human Rights Project, and the Rift Valley institute hosted a conference titled “Development without Freedom? Justice, Human Rights, and Foreign Aid in Africa” on Thursday, April 16, 2015 at NYU’s Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life. A total of 460 people attended the event.

The international community provides aid, investment, and general budget support to governments of African countries, but fundamental human rights of individuals in the recipient nations are often dismissed. The conference involved discussion over the consequences of rights abuses for long-term development in Africa, and featured dissenting voices that do not often receive a hearing in international development forums. 

Watch highlight footage from the Development Research Institute's April 16th Conference: "Development without Freedom? Justice, Human Rights, and Foreign Aid in Africa."

Session I from DRI's 2015 Human Rights Conference: 
Helen Epstein (Bard College and New York University) on “Human Rights Problems in International Development Programs”, and an overview of conference aims.

David Pred (Inclusive Development International) on “Aiding and Abetting: How the World Bank Enabled Mass Forced Population Transfers in Ethiopia and Evaded Accountability”.

Frehiywot Samuel on “Not What They Wanted to Hear: A Supreme Court Judge Investigates Post-Election Violence in Ethiopia”.

Session II from DRI's 2015 Human Rights Conference:

Soleyana Shimeles Gebremichael (Zone 9 Blogging Group, Ethiopia) on “The Cost of Exercising Rights and Bringing Alternative Narration, The Case of Zone 9 Bloggers"

Stefan Dercon (University of Oxford) “Barking Hyenas, Roaring Lions and Predatory Tigerfish: Aid in Troublesome Places”

Session III from DRI's 2015 Human Rights Conference:

Jean Ensminger (California Institute of Technology) on “Aid Fraud: A Kenyan Case Study”

Godber Tumushabe (Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies) on “The Tragedy of Aid in Quasi-Democracies: Case Study of the Peace, Reconciliation and Development Program in Northern Uganda”

Session IV from DRI's 2015 Human Rights Conference:

Mareike Schomerus (London School of Economics and Political Science) on “The Betrayal of ‘South Sudan’: Could Development Work without Imagining the State?”

Hugh Roberts on “South Sudan: A Dream Deferred”