SPEAKERS
Klaus LEISINGER, Professor of Sociology, University of Basel; President, Global Values Alliance; Senior Adviser, Karl Schlecht Foundation
Maggie SUN, Operational Coordinator, Handicap International – China Program
WU Di, Program Director of Easy Inclusion; Consultant on Equality for UNDP in China
Marina KALNITSKI, Job Coach, Inclusion Factory
ABSTRACT
In 2000, the international community committed to achieving eight Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015. Among the list of goals were eradicating extreme poverty, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, and achieving universal primary education. Progress toward reaching these goals has been uneven, with the majority of efforts directed toward debt and natural disaster relief, rather than investments in development programs.
Among the examples of the last fifteen years, China stands strong: its impressive growth rate and astonishing results in improving the quality of life for a high portion of its citizens mark it as a success story. Together with India, these two countries alone helped achieve the first goal to halve the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day. Impressively, China and India accomplished this by 2008, 7 years before the deadline.
While globalization has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in low- and middle-income countries, inequality has increased significantly. Currently, according to an Oxfam report released earlier this year, the eight richest men own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world.
In September 2015, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, a “plan of action for people, planet and prosperity” that contains seventeen goals. The aim is to achieve these goals, through the efforts of both national governments and individual citizens, and transform the world into a more equal, freer, and better place to live so that present and future generations may flourish.
ThinkIN China event#59 will host a panel of experts and social entrepreneurs discussing Goal#10, “Reducing inequality”, with a special focus on analyzing programs of inclusiveness in the education system and in the job market for people with disabilities in China. We will showcase the significant work carried out by Chinese support organizations and social enterprises for finding innovative solutions to reach Goal#10.
For this event ThinkIN China will be hosted by 3ESPACE, the flagship project of SANY Foundation, a private foundation focused on fostering Chinese education, innovation, public health, and economic development.
We welcome you to join us in continuing this important dialogue on inclusiveness, disability, and social reform.
LOCATION
3ESPACE is located at the crossroad of Gulou Dongdajie and Jiaodaokou Nandajie, at the 5th floor of the Xinhua Wenhua building.
Address: 北京市东城区交道口南大街15号新华文化大厦5层
The closest subway station is Andingmen, then walk for ten minutes towards south, along Andingmen Neidajie.
