Troubled Times: Sustainable Development and Governance in the Age of Extremes
was the overarching theme of the Seventh Sustainable Development Conference held in December 2004. The Conference tackled various questions such as whether there is sound governance around development and whether this is ensuring just development Whether there is more sharing of resources including natural, and institutional Is there a strengthening of regional and international institutions How much progress has been achieved in South Asia vis–vis governance Is government more transparent today than it was a decade ago Have governments kept their promises to the marginalized, whether the poor, women or minorities How can we avoid repeating the mistakes of the past What would be the effective strategies to do so Or is it a world of extremesa world that is extremely rich but with unparalleled inequalities of income and access to resourceswith the marginalized becoming even more marginalized. It provided an opportunity to discuss the global economy, the new terms of trade, the transfer of resources from the developing world to the first world and whether such moves are benefiting a few only. The Conference brought together some 150 panelists from 18 countries. The gender ratio of the panelists was 64% (male) and 36% (female).