Belgian Senate President Delivers 2006 Crawford Lecture

This year’s Crawford lecturer was the Honorable Anne-Marie Lizin, President of the Belgian Senate and Chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations and Defense Committee. She served as an Independent Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty on the United Nations’ Human Rights Commission from 1998 to 2004 and as State Secretary for European Affairs. Mme. Lizin is a keen advocate of women’s rights and is Chairperson of the largest women’s rights organization in Belgium.

The Crawford Memorial Lecture is a highlight of the CGIAR’s Annual General Meeting. It is named in honor of Sir John Crawford, who was a passionate supporter of international agricultural research for development, a founding father of the CGIAR and the first Chair of its Technical Advisory Committee. The lecture, sponsored by the Australian Government, seeks to challenge those involved in agricultural research and development to consider the broader issues and trends that influence their work.

Mme. Lizin’s topic was “ Food for All: a Challenge for the 21st Century.” She underlined the fundamental importance of achieving food security in a world where more than one billion people live in extreme poverty. “Considering that by 2050 it will be necessary to feed a population of about 9 billion people, agricultural research is critical,” she noted.

In commenting on the contribution of research to poverty reduction worldwide, she stressed the intimate links between this challenge and other global issues, including the achievement of peace and security, improved governance, gender equity and environmental protection. Citing the plight of Africa particularly, she said, “armed conflict is among the greatest obstacles to achieving the Millenium Development Goals.”

An “empowered and organized civil society” is essential for addressing the global challenge of poverty reduction,” she remarked, as is a more “decentralized approach to cooperation” that “actively involves all parties” in developing countries and the world community.

Sustainable development, she concluded, must be “based on solidarity between people and between the current and future generations.” In their efforts to achieve “a more just and peaceful world, the CGIAR is an indispensable partner.”

The Honorable Anne-Marie Lizin
Anne-Marie Lizin with Kathy Sierra, CGIAR Chair
	Left to right: Francisco Reifschneider, CGIAR Director, Anne-Marie Lizin, Nicolas De Santis, Secretary General of Gold Mercury International, and Kathy Sierra, CGIAR Chair