On the 1st - 3rd May 2009, U8 co-hosted the Cambridge International Development Summit. The summit was a huge success and has produced a number of interesting outcomes. You can read the outcome document here and see our press release by clicking 'read more'.

CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT PRODUCES OUTCOME DOCUMENT FOR FUTURE U8 LTD. STRATEGY

07/05/09                                                                    

 
Cambridge, UK – On the 1st - 3rd May students and U8 members from around Europe came together for a Summit on International Development at Cambridge University. Jointly organized by the Cambridge Humanitarian Centre and U8 Student Partnership for Development, the Summit provided a weekend full of international development events.
 
82 people attended the Summit over the weekend, including high profile attendees such as Peter Colenso, head of Human Development at DfID, who gave the opening speech on the new International Development White Paper: Eliminating World Poverty - Assuring our Common Future, as well as a wide range of U8 groups including U8 Leiden, U8 Westminster and U8 Essex. For a full update on attendees, speaker biographies and photos please visit www.cids2009.org.uk
 
On Saturday, participants discussed five different themes of international development – economics, fragile earth, gender, education and conflict and post-conflict reconstruction. In the evening participants attended an inspirational presentation by Hugh Evans on the Global Poverty Project followed by delightful pub crawl through Cambridge. For more information on the GPP and to get involved, please visit www.globalpovertyproject.com

Sunday was dedicated to U8 Global Student Partnership for Development. Delegates ran the day and activities ranged from U8 research presentations, skills workshops and networking sessions. The Summit was a resounding success and many important links and friendships were established.
 
U8 managing director, Martyn Steiner, commented that “the feedback from the summit has been fantastic, with many saying that it deeply inspired them to become more involved in both U8 and development issues in general”
 
A key result of the Summit is the U8 outcome document, which looks at 3 key questions:
 
-         How can I make myself heard by my government?
-         Lessons learnt from CIDS
-         U8 development priorities
 
The findings from the Summit outlined in the outcome document will be used to work on solutions to the problems raised, taking your views into account. U8 will produce a strategy based on your suggestions to create a stronger U8 network that is more capable of supporting and coordinating U8 activity. To view the outcome document please visit http://www.srcf.ucam.org/camidc/CIDS2009/CMS/CIDSOutcomedoc.pdf
U8 Ltd would like to thank everyone for attending and participating in the U8 Summit and we hope to see you all at the next U8 event!