The U8 was founded in July 2005. To find out more about each year, click on the links below:

2005/06: FOUNDING OF THE U8 –AN INCLUSIVE GLOBAL PLATFORM TO CONNECT STUDENTS WORLDWIDE

The U8 was founded in July 2005 by university students Sheena Sumaria and Natasha Hughes, after they met during a summer internship at the UK Department for International Development (DfID). Their idea was to set up an inclusive global platform connecting students interested in development which would raise awareness, spark debate and activism and enhance knowledge of key challenges in social issues around the world.

The concept and name of the U8 was born during the time of the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, where the leaders of the world's eight richest countries gathered to discuss global challenges. In contrast, the U8 aimed to link students from developed and developing countries to engage in a shared learning process and to give a voice to students from developing countries. founding principles of the U8 were to serve as an independent, impartial and inclusive platform. The mission was to create a culture of inclusion in dialogue on development and policy.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

- Inaugural U8 Executive Committee recruited in October 2005 and mission statement created.

- Support of Lord Wilson, Master of Emmanuel College Cambridge, and Sir Hum, Master of Gonville & Caius College Cambridge, secured as patrons of the inaugural Cambridge Summit

- U8 societies set up in 8 European universities – Cambridge, Oxford, LSE, Bristol, UCL, Birmingham, Sciences Po (Paris), HEC (Paris) and Freiburg (Germany)

- The first U8 website was launched in January 2006. It provided information on the U8 inaugural summit in Cambridge and forums for the U8 content teams to discuss their ideas online

- The U8 Summit on Inequality, held in Cambridge in March 2006, was attended by 80 students representing 17 different nationalities. The students were grouped into four teams, each focusing on social, income, gender or global inequality as the basis for discussion. Each team had previously spent time researching questions related to the theme of inequality (taken from the DfID White Paper consultation) and the U8 Summit provided a forum to discuss their research and opinions and to produce an outcome document.

- The U8 summit also brought together development professionals with differing perspectives to debate the topic ''After 2005: Development Challenges and perspectives'. The debate was mediated by Benny Dembitzer, International Development Consultant, Ethical Events Ltd., and had the following speakers:

- Masood Ahmed - Director General of the Policy and International at the Department for International Development

- Barbara Stocking - Director of Oxfam Danny Quah - Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics

- Kurt Hoffman - Director of the Shell Foundation

- Nkosano Moyo - Managing Partner of ACTIS, former Minister of Industry and International Trade, Zimbabwe

- Volume 1 of the U8 Magazine was produced, showcasing articles on international development from students around the world and reflecting the outcomes of the summit. 3,000 copies were printed and distributed to our members.

- The outcomes from the summit were presented to the Permanent Secretary of DfID for input into the DfID White Paper consultation process (See U8 Consultation Paper).

2005/06 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

2006/07: WIDENING THE DIALOGUE – EXPANDING ACROSS THE WORLD AND ENGAGING POLICY MAKERS AND PRACTITIONERS

The second year of the U8 focused on widening the dialogue that the U8 had successfully created in its first year. U8 expanded as societies were set up in other universities worldwide and engaged with professionals in development, both in order to understand their priorities and also present student opinions.

The year’s work again culminated in a summit at Warwick University in March 2007, followed by the publication of a Magazine. The year saw great strides forward in internationalising the organisation, with a widespread expansion of activity across the world and attendance at the summit by participants from Mexico, Kyrgyzstan, the UK, France, Slovenia, Germany, Egypt, India and many other countries. The U8 also engaged with many major development organisations such as the UN Millennium Campaign, Peacechild International, Oxfam and the Overseas Development Institute to hear their opinions, voice student opinions, and obtain constructive feedback into the U8 vision and aims.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

- The U8 Consultation Paper was published in December 2006, gaining media attention with articles in The Hindu and Guardian Education website. The consultation gathered over a hundred responses from development practitioners (governments, NGOs, private corporations, think-tanks, academics) about their priorities, these then formed the ten research topics for the U8 research groups.

- The U8 Twinning scheme partnered universities in different countries. It raised awareness of different approaches, contexts and ideas of development and also helped to raise money to fund the travel costs of several students from outside Europe.

- The 2006-07 U8 website was launched in November 2006 and began promoting forum activity during December. Between December (?) and March alone there were over 1,800 posts and 6,000 visitors, in addition to the 400 registered users. Most impressively, our users and their content attracted visits from over 110 countries.

- The U8 Summit was held in Warwick in March 2007. 140 students from 15 universities attended for three-days of discussions and events.

- The speaker event at the Summit, entitled “To what extent do developing countries have a say in the policies that affect them?” attracted over 500 people, and was chaired again by Benny Dembitzer of Ethical Events Ltd. It featured:

- Salil Shetty - Director of the UN Millennium Campaign

- Kingsley Moghalu - Director and Head of Global Partnerships and Resource Mobilization at The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

- HE Dr Kuban Mambetaliev -the Kyrgyz Ambassador to the UK

- Professor Franklyn Lisk of the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation at the University of Warwick

- In addition the U8 held a roundtable meeting on development awareness and education with representatives from 12 charities. , which provided valuable feedback on the U8’s aims and activities, and generated opportunities for potential bilateral partnerships

- U8 met with Rt Hon Peter Lilley of the Conservative Party's Globalisation and Global Poverty Group in the House of Commons. A U8 submission, based on the research outcomes of the 2006 summit and comments from students at U8 university-based events, was later delivered to the group as a contribution to its policy paper “In It Together” .

- The U8 “Global Governance of the Environment Outcomes” document was given to leading figures at the Al Gore Climate Training Project in Cambridge in March, which was also attended by Mark Koller as the U8 representative. In addition to this the “Global Governance of the Environment Outcomes” document was published in “Global Environmental Negotiations”, a publication of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts in India.

- Members of the U8 Executive Committee also attended the Development Studies Association (DSA) conference 2006, the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) conference 2006 and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Forum 2007.

- Published Volume 2 of the U8 Magazine, consisting of 19 articles from students worldwide and the Warwick Summit research outcome statements. The U8 were honoured to have the foreword written by Rt. Hon. Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for International Development.

- James Clarke, Laure Canis, Sumant Dubey, Sherin Galal, Zhildyz Rakhimova and Guzel Elabeava all appeared on BBC World Service on 8 March 2007 to speak about the U8 Summit and U8 vision.

- By June 2007 the U8 had 32 member groups in 15 countries.

2006/07 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

2007/08: A SHIFT IN STRATEGY - MORE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MORE STUDENTS

Following the successful summit in 2007 at the University of Warwick, 2008 entailed a period of reflection and refinement for the U8. The financial and logistical challenges posed by having a single global summit event, which was inclusive for our growing global membership, informed us that we had to adapt our strategy accordingly.

With inclusiveness and learning at the core of the organisation we sought to create a wide range of opportunities for a broad student audience. Online research projects, forums and blogs were to be accessible by all our members globally through a new website. Catering to a wider audience would increase participation, leading to more learning in a vibrant, member-driven online environment. Online activity was to be complemented by university groups holding physical events on campus, such as talks and international development courses. The result would be a larger, member-driven organisation, which would create innovative members to sustain the organisation year-on-year and achieve its mission.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

- Having online research projects required a new website which was much more interactive and user-driven. A new website was built with minimal funding, predominantly with voluntary work, in a matter of weeks. By the end of the year over 500 members were registered online.

- Shifting research projects online was a pioneering initiative. 8 projects were undertaken during the 2007/08 period, two of which were published in Indian and Colombian academic journals.

- New promotional material was created for universities, with the aid of design students, to publicise the new opportunities the U8 provided.

- Volume 3 of the U8 Magazine was produced, showcasing articles on international development from students around the world. 1,500 copies were printed and distributed to our members globally

- The U8’s first regional summit was hosted in London by the School of Oriental and African Studies. It consisted of a series of lectures and workshops, both on international development and on the future of the U8 itself. The summit was used as a forum for member feedback on the direction taken by the U8 and how it could be improved.

- The U8 participated in the UN Millennium Campaign’s Stand Up, Speak Out national UK event. U8 members from across London attended the event, which was attended by the UN Deputy Secretary General, Dr Asha-Rose Migiro. U8 Communications Director Astrid Haas spoke to the audience on behalf of the organisation.

- The U8 was registered as a legal entity, a not-for-profit company, as part of a pro bono project by the law firm Bingham McCutchen LLP.

2007/08 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

2008/09: FOCUSING ACTIVITIES – MATCHING THE DESIRES OF U8 MEMBERS TO RESOURCE CAPACITIES

With an awareness both of the many great successes of the U8, and the limitations of minimal resources, this was a year of setting priorities, streamling the activities of the U8 and creating a clearer picture of what U8 is and does.

Throughout the year, we made efforts to engage local group members in global executive matters, holding regular open meetings and sought to focus our efforts on those activities that were most popular with members. We welcomed a number of new groups to the partnership, and made or continued partnerships with various groups, including World Vision, Kavilando, Indicorps and UYDO. In May a successful summit was hosted in Cambridge, providing an opportunity for members to meet and share ideas.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

- Streamlining of U8 activities, and generation of eight key priorities for the U8

- Establishment of a monthly U8 Newsletter

- Contribution of U8 members to a DfID white paper consolation on the future of UK development policy

- CIDS/U8 summit, and accompanying outcome document with ideas for the U8 to take forward on local and global levels

- A number of completed U8 research projects

- Establishment of U8 links in new areas, or with new groups such as Kavilando in Colombia and Indicorps in India.

2008/09 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE