Note No. 5939
10 May 2005

Note to Correspondents

UNU Panel on “Competition and Complementarity between Global and Regional Public Goods” to Be Held on 13 May

NEW YORK, 9 May (UN Headquarters) -- On 13 May from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Conference Room 6, the United Nations University Comparative Regional Integration Studies Programme (UNU-CRIS) will hold a panel discussion on “Competition and complementarity between global and regional public goods”.

The event is part of an effort by UNU-CRIS to bring regional public goods to the attention of regional and international policy makers.  The project is still being formulated, and the event is to provide the project with input on ways to enhance its relevance and usefulness.

Two papers will be presented by their respective authors, followed by comments from relevant academics and policy-makers from both national and international institutions.  The aim is to address the issue of public goods in a regional context with input from a variety of institutional actors.

The two papers are as follows:  “Regional Cooperation and the Provision of Regional and Global Public Goods” by Fredrik Söderbaum, Associate Professor, UNU-CRIS, Bruges, and Associate Professor, Padrigu, Peace and Development Research, Göteborg University; and “Regional Mechanisms for Natural Disasters:  Bridging the Gap between National and Global Responses” by Tânia Felício, Project Researcher, UNU-CRIS.

In response to these presentations, comments will be given by: Edward Mansfield, Hum Rosen Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania; Florin Lupescu, Minister Counsellor, Director for European Affairs, Cabinet Office, Romania; and Mark Bowden, Chief, Policy Development and Studies Branch, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The papers may be downloaded as follows:  “Regional Mechanisms for Natural Disasters:  Bridging the Gap between National and Global Responses” at http://fs.ony.unu.edu/13may05/disasterriskreducationandrelief.pdf; and “Regional Cooperation and the Provision of Regional and Global Challenges” at http://fs.ony.unu.edu/13may05/provisionofregionalandglobalpublicgoods.pdf.

UN Media representatives, Secretariat staff, Missions, non-governmental organizations and Academics staff are invited to attend.  Please register online at http://www.ony.unu.edu

For additional information, contact Ramon Ray, United Nations University, Office at the United Nations, at tel: 212-963-6387, fax: 212-371-9454, e-mail: ramon@ony.unu.edu, web: http://www.ony.unu.edu

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