Message-ID: <01BB79A7.FF8F47A0@CHCM-0017.ias.unu.edu> Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 21:35:12 +0900 From: Jacky Foo <mailto:foo@IAS.UNU.EDU> Subject: electronic seminar by Dr. Francois Ekoko To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Announcement of electronic seminarDATE: 1-31 Aug 1996 TITLE: Poverty and deforestation in the Congo Basin Rainforest BY: Dr. Francois Ekoko (mailto:ekoko@ias.unu.edu) Inst.of Advanced Studies, United Nations Univ., Tokyo
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
An electronic seminar is simply a seminar that is conducted via e-mail and a mailing list is used to facilitate the distribution and archiving of all discussion messages. Usually a seminar paper which serves as the material for seminar discussion, is provided and can be made available to the participants via the mailing list itself or on a web homepage or a hard copy is air mailed upon request.
Registration is free and the seminar paper will be available via this mailing list on Aug 1st. All discussion messages will be distributed automatically to your email address.
To register, please send an email to mailto:LISTSERV@MSIAS.IAS.UNU.EDU and write the message: SUBSCRIBE IAS-CR2 yourfirstname yourlastname, organization e.g. subscribe ias-cr2 Francois Ekoko, UNU/IAS, Tokyo
For personal assistance, please contact Jacky Foo <mailto:foo@ias.unu.edu>
SEMINAR SUMMARY
The electronic seminar is based on a study conducted by Dr Francois Ekoko and will cover issues related to: (a) how deforestation is linked to poverty, (b) the different typology of poverty groups, (c) the causes of poverty in countries of the Congo basin rainforest (d) How to tackle poverty at the grassroots level, using local resources
Countries of the Congo basin rainforest (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Zaire), unlike those of the Sahelian region have a good natural resource base and a favourable life support system (natural environment). Yet poverty and environmental depletion including deforestation have undermined the prospects of development, the fabric of the society and the very survival of the region (e.g. disintegration of the state apparatus in Zaire, military mutiny in Central African Republic, social unrest in Congo, tension and fierce power struggle amid misery in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea after presidential elections). Both people and states have been impoverished over the last decade and GDP per capita in the region has decreased significantly. The human development index also shows a worsening condition of the people. While IMF-WB led-reforms have produced mixed results, ODA to the region shrank and the debt burden has become unbearable to most of these countries.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Francois Ekoko holds a Ph.D. in Environment and Development and a Masters in Social and Environmental Studies (the University of Liverpool), a Doctorate and a Maitrise in International Relations ( Institute of International Relations), a Maitrise, a Licence and a DEUG in Law (Universites de Picardie and Paris XII). He lectured on Sustainable Development at the University of Liverpool and was guest lecturer at the Charles Wotton College on Development Issues in Africa. >From 1990 to 1992, he worked with Cameroon's government. He has been a
consultant for UNDP, UNEP and UNCHS. Dr. Ekoko has published articles in International Journals in the fields of Development, Environment and Politics in Africa. His most recent works include a contribution entitled "Poverty and Deforestation in the Congo Basin Rainforest" in Oyen and Matti, Poverty and the Environment. At the United Nations University, he is working on a new analytical framework for the analysis of the links between poverty and deforestation.