MEDIA ADVISORY - Madeleine Albright to Discuss U.S. Poverty, Empowerment and the Environment

WHAT: The World Resources Institute and the Commission for the Legal Empowerment of the Poor, hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (CLEP), will discuss a new global survey of challenges faced by poor people which hinder their participation in fundamental aspects of civic and economic life. The discussion will apply these findings to the United States context.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 17, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
(light breakfast at 8:30 a.m. precedes the event)

WHERE: World Resources Institute
10 G Street NE Suite 800, Washington DC 20002
(Metro: Red Line to Union Station)

WHO:
Jonathan Lash, president, World Resources Institute
Madeleine Albright, Ph.D., former U.S. secretary of state and co-chair, CLEP
Naresh Singh, Ph.D., executive director, CLEP
Beverly Wright, Ph.D., founder and executive director, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice

WHY: Despite robust social safety nets and legal protections available to Americans, millions of poor people in America continue to confront both formal and informal barriers to participation in civic and economic life. These barriers have denied them access to secure property rights, to the judicial system, and to sustainable livelihoods. What lessons can this country learn from a global survey of the planet’s poorest people? What lessons can a new administration learn as it turns to address the profound socio-economic challenges posed by climate change, water scarcity, and rising food and fuel prices?

RSVP: Jonathan Talbot, media officer, +1(202) 729-7828, jtalbot@wri.org

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