Emory Report
January 29, 2007
Volume 59, Number 17



   
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January 29 , 2007
Institute for Developing Nations


“We want to draw upon the knowledge and expertise of our faculty as well as the commitment of both faculty and students in order to focus on issues related to poverty in the developing world,” said Tom Robertson, executive faculty director of the recently formed Institute for Developing Nations.

Inspired by President Jimmy Carter’s work to reduce the growing gap between the world’s richest and poorest inhabitants, Emory and The Carter Center established the IDN in fall 2006 to create a research institute with networks that extend to partners in developing countries, including governments, universities, non-governmental organizations and foundations.

“Through our research, teaching and international collaborations we can make a significant contribution toward understanding poverty and its determinants, and toward suggesting meaningful remedies,” said Robertson, who is working with a team from Emory and the Carter Center to develop a research agenda that reflects the institutional strengths of this unique partnership, and also their shared commitment to working with global partners to support activities that will make a meaningful difference in the lives of the poor.

Initially IDN will allocate its primary focus to sub-Saharan Africa, a region where, according to the World Bank, 45–50 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, more than 40 percent of the population lives below the absolute poverty level of one dollar a day, and where the depth of poverty — how far below the poverty line people are — is the greatest in the world.

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