Lutheran World Relief Pres. Daniel Speckhard to Participate in CSIS Panel on Ending Extreme Poverty

BALTIMORE - Feb. 13, 2017 - PRLog -- Ambassador Daniel Speckhard, president & CEO of Lutheran World Relief, will participate in a panel on ending extreme poverty on Feb. 15 at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, D.C.

The panel discussion will focus on the P20 Initiative, which aims to track the progress and improve information about the lives of the poorest 20 percent of people worldwide in order to tackle extreme poverty. The P20 is a universally applicable concept that emphasizes the shared nature of challenges such as job creation, nutrition, and security, as well as the universal risks of failure to include the P20 in progress in these areas.

Ambassador Speckhard noted in the introduction to LWR's 2017 Early Warning Forecast that significant progress has already been achieved in reducing global suffering and poverty. As measured by the Millennium Development Goals, he notes, the number of people living in extreme poverty has fallen by more than half, and the world community has adopted a set of Sustainable Development Goals that are truly aspirational, including reaching a statistical "zero" on extreme poverty.

"We are making real progress in reducing global poverty and now is not the time to turn inward or retreat," he says. "The international community must continue to engage, to fund humanitarian response and development, and to support the local communities bearing the brunt of these crises."

The panel on P20: Ending Extreme Poverty will also include Martin Ravallion, Edmond D. Villani Professor of Economics, Georgetown University; and Judith Randel, Co-Founder, Development Initiatives. It will be moderated by Daniel F. Runde, CSIS' William A. Schreyer Chair and Director, Project on Prosperity and Development.

The P20 panel is scheduled from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. at CSIS Headquarters, 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW in Washington, DC.

For more information, visit the LWR Newswire at https://medium.com/@LWR_Media.