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World Bank Rural
Week 2000 28- 31 March, Westfields Conference Center, Virginia |
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| Tuesday evening's opening reception | ||
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Rural Week 2000 participants arriving at the Westfields Conference Center in Virginia | |
| View of the grand reception hall |  |
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Robert Thompson, Director of the World Bank Rural Development Department, welcomed the Rural Week 2000 participants, noting the meeting's theme of "Poverty or Prosperity: Rural People in a Globalized Economy." He underscored the importance of alleviating poverty in rural areas, where the majority of the poor live. | |
| Paul O'Conner, World Bank Rural Development Department, presented the film "Millennium Video," produced by Walt Disney for the World Bank. He noted the film's message on the goal of creating a world free of poverty and its aim to educate the privileged public about poverty. |  |
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Participants viewed the short film, which states that all people of the world should be able to "feed, shelter and educate themselves in order to live in dignity," and emphasizes the important role that access to water and healthcare can play in alleviating poverty. After the film, Thompson underscored the importance of communicating to the developed world the reality of poverty. | |
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James D. Wolfensohn, World Bank President, communicated to Rural Week participants via video. He emphasized the goal of ensuring that attention is focused not only on increasing agricultural yields, but also on developing an integrated rural development programme. He highlighted the importance of developing a comprehensive approach relating agriculture activities to the broader context of the private sector, provision of agriculture services, education and health, and called on participants to consider the impact of technological advances. He noted the RDV will need to take budget cuts this year, and called on participants to find and focus on ways to cut back. 
RealAudio excerpts
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