In light of the growing health concerns and stringent precautionary measures taken by growing number of countries to prevent the spread of COVID-19, upcoming major events in the international development sector have been canceled or postponed. DevelopmentAid presents a rundown of some of the conferences, forums and meetings that have been planned for this spring around the world.
The Land and Poverty Conference 2020
One of the largest international events on land governance has been postponed. The Conference on Land and Poverty brings together over 1,400 participants from governments, academics, civil society and the private sector who present and analyze the latest innovations in the sector. The World Bank has rescheduled the Land and Poverty Conference 2020: Institutions for Equity and Resilience which will now take place in Washington DC from 22nd to 26th March 2021.
The Skoll World Forum
The organizers of Skoll World Forum consider the most prudent course of action is to cancel the event which was to be held from March 31st to April 3rd in Oxford, England. Each year, the world’s most influential social entrepreneurs and strategic partners exchange advanced entrepreneurial solutions for the most pressing problems and collaborate to accelerate large-scale social change. The Forum attracts over 1,200 people from more than 100 countries for an entire week. The Skoll Foundation is exploring alternatives to holding this year’s Forum in Oxford.
IsDB 45th Annual General Meeting
Safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic caused the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB Group) to cancel their annual meeting planned for April 1- 4. The IsDB 45th Annual General Meeting, expected to host 2,000 attendees, allows participants to discuss the challenges and explore the opportunities facing IsDB Group member countries. The IsDB Group will set another date for the 2020 event.
Africa Climate Week 2020
Commitments to climate action and sustainable development are the focus areas of the Africa Climate Week 2020 event, planned for April 20-24, 2020 in Kampala, Uganda. Although the UN Climate Change secretariat, the organizers of this event, has decided to postpone this gathering, he organizing process continues in order to ensure the successful running of the event whose purpose is to engage, build partnerships and manage the main climate risks. Uganda will remain the host country but a new date has yet to be announced.
XVII World Water Congress
The XVII World Water Congress, one of the largest events linking water researchers and policy practitioners, was scheduled to take place from May 11th to May 15th, 2020. Having assessed the development of COVID-19 outbreak, the organizers announced a change of date and the 17th holding of this event will now be held jointly with Korea International Water Week from September 21st to 25th 2020 in Daegu, Republic of Korea.
Many other noteworthy events in the sustainable development sector have been postponed, canceled or put on hold. While some organizers have decided to reschedule their event, others continue to assess the development of the situation without yet announcing a change of date. Check the list of those events and conferences planned for spring 2020 which have been postponed due to significant concerns at a global level with some of the listed below.
