Reaching the Bottom Billion: Is There a Tipping Point?

October 20, 2008 – Geneva, Switzerland

Former President of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano welcoming guests to 2008 Symposium

His Excellency Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique, welcomed guests to the 2008 Hilton Humanitarian Symposium

The tenth international Humanitarian Symposium sponsored by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation brought together leaders from governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foundations, corporations, multilateral institutions, and the media to focus on the world's poorest people, the bottom billion. As in previous years, the Symposium was held in conjunction with the thirteenth annual presentation of the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, and was broadcast on the Internet.

Following the day-long Symposium, Quincy Jones, music industry legend and humanitarian, was the keynote speaker at the Prize ceremony dinner honoring the 2008 Hilton Humanitarian Prize recipient, BRAC. Founded in 1972, BRAC (formerly the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) is a Bangladesh-based organization whose community development programs are centered on poor and landless women in rural villages and urban slums.

Speakers and presentations

Hellen Grace Akwii-Wangusa

Anglican Observer at the United Nations

Defining New Strategies for Reaching the Bottom Billion (pdf)

Richard Behar

Investigative Journalist

China in Africa: The West's Moral and Economic Default (pdf)

Catherine Bertini

Senior Fellow in Agricultural Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Professor of Public Administration, Syracuse University

Women and Girls: Real Change for the Bottom Billion (pdf)

His Excellency Joaquim Chissano

Former President of Mozambique, Chairman of the Joaquim Chissano Foundation

Aid, Governance, and Development (pdf)

Julius E. Coles

President, Africare

An NGO Perspective for Reaching the Bottom Billion (pdf)

Paul Collier, Ph.D.

Professor of Economics, Oxford University

Connecting Firms in the Bottom Billion to Markets (pdf)

John Danilovich

U.S. Ambassador; CEO, Millennium Challenge Corporation

MCC: Changing Development Assistance to Better Reach the Bottom Billion (pdf)

Jan Egeland

Director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Oslo

A Billion Lives—Report from the Frontlines (pdf)

Pamela Hartigan

Founding Partner of Volans Ventures and author of "The Power of Unreasonable People"

Celebrating Unreasonable People (pdf)

Michael Hopkins, Ph.D.

CEO and Chairman of MHC International Ltd.

The International Dimension of CSR and its Impact on the Bottom Billion (pdf)

Peter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, George Washington University and President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute

Combating the Neglected Tropical Diseases (pdf)