MEDIA ADVISORY - Haiti: Building a Nation from History

OTTAWA, Sept. 27 /CNW/ - After 200 years of independence, Haiti is at a crossroads: how to throw off the shackles of its troubled history to build a strong nation?  Respected author and historian Suzy Castor will deliver a lecture at the International Development Research Centre on September 29 in which she will explain why understanding Haiti's history, from colonialism in the 17th century to the overthrow of dictatorship in 1990, is essential to finding ways of healing the scars of Haitian society.

When: Wednesday, September, 29, 2010, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Where: IDRC, 150 Kent Street (corner of Albert), 8th floor

Castor has been the director of the Center for Economic and Social Research and Training for Development (CRESFED) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti since 1995. During the Duvalier dictatorships she was a professor and researcher at the National Autonomous University in Mexico, and a member of the prestigious National System of Researchers of Mexico's National Council of Science and Technology. After her return to Haiti in 1986, Castor helped establish the CRESFED and taught at the Université d'État d'Haïti, among other posts. Among her many distinctions is the Mahatma Gandhi Medal, awarded by UNESCO in 2009.

Castor's lecture is the ninth in the Speakers of Renown series, which is being held throughout 2010 to mark IDRC's 40th anniversary. Upcoming headliners include Professor M. S. Swaminathan, the father of India's Green Revolution, named by TIME Magazine as one of the 20 most influential Asians of the 20th century and Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, head of the United Nation's Development Programme, and named by Forbes as one of the most powerful women in the world.

The event is open to the media. The lecture will be in French and simultaneous interpretation in English will be available. Spaces are limited and journalists are encouraged to register by calling Isabelle Bourgeault-Tassé at 613-696- 2343 or e-mailing at [email protected].

Journalists and the public can join in the conversation through Twitter (#IDRC) and Facebook. For more information and the live webcast, visit www.idrc.ca/events-castor.

About IDRC
To achieve self-reliance, poor communities need answers to questions like: How can we grow more and healthier food? Protect our health? Create jobs? IDRC supports research in developing countries to answer these questions. IDRC also encourages sharing this knowledge with policymakers, other researchers, and communities around the world. The result is innovative, lasting local solutions that aim to bring choice and change to those who need it most.

For further information:

Isabelle Bourgeault-Tassé
Senior Media Advisor, IDRC
(+1 613) 696-2343
[email protected]