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AMMAN, Jordan: Twenty-nine Nobel laureates and other
prominent figures are to meet Wednesday in Jordan’s ancient city
of Petra to discuss the global food crisis, economic development and
education.
Tibetan spiritual leader the
Dalai Lama, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Senegalese President
Abdoulaye Wade and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mussa are among
those attending the two-day meeting, organizers said.
“The soaring price of food—an
increase of almost 75 percent since 2000—is affecting hundreds of
millions of people and a global food crisis is looming,” they said
in a statement.
Five working groups will discuss
issues including the world food crisis and youth and economic
development in the Middle East, officials said.
The conference is organized by
the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) and the Elie Wiesel
Foundation for Humanity.
Jewish author and Holocaust
survivor Elie Wiesel, the Dalai Lama and Peres respectively won the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, 1989 and 1994.
The conference, named “Petra
IV: Reaching for New Economic, Scientific and Educational
Horizons,” will be the third event of its kind to be held at
Jordan’s ancient city of Petra and near the famed Nabataean ruins.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II has
said the knowledge and experience of participants make “a
substantial contribution to the nurturing of young leaders
throughout our region,” where more than half of residents are
under 18.
“With young people constituting
almost 60 percent of the population of the region, they are critical
to positive transformation,” the statement said.
“Despite the considerable
progress achieved to date, the full potential for growth in the
Middle East can’t be realized while serious political and security
problems persist,” it added.
But the conference will not
address regional political problems.
“Participants will take part
only as Nobel laureates,” one of the planners told Agence France-Presse,
adding that the atmosphere does not help which is a hint to the lack
of progress in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
Issues like “the growing gap
between the rich and poor” and cultural diversity and arts as
“tools for communication and coexistence between the various
communities” will also be addressed.
--AFP
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