International Development Week

“International Development Week (IDW), the signature week for Canada’s international development community, is celebrated each year during the first full week of February. It provides a unique opportunity for the Government of Canada, and Canadian organizations and individuals to show their challenges and successes in international development. The 18th annual IDW runs from February 3–9, 2008, under the theme For a Better World.” CIDA Web site

Things you can do to celebrate International Development Week

• If you are a returned volunteer, give a presentation about your experience at a community centre, school or faith based group.
• Host a thematic fundraising dinner at your home in support of a development project, asking that individuals bring small financial contributions instead of food or beverages. Cook a traditional dish, bring out your photos, anecdotes, music, clothing and talk to your peers about volunteering overseas.
• Get in touch with your former volunteer organization to see if there are opportunities for you to become involved again locally or overseas.
• Write to your Member of Parliament to let them know that matters of International Development matter to you
• Have friends and family over for a pot luck where everyone brings a dish from a developing country.
• Get a group together to read and talk about one of the following books:
  • The No-Nonsense Guide to International Development (Maggie Black)
  • The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time (Jeffrey Sachs)
  • Race Against Time (Stephen Lewis)
  • Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda (Roméo Dallaire)
  • Small is Beautiful (E.F. Schumacher)
  • Development As Freedom (Amartya Sen)
• Get a group together Watch one of the Following Films :
  • T-Shirt Travels - What happens to all those old clothes you bring to the Salvation Army or Goodwill Industries? Join the IDA in viewing “T-Shirt Travels”, a comprehensive program about Third World debt and secondhand clothes.
  • ‘Shake Hands with the Devil – the Journey of Romeo Dallaire”- Learn about the tragedy of the Rwandan genocide and the role of the UN, its personnel and member nations in genocidal conflicts. The film will be followed by a discussion of its implications.