The NSU-NASPAA South Asia Virtual Conference 2021 on “Preparing Public Leaders in South Asia for a Post Pandemic World” (12-14 November 2021) is being organized by the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) at North South University (NSU), the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) of USA, and the JSW School of Public Policy, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), India, said a press release.
The conference aims at bringing together academics, practitioners, members of civil society, and representatives from the public and private sector across South Asia to share lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic and discuss ways to prepare public leaders for a post-pandemic world. Around 87 paper presentations & 14 panel discussions from 13 different countries & 78 universities across the globe are being presented at this virtual conference.
Mr. M. A. Mannan, MP, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Planning, Government of Bangladesh was present as the Chief Guest and inaugurated the three-day NSU-NASPAA South Asia Virtual Conference 2021 on 12 November 2021. Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) was the inaugural keynote speaker. Special Guests were Mr. Azim Uddin Ahmed, Chairman, Board of Trustees, North South University,Dr. TriparnaVasavada, Chair, NASPAA South Asia, Ms. Laurel McFarland, Senior Fellow & Executive Director Emerita, NASPAA, USA, Professor Errol D’Souza, Director of IIMA, India. The chair of the session was Professor Atiqul Islam, Vice-Chancellor, North South University.
“Bangladesh has handled the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 better than the world average despite having weaker institutions particularly, in the health sector,” said Mr. M. A. Mannan, MP, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Planning, Government of Bangladesh. He lauded the international conference to be very timely and hopes that the ideas and experiences that will be shared in this virtual conference will help to prepare the public leaders and policymakers in South Asia for a Post Pandemic World. He wished this conference to be a successful one.
Inaugural keynote speaker Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) delivered his speech on the topic, “Post-Pandemic South Asia: Six Lessons for the Policy Actors”. He stated that in post-Covid times South Asian countries should focus on closing the gaps in public health infrastructure and work on expanding social safety net programs. South Asian countries should work together in strengthening regional cooperation frameworks and modalities in delivering Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He emphasized that the South Asian countries need to mobilize funds for addressing the “locked-in” regional issues which include public health, climate action, migration, connectivity, and finance.
Mr. Azim Uddin Ahmed, Chairman, Board of Trustees, North South University said that the organization of this virtual international conference is very pertinent both for the government ministries and institutional actors in South Asia to prepare public leaders for a post-pandemic world.
Plenary Keynote speaker Yamini Aiyar from Centre for Policy Research, India spoke on “COVID 19 and the broken social contract”. She highlighted a critical overview of some of the key moments in India’s battle against Covid and examined its long-term implications on shaping state-citizen relations going forward.
The inaugural program began with the welcome speech of Prof. Sk. Tawfique M. Haque, Director of SIPG. And the session ended with a speech of the Chair of the session Professor Atiqul Islam, Vice-Chancellor, North South University. He opined that it is high time we prepare for future pandemics and wished for a very successful three-day-long virtual conference. Academics, researchers, journalists, scholars, practitioners, civil society members, students, representatives from the public and private sector across South Asia and the globe were present among the participants.
