The 2008 Nobel Peace Prize Forum will take place March 7-8 at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. This year’s theme, “Striving for Peace: Investing in Community,” honors the work of Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, winners of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.
Yunus will give the keynote address to the forum on Saturday morning, March 8. The Grameen Bank, which he founded, extends low-cost loans to individuals in Bangladesh that have resulted in grassroots economic and social improvements. More than six million borrowers are now connected with the bank.
Other speakers include:
Greg Mortenson, founder of the Central Asia Institute and Pennies for Peace. He has established more than 60 schools in the most remote and impoverished areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. His work is chronicled in his best-selling book, “Three Cups of Tea.”
Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and author of “The End of Poverty,” is also special adviser to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and president/cofounder of Millennium Promise Alliance, dedicated to ending extreme global poverty.
The PPF schedule on Friday and Saturday also includes a number of small-group sessions focusing on forum theme issues.
The $25 registration fee includes admission to all conference events, bus transportation, and meals. Augsburg students must register by Feb. 18 to reserve a spot at the PPF. Students may also register to stay in Concordia College student housing at no additional cost. Faculty, staff and students who want hotel housing must make their own reservations as directed on the registration web page. Register on line at: http://www.cord.edu/dept/news/events/ppf/.
Muhammad Yunus will also speak at a public forum in Minneapolis on the evening of March 8 at the Humphrey Institute, co-sponsored with the Minnesota International Center. For information and tickets, go to www.micglobe.org. Persons who are attending the entire Peace Prize Forum in Moorhead will not be able to attend this evening event in Minneapolis.
The Forum is hosted by Concordia College in Moorhead and is sponsored by the five Nobel Peace Prize Forum colleges — Augsburg College, Augustana College (Sioux Falls, S.D.), Concordia College (Moorhead, Minn.), St. Olaf College, and Luther College. For questions about the Peace Prize Forum, contact Orv Gingerich, at gingerio@augsburg.edu.