Dr. Bitrina Diyamett, STIPRO Executive Director has been appointed to be a member of steering committee of the Southern Voice (SV) representing Africa. SV is a network of think tanks from Africa, Latin America and South Asia that was initiated through the support of Think Tank Initiatives (TTI) for experts in developing countries to share their evidence based policy inputs towards the post 2015 Development Agenda.

Since its inception in June 2012, STIPRO participation has been highly remarkable particularly in advancing Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) issues as key component in the next post 2015 development agenda to be named Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

From 16th to 17th February 2015, SV in collaboration with Think Tank Initiative (TTI) organised a two-day research conference with the theme “Southern Voice on Post-MDG International Development Goals and Targets”. The conference was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Sisli of Istanbul. Objectives of the conference included shaping of the international development agenda for post-2015 period, identification of implementation challenges of the post-2015 agenda, and understanding national implications for implementing post-2015 international development goals. The conference was attended by more than 70 members of international development and research communities from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America.

During the conference, Dr. Diyamett made a presentation titled “Growth and Poverty: Some Empirical Evidence from Tanzania and Implications for the SDGs” with the major argument that growth is important but not enough to bring social and economic development. The presentation can be accessed here