Inter-American Development Bank will host a high-level dialogue at its Washington, D.C., headquarters on June 18 to identify strategies to achieve broader development through social inclusion of diverse ethnic and racial groups.

The conference, titled Towards a Shared Vision of Development: High-Level Dialogue on Race, Ethnicity and Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean, will be inaugurated at 8:30 a.m. in the Bank’s Andrés Bello Auditorium.

The forum will analyze the symptoms and causes of exclusion as well as define ways to overcome it.

The opening speakers will be IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias; Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights; and Robert Brant, minister of Social Security of Brazil.

Immediately after the inaugural remarks, President Iglesias and Mrs. Robinson will be available to answer questions from the news media at 9:30 a.m. in Room E9B on the 9th floor of the Bank headquarters at 1300 New York Ave, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20577.

In the morning session the conference will analyze examples of successful region and national programs. Participants will review the most effective legal and political measures to promote and guarantee wide access of the population to social services.

In the afternoon session, the debate will center on programs and projects for inclusion - and their strategic, political, and operative benefits - with the participation of representatives of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector.

A video produced by the IDB, titled "Exclusion and Abandonment: Racism in Latin America and the Caribbean," will be shown at the conference to heighten the awareness of governments, communities, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations about the challenges of overcoming exclusion and to promote debate and action.

The documentary, a signal of the IDB’s commitment to support governments and citizens of the region to develop more inclusive societies, includes testimonials and provides data on race and ethnic relations in Latin America.

The final panel of the dialogue will focus attention on the role of international agencies in building a shared vision of development. Among the participants will be former Chilean President Patricio Aylwin; former Bolivian Vice President Victor Hugo Cardenas; Norwegian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigrun Mogedal; George Alleyne, director general of the Pan American Health Organization; David Ferranti, World Bank vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean; and IDB Executive Vice President K. Burke Dillon.

The high-level dialogue hosted by the IDB is preparatory to the United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, which will take place in South Africa in August of this year.