The Inter-American Development Bank will sponsor a conference on the ethical dimension of development in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, July 3-4.

Leaders from government, the private sector and civil society of Brazil and the Americas will examine basic aspects of the ethical agenda of Latin America and will identify specific projects to foster these values in the region.

The forum titled “The Ethical Dimension of Development, New Challenges to States, Private Sector and Civil Society” is being organized by the Government of the State of Minas Gerais; the IDB’s Inter-American Initiative on Social Capital, Ethics and Development; the Government of Norway; the IDB’s State and Civil Society Division for the Southern Cone countries; and the Federation of Industries of the State of Minas Gerais.

Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik and IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias will inaugurate the sessions. Nobel Prize laureate Amartya Sen will deliver an opening teleconference. 

The event was planned as an answer to what Iglesias called “the thirst for ethics, a very strong force today in a democratic Latin America.”

Presentations will include those of Tarso Genro, Economic and Social Development Council secretary, Brazil; Sturla Stalsett, associate professor of the University of Oslo; Rebeca Grynspan, director of the Economic Commision for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico, and former vice president of Costa Rica; Oded Grajew, Brazil’s special presidential advisor; Luisa Rains, regional IDB deputy manager; and Joan Prats I Catala, director of the International Institute of Governance, Spain.

Other speakers will include Susan Aronson of the United States National Policy Association; Fernando Montes, dean of the Padre Hurtado University; Antonio Vives, IDB’s Sustainable Development Department deputy manager; and Bernardo Kliksberg, general coordinator of the IDB initiative

Besides the plenary sessions, attendees will also participate in 12 workshops in which they will review outstanding international experiences on applied ethics, social capital, corporate social responsibility, transparency, volunteerism, ethical values and the educational system, and other areas connected to these issues.

“In this conference, which has already aroused great expectations, representatives from governments, the private sector and civil society will analyze ways to interconnect in a more effective manner to confront the ethical challenges of the region through strategic alliances,” Kliksberg said.