2006 WORLD FOOD DAY TELECONFERENCE PANEL
Makanjuola Olaseinde Arigbede
Dr. Arigbede, a native of Nigeria, was orginally trained as a doctor of medinie and a neuroscientist. In the past twenty-five years, he has worked exclusively as a full time development activist on issues of poverty eradication, empowerment of civil society, gender justince and comprehensive self-reliance of peoples. Responsibilities have included clinical care of poor peasants, development of small scale farm-technologies, linking grassroots initiatives in civil society in Africa and promoting traditional knowledge and skills. Dr. Arigbede is an African leader with impressive credentials in many fields. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Ibadan and did post-Doctoral work at the University of California in Los Angeles.
Eva Clayton
Eva Clayton, a native of Savannah, Georgia, was the first African-American woman to be elected to Congress from North Carolina and was named the "Most Influential Newcomer" to the 103rd Congress. She left Congress after five terms to become Associate Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN where she served as a special advisor on World Food Summit Follow-up. During her tenure at FAO she launched the International Alliance Against Hunger, a comprehensive initiative designed to engage all sectors of society in creating a political force to end hunger. Ms. Clayton holds a B.S. degree from Johnson C. Smith University and a M.S. degree from North Carolina Central University. She attended law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Deepa Narayan
Dr. Deepa Narayan of India is Senior Advisor for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management at the World Bank. She has over twenty years of development experience in Asia and Africa. Dr. Narayan was the lead author and team leader for Voices of the Poor, a multi-country research initiative to understand poverty from the perspective of the poor. Among her most recent publications are the Voices of the Poor (three volumes) and a joing World Bank-WHO publication on health issues entitled Voices of the Poor: Dying for Change. She is currently leading a 10-15 country study entitled Moving Out of Poverty: Understanding Freedom, Democracy and Growth from the Bottom Up. She received her undergraduate degrees from Delhi University and her Doctorate from Iowa State University.
Ray Suarez
Program Host
Ray Suarez is a senior correspondent with teh PBS Jim Lehrer NewsHour and formerly host of NPR's news program Talk of the Nation. He brings more than 25 years of experience on the news business to the daily broadcast, having worked for NBC-TV in Chicago, CNN, ABC Radio in ROme and been a reporter for various American and British news services in London. Recipient of numerous awards, he holds a B.A. degree in African history from New York University and a M.A. in Urban Affairs from the University of Chicago. Mr. Suarez has moderated six previous teleconferences for World Food Day - in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003.