About Us

What is this conference about?

'We Are The World 2012' is a conference on Economic Development being organized by Borderless World Volunteers (McGill) to explore the various challenges that developing countries around the world will face over the next two decades. Because the economic development of a country extends far beyond the overall GDP of the country, we aim to explore aspects of development such as microfinance, health, and sustainable agriculture. We believe that the problem of underdevelopment is too vast to be understood, explained and solved by academic theories, student outreach and activism, or development and aid organizations alone. The conference will thus see speakers from different backgrounds – academics and entrepreneurs - share their research, experiences, stories, ideas, and vision with the specific aim of stimulating conversation among the attendees about these challenges.

Where will this be held?

Leacock Building, Room 232

What is Borderless World Volunteers?

Borderless World Volunteers is a global development organization focused on implementing capital-light, knowledge- intensive projects designed to strengthen the capacity of local non-governmental organizations in developing countries to carry out their mission. The organization is active in health, education and economic development projects.

We assist in empowering youth to lead and be part of group ventures directed towards the implementation of development projects at the most basic level. We provide a channel through which students can cause specific, measurable and long-lasting impact in the communities in which they work. We encourage our teams to research their proposed field site, develop a viable project proposal with measurable goals and benchmarks, conduct background research, and create a financial assessment of the project. Thus we encourage youth to participate not only in the application of development ideas but also in the design, implementation and assessment of their own projects. Developing tomorrow’s leaders in development is our mandate.

We are represented by our member chapters at McGill University, Harvard University and the University of London – School of Oriental and African Studies. At McGill University, our member chapter raises funds throughout the year so as to subsidize student trips to developing countries. Over the past 4 years, the McGill chapter has subsidized development trips to India, Ghana, Ecuador and Peru and plans to send students to Kenya and Peru in the summer of 2011.