Burton Blatt Institute hosts World Bank visit to campus and discussions about new Global Forum

The Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University and campus partners are engaging in an unprecedented new collaboration with the World Bank to establish the Global Forum on Law, Justice, and Development (GFLJD). The global forum, of which BBI is a founding partner, will provide developing countries with legal solutions to development issues. The GFLJD’s interactive web-based platform will connect developing countries to experts from academic and financial institutions as well as international organizations.

During a campus visit March 28, World Bank General Counsel Anne-Marie Leroy and World Bank Senior Knowledge Management Officer Marco Nicoli discussed the global initiative with SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor, Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina and BBI leadership. Other campus partners participating in the discussions included the School of Information Studies, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the College of Law, and the Graduate School.

“BBI was honored to host the World Bank. The partnership is a unique opportunity for BBI and Syracuse University,” says University Professor Peter Blanck, BBI chairman. “There are potential opportunities for our campus collaborators to engage in the global forum and have an impact across the world.”

“With this partnership, BBI becomes a pivotal member of a new global community of experts catalyzed by the World Bank,” says SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor. “The GFLJD fills a critical gap by pooling legal knowledge and experience globally to take on challenges locally in collaboration with organizations from across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Their collective efforts will bring BBI’s expertise to bear on communities around the world where it is needed most.” 

This partnership builds on BBI’s previous collaborations with the World Bank. In 2008, BBI and the World Bank signed an agreement to support activities of the Global Partnership on Disability and Development, a global effort to reduce poverty for an estimated 400 million people with disabilities living in developing countries.

Other GFLJD partners include the United National Secretariat, the African Development Bank, and the European Bank for Economic Development. For more information about the forum, visit http://globalforumljd.org.

The World Bank’s mission is to reduce poverty, improve living conditions, and promote sustainable and comprehensive development in the developing world. It achieves these objectives by providing loans, concessional financing, technical assistance, and knowledge-sharing services to its member countries and through partnerships with other organizations.

BBI reaches around the globe to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities. BBI builds on the legacy of Burton Blatt, former dean of SU’s School of Education and a pioneering disability rights scholar, to better the lives of people with disabilities. BBI engages in projects on civil and human rights, entrepreneurship and employment, technology access, and economic empowerment. With a staff of more than 45, BBI has offices in Syracuse, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.