Our own GRAN, Valerie Wright, was at the table today with Bono and other representatives of civil society organizations. The roundtable discussion was hosted by ONE Canada and Engineers Without Borders and provided Bono with what he wanted…an opportunity to listen. And, Valerie says, listen he did. He heard suggestions from a small number of civil society organizations on the issues he might raise in later meetings scheduled with Prime Minister Harper, Opposition Leader Mulcair and Liberal Leader Trudeau.
Some of the issues those sitting at the roundtable hoped Bono would raise included beefing up Canada’s declining contribution to Official Development Assistance, reinforcing the importance of on the ground community development and Canada’s potential to once again, be a significant broker on the international stage.
Valerie is a member of the Education Working Group, the Hill Team and acts as cluster leader for Ottawa-Gatineau. We are delighted, and proud, that Valerie was invited to the table and represented GRAN. She is shown on the right in the attached photo (Peg Herbert of Help Lesotho is in the centre).