CUTS- 20th Anniversary

PARTNERSHIP CONCLAVE - 12-15 March 2003

Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) is celebrating its 20^th Anniversary in March 2003.

The celebrations will be marked by a ‘Partnership Conclave’ at New Delhi, India on 12-15 March 2003.

The theme of the conclave is “Governance and its Relationship with Poverty Reduction”. The purpose of the Conclave is to look at rights-based approach on issues of governance, which affect development, in particular poverty reduction, by showcasing instances of successes and non-successes from around the world. Case studies will be selected by looking at the various governance areas where rights-based advocacy groups, that include consumer organisations, have made efforts in the following areas:

Economic policy and legal issues
Consumer-citizen action and legal issues
People’s empowerment and mobilisation

The case studies of successes and non-successes will form a key element of the empirical issues that aim to provide a better understanding of advocacy at grassroots level. The objective is to share this knowledge systematically, analyse it in a broader context, which can then catalyse further actions in similar situations in developing countries.

Speakers

Following are the names of the speakers who have confirmed to speak during the Conclave.

Speaker Designation

Pascal Lamy Commissioner for Trade, European Commission

Martin Wolf Financial Times

Kamal Hossain An Eminent lawyer from Bangladesh

Vicki Harris Head Private Sector Policy Department, DFID-UK

Kaushik Basu Carl Marks Professor of International Studies, Cornell University

Yolanda Kakabadse President of IUCN

Kumi Naidoo Secretary & CEO, CIVICUS

Click here for Conclave Agenda.

About CUTS

CUTS’ work today is divided into four operational areas:

Consumer protection, which includes accountability, and regulatory reforms,
Trade and development, including investment and competition policies,
Sustainable production and consumption, including consumer safety, and
Rural consumers and women’s empowerment.

The CUTS was born in 1983 (and registered in 1984) out of a need to provide protection to the exploited consumer in Rajasthan, where there was no organisation for this purpose at that time. It began by operating out of a garage on a zero budget. Today, CUTS has four Centres in India, two at Jaipur, one each at Chittorgarh, and Calcutta, and one in Africa in Lusaka, Zambia. It also has representatives in New Delhi, Nairobi and London. The organisation’s budget today is nearly US$1mn, and its staff strength is over 75.
CUTS is accredited to the UNCTAD, and to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, and works with several international organisations such as Consumers International; International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development; South Asia Economics & Environment; Environment Liaison Centre International, and Consumer Coordination Council, India.

GROWTH IN 20 YEARS

Number of Offices & Space

In 1983-4, CUTS began operations out of a garage with about 150sq.ft at Jaipur and had one programme - consumer protection.
In 1991-2, CUTS had three offices- 700sq.ft. at its head office and that of the Centre for Consumer Action, Research & Training (CART) in Jaipur, 500sq.ft. for the Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CITEE) in Calcutta, and 300sq.ft. for the Centre for Human Development (CHD) in Chittorgarh.
In 2001-2, CUTS occupies 3,500sq.ft. at its head office in Jaipur, including that of CITEE, 1,000sq.ft. for CART, 2,000sq.ft. for CHD, 1,200sq.ft. for the Centre for Consumption (C-SPAC) in Calcutta,800sq.ft. for the Africa in Lusaka, Zambia - a growth of 47 percent per annum in a decade. Now, we have four programme centres, a resource centre in Africa for South-South civil society cooperation, one sub-centre in Nairobi, Kenya, and a representative office in London, UK.

Staff

In 1983-4, we had few volunteers and no staff.
In 1991-2, we had 10 staff with 20 percent women.
In 2001-2, we have 80 staff, with 40 percent women - a growth of 70 percent per annum.

Budget

In 1983-4, our budget was Rs.3000.
In 1991-2, our budget was Rs.1,173,000.
In 2001-2, our budget is Rs.42,268,000 - a growth of 350% per annum.

CONCLAVE AGENDA

GOVERNANCE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO POVERTY REDUCTION
PARTNERSHIP CONCLAVE
New Delhi, India -12-15 March, 2003

Day 1 – Wednesday, 12 March, 2003

09:00-09:30      INAUGURATION
09:30-10:00      Countdown to 2015 (Panel Discussion on International Development Targets)
11:00-11:30      TEA/COFFEE
11:30-13:00      CASE STUDY PRESENTATIONS
13:00-14:30      LUNCH
14:30-16:00      CASE STUDY PRESENTATIONS
16:00-16:30      TEA/COFFEE
16:30-18:30      Beyond Johannesburg (Panel Discussion on Agenda 21)

Day 2 – Thursday, 13 March, 2003

09:00-09:30      RAPPORTEUR PRESENTATION
09:30-10:00      Women: Growth, Equity & Security (Panel Discussion on Women Issues)
11:00-11:30      TEA/COFFEE
11:30-13:00      The Essentials of Life (Panel Discussion on Healthcare)
13:00-14:30      LUNCH
14:30-16:00      CASE STUDY PRESENTATIONS
16:00-16:30      TEA/COFFEE
16:30-18:30      From Doha to Cancun (Panel Discussion on WTO)

Day 3 – Friday, 14 March, 2003

09:00-09:30      RAPPORTEUR PRESENTATION
09:30-10:00      What Type of Economic Liberalisation? (Panel Discussion on Investment, Competition & Regulation)
11:00-11:30      TEA/COFFEE
11:30-13:00      The Blue Gold (Panel Discussion on Water)
13:00-14:30      LUNCH
14:30-16:00      CASE STUDY PRESENTATIONS
16:00-16:30      TEA/COFFEE
16:30-18:30      Are the Poor Being Heard? (Panel Discussion on Governance & Development)

Day 4 – Saturday, 15 March, 2003

09:00-09:30      RAPPORTEUR PRESENTATION
09:30-10:00      Consumer Rights and Responsibilities (Panel Discussion)
11:00-11:30      TEA/COFFEE
11:30-13:00      CLOSING
13:00-14:30      LUNCH

We will continue updating the information about the event on this page.

For more information on the 20^th Anniversary celebrations, please contact:
Mr. Apurv Dayal/ Mr. Sanjay Varma