LAUSANNE, 25 September 2006--IMD’s MBA class of 2006 is taking time off from their job searches to prepare for an intense multi-sport relay across Switzerland. The twin purpose: raising funds for an anti-poverty project in Argentina while sending a stark message to global leaders.
IMD is a leading international business school based in Lausanne. Its 2006 MBA class, consisting of 90 young managers from 45 countries, will cycle, run, swim, kayak and rollerblade 560 kilometers from Davos to Geneva between Saturday 30 September to Monday 2 October.
The challenge, dubbed HandsOn Argentina, will mobilize resources for a project helping children from poor families in Argentina, the destination of the class’ Discovery Expedition this summer. The funds raised will support LEER, an Argentinean NGO, in building two early childhood learning centers benefiting more than 800 children and 250 families.
“In Buenos Aires, we met incredibly courageous and skillful community leaders and entrepreneurs busy rebuilding an economy and a country. But we also saw gut-wrenching misery and suffering in the shantytowns, so we felt compelled to make a contribution,” said IMD MBA participant Paru Sankar (Indian). According to the World Bank, no country in recent history has seen a greater increase in poverty and inequality over one generation.
The HandsOn Argentina challenge seeks to connect the fight against poverty to a broader theme: cross-border collaboration and exchanges of goods, services and knowledge. That is why the relay will end in front of the World Trade Organization’s headquarters in Geneva, where representatives of the class will be met by WTO Deputy Director Valentine Rugwabiza to deliver a message to political and business leaders: commit to reviving global trade talks in favor of development, or face growing poverty, increasing instability, and diminishing business opportunities across the world.
“There is no silver bullet for reducing poverty, in Argentina or elsewhere,” said MBA participant Ivar Slengesol (Norwegian). “Tearing down high trade barriers won’t be enough. But we know that trade can spur technology and innovation, which are important drivers of economic development.”
Leaders of the 149 countries making up the WTO came together in 2001 a few weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks to launch the so-called Doha Development Agenda. This round of trade negotiations was supposed to benefit developing countries. But the talks broke down in July this year after leaders failed to reach agreement on how to cut agricultural subsidies and tariffs.
MBA participant Cristianne Close (Argentinean) said: “The collapsed trade talks risk poisoning international relations, in politics, economics and business. The ripple effects will be felt everywhere, from my country’s poor shantytowns to corporate board rooms across the world. We need a world built on collaboration and solidarity, not self-interest and defeatism.”
The IMD team will start the race in Davos on Saturday 30 September at 9 AM, taking a route via Bern and Lausanne before ending up at the WTO in Geneva on Monday 2 October at 10 AM.
“As members of the world’s top-ranked international MBA program, we count ourselves among the winners of globalization,” said MBA participant Fabiano Costa (Brazilian). “We feel responsibility for shaping a more inclusive world. Because if we don’t, we’ll all end up losing. I have joined this challenge because there is no better way than through sports to convey to decision-makers what we think they should now demonstrate: commitment, endurance and teamwork.”
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