Decisions made at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh will have far-reaching implications for billions of people around the world. But a billion people who live in the world’s smallest and poorest countries have no representative at the table. And hundreds of millions of other desperately poor people who live in the emerging powers have little assurance that their concerns will be represented.

Center for Global Development, ONE, and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs co-sponsored a panel discussion on the eve of the Summit aimed at addressing this problem. On Wednesday, September 23, 2009, participants gathered at the University Club on the University of Pittsburgh campus to offer a variety of perspectives on the G-20 response to the global economic crisis and the challenges ahead, with a particular focus on the well-being of the world’s poor.

Panelists included Tim Adams, Managing Director, The Lindsey Group; Former Under Secretary for International Affairs, Department of Treasury; Nancy Birdsall, President, Center for Global Development; Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank; and David Lane, President and CEO, ONE. The discussion was moderated by Louis Picard, Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh.