Nobel laureate to discuss Africa

Today, Wangari Maathai, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of the Green Belt Movement, will give a lecture at UCLA on difficulties hindering Africa’s progress.

Maathai will discuss her new book, “The Challenge for Africa,” and explore issues of economic and political development in the region, said Kal Raustiala, director of the Ronald W. Burkle Center for International Relations.

The event will begin with Raustiala interviewing Maathai, followed by a question and answer session with the audience. A reception open to all audience members will be held afterward in one of the areas adjacent to auditorium.

Raustiala said he plans to ask Maathai to discuss reasons for poverty in Africa, ways to enhance the lives of its people, the rationale behind political corruption and what is preventing Africa from achieving progress.

Raustiala added he will also ask Maathai about current events, such as her thoughts on the presidency of President Barack Obama, whose father hails from Maathai’s native Kenya.

The event is the result of a joint venture between the Burkle Center and Zócalo Public Square, Raustiala said.

Zócalo Public Square is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization. Laura Villalpando, field producer for Zócalo and lead organizer of the event said the organization seeks to build intellectual community, broaden access to civic discourse and provide an open space for discussions of important issues with prominent figures.

Villalpando said the event would open the conversation on the challenges facing Africa.

“It’s great for Zócalo,” she said of including Maathai in the organization’s lecture series. She called Maathai a person who had a great impact in changing the world.

With very little resources, Maathai brought people together, said Nurit Katz, sustainability coordinator at UCLA.

Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an organization that has planted 40 million trees in Africa, Katz said. The trees convert carbon dioxide to oxygen, reduce soil erosion and protect watersheds.

Katz said that Maathai’s movement advances the social status of women across Africa by allowing them to become leaders in their community and providing them funds for tree planting, which helps them lead healthy, productive lives.

“I am very inspired by her as speaker and what she has accomplished,” Katz said. “She’s amazing for what she’s accomplished for sustainability.”

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