IU Kokomo Professor Dr. Dibie to Speak in the Republic of South Africa
April 10, 2008
The University of Stellenbosch in the Republic of South Africa has invited Robert Dibie, Ph.D., professor of public affairs and campus dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) at Indiana University Kokomo, to give a speech during its 11th International Conference on Public Management and Sustainable Development set for April 16-19, 2008.
In his planned address, “The political economy of sustainable development in African.” Dibie will analyze public policy and management problems in a couple of African countries. His talk will explore the significance of the ties between government and business in several African nations and why this relationship is essential in transforming the continent into a broad-based sustainable development mechanism. He will present an argument that the economy of any African nation is a production and distribution system that affects not only producers and consumers but also communities and governments. Dibie will contend that every nation in Africa needs to develop pragmatic government efforts to manage economic policies and investigate the public, private and non-governmental organization (NGOs) institutions that could undertake the responsibilities.
His speech will present some challenges posed by changing economic and environmental circumstances and surveys the debates about various African governments’ actions in a neoliberal and globalization age. Dibie will also provide some suggestions on the need for NGOs to collaborate with governments in African nations to establish broad-based sustainable development programs, environmental policies, ethical and effective administrative mechanisms as well as appropriate dynamics for efficiently implementing such programs in midst of uncertainty. Environmental policies based on “accurate information and its regular implementation and delivery” are essential to helping nations in Africa to achieve sustainable development and minimize the impact of natural and man- made ecological disasters, Dibie said.
Dibie has authored several books including Comparative Perspective of Civil Society by Lexington Books; Public Management and Sustainable Development in Nigeria by Ashgate Press; Politics and Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa by American University Press; NGOs and Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa by Lexington Press. Dibie has also published extensively in peer-refereed journals in the area of public policy, public administration, sustainable development, environmental policy and ethics. He has presented research papers in over a hundred national and international conferences as well as served as keynote speaker in many international forums, including the United States, Jamaica, England, and Nigeria. He has also consulted for several universities and NGOs in the United States, the Caribbean Islands and Africa.
Indiana University Kokomo’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) offers undergraduate and graduate studies in environmental policy, public management, public policy, and criminal justice. To learn more about SPEA programs, visit www.iuk.edu/spea or call (765) 455-9330.
