HDI Brings Delegation of U.N. Ambassadors to Minneapolis, Minnesota
April 2007Executive Summary
The Humpty Dumpty Institute (HDI) hosted a special "U.N. Across America" program April 9-10, 2007 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Participants were:
- H.E. Phiane Philakone, Ambassador of Laos to the U.S.
- Mr. Phomma Khammanichanh, Chargé d'Affaires of Laos to the U.N. Mr. Bounneme Chouanghom, Political Counselor, Embassy of Laos
- H.E. Le Luong Minh, Ambassador of Vietnam to the U.N.
- H.E. Prasad Kariyawasam, Ambassador of Sri Lanka
The program began on the afternoon of April 9 with a meeting between the visiting diplomats and representatives of the Minneapolis City Council. Meeting served as a good introduction to Minneapolis/St. Paul and was followed by a tour of City Hall.
On the evening of Monday, April 9, a welcome dinner was held at Augsburg College. This college is the premiere Lutheran-affiliated institution in the United States. The President of the College hosted over 50 leaders of the city's political, business, academic, and civic communities. Recently retired World Food Program Director James Morris gave the keynote address.
On Tuesday, April 10, HDI co-hosted a panel with Congresswoman Betty McCollum, and the University of Minnesota on "Food Security and Mine Action" at the Humphrey Institute on campus. The event highlighted HDI's mine action program in Laos and featured presentations by senior officials from the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and HDI's mine action partners in the field. Dozens of members of Minnesota's large Laotian and Hmong communities attended the event.
The panel was followed by a lunch hosted by former U.S.AID Administrator and current Dean of the Humphrey Institute Brian Atwood. The lunch served as a forum/roundtable at which all the participants exchanged views on future progress and HDI's important role.
