Mr. Blair and Dr. Shah conversed on a wide-range of issues impacting development and global efforts to end extreme poverty. Mr. Blair highlighted the role of politics and the challenges all governments face in translating great policy ideas into reality. Drawing attention to the significant success the world has made in development, he called on the global community to foster even more partnerships to tackle critical development needs.

Quotes

Politics is not just about giving them things that are politically realistic, but also about building that consensus for the business of politics done in a proper way in the countries concerned.

I wanted to replace the concept of donor and recipient with the concept of a partnership in which, we were there to support and power and help, but also, the governments themselves were taking responsibility for introducing the right systems and change and reform

You look back over the last 20 years and things like, extreme poverty, enrollment in education, treatment of the killer diseases—there’s been significant progress in all of those areas, and that didn’t happen without people coming together and deciding this is what they were going to focus on.

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Biography

Tony Blair, Founder and Patron, African Governance Initiative and U.K. Prime Minister, 1997-2007

Tony Blair served as Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from May 1997 to June 2007. He was also the leader of Britain’s Labour Party (1994 to 2007) and the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield, England (1983 to 2007). Tony Blair continues to be active in public life. He has many interests, not least his current role in the Middle East, which takes up the largest proportion of his time. Since leaving Downing Street, Tony Blair has served as the Quartet Representative to the Middle East. He represents the United States of America, United Nations, Russia and the European Union, working with the Palestinians to prepare for statehood as part of the international community’s effort to secure peace.