A Personal Video Message + The Global Town Hall is BACK!!!

Plus we reflect on two years since the Taliban took over Afghanistan and what this means for the plight of girls' education.

Dear Friends and Supporters, 

I’m kicking off this week’s newsletter with this video message from myself and my very good friend, Dino Patti Djalal. Check it out and register to join us!

The Global Town Hall is BACK!

With the Global Town Hall mere weeks away, please find below some suggested language for you to share among your networks! Grateful for all efforts to amplify your what is sure to be a successful event. 

For the second year, Global Citizen and the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia host the annual Global Town Hall. This digital summit returns on Saturday, September 2, ahead of the G20 and Global Citizen's September Festival, convening global government leaders, private sector, civil society organizations and grassroots advocates, calling on urgent action to tackle challenges facing humanity and the planet. 

Under the theme of “This Is Our World Too: A North-South-East-West Dialogue of Civil Societies,” the Global Town Hall will bring together high-caliber discussions and debates on the state of the world involving leading minds worldwide. The virtual summit aims to expose global citizens to different perspectives and ideas on addressing global challenges, facilitating a genuine and high-quality East-West and North-South dialogue at the grassroots level.

The Global Town Hall has gathered over 12,000 people from more than 140 countries since its inception. The virtual 15-hour marathon discussions will feature speakers including Amina J. Mohamed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations; Anthony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States; Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations; José Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste and Nobel Peace Prize Winner; Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Francine Katsoudas, Executive Vice President and Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer of Cisco; Erika Schenk, General Counsel & EVP at World Wide Technology, as well as the 2023 Global Citizen Prize winners Pashtana Durrani, Deja Foxx, Ineza Grace and Wangari Kuria.

Registration for Global Town Hall 2023 is now open at www.gth2023.com. People can register directly or through this GC action: Be Part Of This Global Conversation And Take Action. 

UN USG Melissa Fleming at GCHQ

Last week, Global Citizen had the pleasure of being joined by Melissa Fleming, UN Under Secretary-General for Global Communications, who addressed the weekly All Team meeting. Melissa, in conversation with myself, spoke candidly about the power of storytelling and the importance of effective communications in portraying a message of hope. She iterated her own version of the three W’s of journalism, and shared with us the importance of giving people agency to get involved themselves, both in storytelling and in advocacy. I encourage you all to check out Melissa’s book, A Hope More Powerful than the Sea, or check out her podcast, Awake at Night. 

Even though the UN has its flaws, when it's doing its best, it shows the best side of humanity and what we can achieve together.

Amongst other topics, we discussed the legacy of Sérgio Vieira de Mello, former High Commissioner of Human Rights who lost his life in Iraq 20 years ago today. An extraordinary and inspiring figure. If you haven’t heard of him I highly recommend you check out his story. Netflix has a great movie about him!

Thank you to all those working in the cause of solidarity and a better future, often at risk to their own lives 🙏🌏⭕️🇺🇳

#AfghanGirlsVoices Global Campaign

Last Tuesday, 15 August, marked the second anniversary of the de facto authorities' takeover in Afghanistan, followed on 18 September by the unacceptable ban on secondary school girls’ education. This is an issue close to many of our hearts and also to that of Pashtana Durrani, one of Global Citizen’s amazing 2023 Global Citizen Prize winners, who recently returned from a field trip in Afghanistan, featured in Global Citizen’s recent piece on 6 ways how women in Afghanistan are resisting.

To mark these tragic anniversaries, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) - the UN global fund for education in emergencies & protracted crises - have launched a compelling #AfghanGirlsVoices campaign, to lift the voices of young Afghan girls denied their inherent human right to education. 

The inspiring and heartbreaking testimonies in the #AfghanGirlsVoices campaign are conveyed with moving images by a young Afghan female artist (examples above). The campaign was developed with ECW Global Champion Somaya Faruqi, former Captain of the Afghan Girls’ Robotic Team, who was forced to flee Afghanistan after the takeover. Congrats to ECW for a truly well done campaign!

The Climate Crisis is Expensive – Here's Who Should Pay for It

In a world grappling with the urgency of climate change, the call for an equitable distribution of responsibilities grows stronger. This thought-provoking TED Talk by Avinash Persaud, Special Envoy to Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, explores the intricate dynamics of "The Climate Crisis is Expensive – Here's Who Should Pay for It".  Persaud delves into the financial aspects of the climate crisis, and highlights how the costs of climate change are mounting, discussing the crucial question of who should bear these costs. Persaud challenges conventional notions of responsibility and proposes a fairer approach to distributing the financial burdens of climate adaptation and mitigation. He emphasizes the need to consider historical contributions to climate change and suggests innovative ways to ensure a more equitable sharing of these costs, ultimately advocating for a collective and just solution to the climate crisis.

You can check out our Twitter thread reaction here, learn more about the Bridgetown Initiative here, and take action here.

Twitter Space Conversation: Be Seen, Be Heard! We Want More Young People in Politics!

A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you how Global Citizen is partnering with The Body Show and the Office of the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth, to support the Be Seen Be Heard campaign, to eliminate hurdles to youth’s political participation in over 75 countries. Besides the Explainer and a first global Action Challenge (which has now been joined by other country specific campaign actions in Australia, Canada, Sweden and the UK), yesterday Global Citizen also held this very dynamic and inspiring Twitter Space Conversation, which you can still listen to to know more about the campaign and also share with friends and colleagues! 

My Weekend Reading List 

• Pandemic Action Network Long Read

• As Israeli settlements thrive, Palestinian taps run dry. The water crisis reflects a broader battle

• In hottest summer ever, Masafer Yatta sears from water apartheid

• Elyanna’s Ideal Night Is a Girls’ Night

• Outdoor Voices Founder Ty Haney Has Moved On. Mostly. Three years after her dramatic exit as CEO, she still has some things she’d like to say.

• How Invasive Plants Caused the Maui Fires to Rage

• A Guatemalan Prosecutor Has Been in Prison for 18 Months for Investigating Corruption. Her Lawyers Are Speaking Out.

• The Climate Crisis and Colonialism Destroyed My Maui Home. Where We Must Go From Here

• Barbie and Ken and Nothing in Between

• Banned in Kuwait, ‘Barbie’ Sparks Delight, and Anger, in Saudi Arabia

As always, if you’re enjoying the weekly newsletter format, and want even more, you can subscribe to my Substack here where I publish reviews, lists and articles on a regular basis. 

Til next week,

Mick