Dispatches from Washington: Financing The Future Reception / New Partnerships

I am sending this week's update having just wrapped up a jam-packed week here in Washington for the World Bank / IMF spring meetings.

Apr 14, 2023

Dear Friends and Supporters,

The newsletter is back this week, after last week’s hiatus for Easter, and I have a lot of updates to share! I’m writing to you all today from DC, where I’m spending the week for World Bank Spring Meetings, catching up with colleagues old and new, and putting on our own GC in DC event.

Earlier this week, a colleague pointed out to me that I’ve been to every continent but Antarctica so far this year - and it’s only just April! If you’ve been following my travels, you’ll know I was in Geneva in February, Kiribati and Fiji in March, and Brazil, Rwanda, and, (very briefly) Turkey in April. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more updates, especially from Fiji and Kiribati, and let me know where you think I should head to next!

Financing The Future Reception - Washington D.C.

First, I wanted to share some photos and highlights from theFinancing The Future Reception we hosted in collaboration with the Australian Embassy in Washington DC last night. We were thrilled to be joined by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, Hon Dr. Kevin Rudd, Birman Prasad, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Fiji, Isobel Coleman, USAID's Deputy Administrator, and Chrysoula Zacharopoulou. The reception was focused particularly on championing the need for more and better development and climate financing to tackle the multiple crises facing LMICs and to highlight the opportunities in 2023 to make progress. Thank you to those of you who were able to join, and thank you to the Australian Embassy for lending us their space.

The Return of GC NOW

We’re now less than two weeks out from Global Citizen’s second ever Global Citizen NOW thought leadership summit, and spots are filling up fast!

If you’re in NYC and have been invited, make sure you RSVP via the unique link in your invite - looking forward to seeing many of you there! If you haven’t been invited, but are keen to learn more, we still have some seats available for Friday April 28 - please reach out to victor.grau@globalcitizen.org for more.

The confirmed co-chairs include long-time Global Citizen supporters Chris Martin and Hugh Jackman. Additional Co-Chairs Include: Ursula von der Leyen, Mia Mottley, Erna Solberg, Stefan Löfven, Hans Vestberg, Nir Bar Dea, Fran Katsoudas, Chris Stadler, Marc Pritchard, Diego Scotti, Tshepo Mahloele, Edward Skyler, Dr. Rajiv Shah, Mark Malloch Brown, and Darren Walker. Participants include: Anjula Acharia, Nat Kwabena Adisi (Bola Ray), Maggie Baird, Portia Blunt, David Droga, Sabrina Elba, Pamela Fletcher, Phoebe Gates, C.D. Glin, Dr. Patrick Gruber, Prabal Gurung, Liya Haile, Daniel Humm, Letitia James, Nicole LaPointe Jameson, Alvaro Lario, Emmanuel Macron, Peter McGuinness, Catherine McKenna, Bridget Moynahan, Vanessa Nakate, Antonio Nuño, Amanda Seales, Alok Sharma, Yasmine Sherif, Abena Soreno, Gary Vaynerchuk, Elizabeth Wathuti, Zouera Youssoufou, and more to be announced.

Rendezvous in Rwanda: Meeting President Paul Kagame

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting with President Paul Kagame while briefly in Rwanda.

President Kagame first attended the Global Citizen Festival in 2014. He joined Global Citizen again in 2018 for Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100, where he called for investments into childhood nutrition, and the need to empower youth across the continent.

We appreciated the chance to talk about Global Citizen’s mission, the significance of boosting investments into infrastructure, health and education to unleash Africa's potential, and Global Citizen's future plans to expand the movement throughout Africa.

Partnering with PepsiCo

Last week, Global Citizen announced the official launch of our partnership with the PepsiCo Foundation, the philanthropic arm of PepsiCo. This will be a year-long partnership and campaign focused on alleviating world hunger and promoting economic empowerment by tapping the enormous potential of rural, small-scale farming communities. The initiative seeks to provide a platform for smallholder farmers to work alongside world leaders and advocate for delivering on commitments targeting the nexus of the food and climate crises. I’m so excited for what’s in store for this partnership - read our official press release about the news here, and check out my statement on Twitter here.

How The Commonwealth Can Combat Period Poverty With King Charles III's Support

My latest piece for Forbes looks at how as the new Head of the Commonwealth, His Majesty King Charles III faces the formidable challenge of reinvigorating an institution that has struggled to maintain its relevance in modern times and has been criticized as a prevailing vestige of British colonialism. The Commonwealth's success or failure will directly impact millions of people worldwide. By prioritizing critical issues such as period poverty and leveraging effective leadership, it can emerge as a potent force for transformative change around the world. Read the full article here for more.

How Can Sustainable Aviation Fuel Make Air Travel Eco-Friendly?

Yesterday, Global Citizen’s partnerships and editorial teams published this explainer piece about the very important and timely topic of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), an alternative fuel made from plant and animal waste, wood, oils, and fats.

This article outlines how SAF will help airlines reduce carbon emissions, how our corporate partner Delta Airlines is decarbonizing the aviation industry through its investment in SAF, and the initiatives beyond SAF that promote sustainable travel. Our social team has published the article on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Have a read and learn how this biofuel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from flights by up to 80% over the course of their life cycle, compared to traditional jet fuel!

Summit for Democracy: What was it and how we saw it

A couple of weeks ago, the United States together with the Governments of Costa Rica, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea and Zambia hosted the second Summit for Democracy (the first one having taken place in 2021). As part of our civic space advocacy, it is of the essence for Global Citizens everywhere around the world to ensure they can actively participate in the matters that affect their lives and hold their governments accountable as right-holders without fear. We all need empowered people to take action safely to ensure poverty is eliminated, climate action is urgently taken and equity is achieved in an enduring way. As expressed in our twitter thread Reaction, the Summit brought together a host of committed stakeholders and policy makers who however need to go deeper into needed concrete action, particularly in regards to protection of those expressing their rights, as well as to turbocharging the participation of young people. Together with our CSO partners, the results of this Summit will be a great starting point to engage particular governments to join us in our campaigns and our tentpole moments this year, as we push for concrete measures to support activists and organizations in danger.

Shelter Cities: What are they and why should we support them?

And speaking of concrete measures to support activists and organizations in danger, I bet some of you may have not heard of the concept of “Shelter city” before. Yet, this is one of the big policy Calls to Action from civil society - including us - when it comes to protecting civic space, and which can be of great support to those working in the field and whose life and liberty may be endangered by oppressive policies back home. HERE you will find a recent explainer on what Shelter Cities are and why they can be so important. Please help us amplify this piece by retweeting This post so Global Citizen raise awareness and can move governments into action!

Global Citizen is Hiring - Come Work With Them!

Are you or someone you know passionate about our mission, and want to join what will most certainly be another impactful year of action? If so, come work with Global Citizen! They are hiring for two key positions - Consultant - Impact & Private Sector Policy and Government Relations and Advocacy Manager (Germany).

If either of these are up your street, please throw your name in the hat! Or if you know someone who might be a good fit, do share across your networks.

My Weekend Reading List

That’s all for this week! Again, please let me know if you would like to RSVP for GC NOW on Friday 28, as spots are filling up fast!

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.

All best,

Mick