Small Island Nations, Bridgetown 3.0, Award Application Deadlines, How YOU can get involved

I've just returned from the Caribbean after fantastic stops in Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados. A lot coming up this week including award application deadlines and an X live chat on child marriage!

Jun 03, 2024

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I’m writing to you after a busy week in Barbados and then Antigua & Barbuda, where our team had the opportunity to highlight Global Citizen’s work at the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This followed a fantastic book talk at the Barbados Museum & Historical Society on behalf of FutureBarbados, which is a fantastic initiative incubating purpose driven entrepreneurs to real world problems.

I participated in a fun fireside chat moderated by FutureBarbados head, Tamaisha Eytle, where we discussed the intersection of policy and entreprenuership

It was also Miki’s first trip to the Caribbean and this included visits to one of the largest biodiversity projects in Barbados

As always I’m grateful for the feedback I’m getting for the book on amazon, audible and other sites. If you haven’t already I would be grateful for you taking a few quick moments to leave a review as its one of the best ways to support first time authors like me gain traction on Amazon’s algorithms.

Now for updates!

Global Citizen at the SIDS Conference

This past week marked the 4th International Conference on Small Developing States (SIDS4) at the American University of Antigua in St. Johns, Antigua & Barbuda. This gathering of 57 nations assessed the ability of SIDS to realize the 2030 Agenda, specifically the Sustainable Development Goals.

Our colleagues ran both in-person and virtual youth advocacy and private sector workshops and roundtables. In addition, I had the honor of speaking alongside UN Secretary-General Guterres and His Excellency Prime Minister Gaston Browne to address the Heads of State Dinner on the 27th. We see these interventions as incredible opportunities to continue to amplify the Global Citizen platform and advocate for the policy changes needed to alleviate the increasing pressure that SIDS face in the global development space. Now comes the hard work of implementing the 10-year agenda!

You can check out my remarks at the SIDS4 private sector dinner here.

Was fantastic catching up with Samoa’s Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, who will chair this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in October

Bridgetown 3.0 - Sharing for Consultation!

At SIDS, I also had the pleasure of joining key figures for the launch of the Bridgetown 3.0 consultation, presented by Prime Minister Mia Mottley. At this consultation, I also had the opportunity to meet with a number of our government partners on the ground to help advance our core advocacy priorities. Here’s the website with the draft open for consultation - comments are welcome until June 30th! Here is also a snippet of Prime Minister Mottley’s remarks which highlight why this agenda is in all of our interests.

While in Barbados in the lead-up to the launch of Bridgetown 3.0, I also gave an interview with Mark Goldberg on his Global Dispatches about the impact it has already achieved - including one example of policy entrepreneurship for an intractable problem. Check out our podcast discussion here.

In my book, I share six insights and takeaways on how Pause Clauses - a key ask of the Bridgetown Initiative - evolved from an idea on paper to a policy now widely implemented by the The World Bank. My conversation with Mark highlights these six insights in depth. Check it out!

Some good news on Climate Financing, with more work to be done

We’re excited about some good news coming out of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Its seventh assessment of progress towards the UNFCC climate financing goal of $100B shows that this target has been achieved, albeit with some caveats. The target was first set by the wealthiest countries in 2009 and has been a sticking point in climate negotiations ever since.

There remains a funding gap of $11.2 billion to be filled to compensate for the fact that the goal was not reached across 2020-21. Another issue concerns the methodology used: the goal was mainly achieved thanks to funding from multilateral banks, whose methods for accounting for so-called "climate" projects are not rigorous.

Finally, the quality of the funding still needs to improve. Today, 85% of the funding for the poorest countries, often already heavily indebted, takes the form of loans. It is imperative that governments increase grants, especially for adaptation, which remains underfunded.

Continuing the call to end Child Marriage - Virtual X Event This Week!

We will be hosting an X (formerly twitter) space discussion this Tuesday, at 3pm EST, June 4th around ending child marriage in California. We are honored to be hosting Sara Tasneem and Mandy Havlik. Both are California based child marriage survivors and strong advocates for ending this practice who will provide the audience with their lived experience and challenges. Also, it will be our pleasure to host Casey Swegman, Director of Public Policy at Tahirih Justice Center, a strong advocate for systemic change that empowers survivors.

Global Citizen is excited to sustain its efforts to educate the public, inspire action and endorse a shift in the California state legislature.

You can set a reminder and register for this X space discussion here.

For additional questions about our child marriage campaign and the event, please reach out to my colleague Ivana (ivana.pajevic@globalpovertyproject.com).

Waislitz Global Citizen Awards: Applications Closing Soon!

THIS JUST IN: We're thrilled to announce a significant increase in prize money for the 10th anniversary of the Waislitz Global Citizen Awards! The total prize pool is now an incredible $300,000, with all three prizes increased to $100,000 each!

Calling all entrepreneurs, innovators, and changemakers dedicated to ending extreme poverty – join us in celebrating this milestone and apply by COD EST this Monday, June 3!

In addition to receiving cash prizes, the winners of the Waislitz Global Citizen Awards will be invited to New York City to be presented with the award and attend the Global Citizen Festival during the week of the UN General Assembly this year.

Sign Up to Partner On GC’s Campaigning

Global Citizen is calling on fellow non-governmental organizations, think tanks, civic sector, grassroot activists, and citizens around the world to raise their voice and take action with us.

In months ahead of us, Global Citizen will be galvanizing millions of people around the world to take action, raise their voices and demand urgent actions from governments, Multilateral Development Banks, and major corporations, to ensure that:

Everyone’s basic needs are fulfilled, like food, health, and education.

Our planet is flourishing with adequate climate financing, raising the level of investment in adaptation, agriculture and robust nature based solutions.

Every person and country can prosper, focusing on various financing streams like Official Development Assistance (ODA) and International Development Association (IDA) and global financial reform as a driver for job creation, economic development and innovation.

Advocates and human rights activists are free and protected from prosecution for expressing their causes and beliefs.

Global Citizen will be happy to include any partners who sign on by June 7 to be included in it’s Global Citizen Festival press release and featured on our website (due to be released mid- to late-June). Partners who sign after this date may be mentioned in later press releases and their logos will be updated on the GC website at a future date.

Join us today by clicking on this link to unite our voices and actions!

Biden Administration Validates Carbon Credits As Essential Climate Solution!

Communities and entrepreneurs working tirelessly to reduce illegal deforestation, promote natural climate solutions, and new carbon removal technologies need proper financing for their efforts. This is why I've long supported the potential of voluntary carbon credits, as I discuss in the concluding chapter of my new book. When done well and complementing decarbonization efforts in corporate supply chains, carbon credits can generate new income sources. Whether we like it or not, efforts to prevent deforestation and those that remove carbon from the atmosphere are essential, alongside efforts to transition from coal, oil and gas, if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Check out my previous article on this topic here.

In the past, bad actors, or "carbon cowboys," have abused the process due to a lack of good policy and frameworks. That's why I'm excited about the Biden administration's recent statement, which endorses the potential of carbon markets and outlines principles for "high-integrity" carbon credits. These principles ensure that communities doing the work receive a fair share of the proceeds. Read more about the new principles here.

My Weekend Reading & Listening List

Top Listen for the Week:

The 8th principle from my new book revolves around the power of sharing success stories with friends and family. Why is this so important? Positive stories from our social networks are among the best ways to inspire and motivate others toward positive action. They show us that we can make a difference because we have made a difference.

On the flip side, research shared with me by NYU’s Madalina Vlasceanu reveals that while bad news might get the most engagement on social media, it actually undermines people's belief in their ability to influence policy change, especially on critical issues like climate change.

Good news is happening, and it's our responsibility to use our platforms to motivate people to take action.

I recently had a fantastic discussion with Frank Schaeffer about this topic. You can catch our conversation on Youtube here:

Top Read of the Week:

An article I published in South Africa’s Sunday Times ahead of Menstrual Hygiene Day (May 28th) and which was an excerpt from a chapter in my book that addresses period poverty: