The Global Town Hall has Arrived alongside a month of global summitry from the G20 to the UN

As we enter September, a month filled with summits such as the Africa Climate Summit,the G20, the East Asia Summit, and the UN General Assembly, what better way to begin than with the Global Town Hall

Sep 01, 2023

Dear Friends and Supporters,

It’s hard to believe it’s already September – August really slipped away into a moment in time, and we’re now just three weeks away from the Global Citizen Festival! You may have seen last week but more names were added to the lineup – keep your eyes peeled for even more to come this week.

But before that, make sure you’re registered and all set to join this weekend’s Global Town Hall featuring some fantastic speakers!!

As we enter September, a month filled with summits such as the Africa Climate Summit, the G20, the East Asia Summit, and the UN General Assembly, what better way to begin than checking out this weekend’s 15-hour virtual marathon event?

TONIGHT/TOMORROW:

The Global Town Hall is BACK!

The Global Town Hall, which has been much teased in these newsletters, is finally BACK tonight/tomorrow! I’ll be up at 4. a.m. here in Europe to kick it off, and hope to have some familiar faces tuning in for what is likely to be an exciting 15 hours of sessions!

The team has got an exciting lineup of speakers, and this week managed to secure Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi – you can see the Daily Mail’s coverage of this here.

Grateful for your continued last-minute efforts to amplify what is sure to be a successful event!! We already surpassed the 8,000 registration mark!

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;; 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.

Global Citizen has jointly curated 11 panels directly linked to its policy campaign objectives, from Food security to human rights, from youth participation to the role of the private sector in solving global issues. In line with its model focusing on driving impact and change, every panel will also include QR codes leading to actions and editorials to ensure the over 10,000 expected participants can take direct action on the GC's platform.

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

Talking to the UN

I had the pleasure of being interviewed for, and featured in, the UNGA edition of UN Today – the UN’s official international magazine. I talk about the GC model, partnership with the UN, the upcoming Global Solidarity Report being produced by my friends at Global Nation, and of course, give a shoutout to the Global Citizen Festival! You can check it out here (skip to page 54-55!).

The Ultimate Bucket List for Fall in NYC

With just three weeks to go until many global citizens are all gathered on the Great Lawn again, I was thrilled to see the Global Citizen Festival mentioned here in Thrillist’s lineup of the Ultimate Bucket List for Fall! Check it out, and see what else you can get up to over these next few weeks.

Power Our Planet Recap Sizzle

It’s crazy to think that Power Our Planet was just two months ago, as it seems like an entire lifetime has already passed since then. To that end, the amazing video team at Global Citizen has put together this video recap sizzle, which captures the perfect June evening beneath the Eiffel Tower, where climate activists, world leaders, iconic artists, and 20,000 Global Citizens gathered for #PowerOurPlanet: Live In Paris.

Relive the unforgettable concert and join the movement here!

Farming on the Frontline: Female Farmers in South Africa Are Known for Their Passion, Perseverance — and Potatoes

It’s potatoes all the way down. In the final chapter of Farming on the Frontlines , the team at GC travels to Limpopo, South Africa to learn about a farming enterprise run by Zelda Masoga. Zelda talks about her experiences cultivating her business in a male-dominated field and how climate-friendly farming techniques like crop diversification are core to her successes. Through Zelda’s perspective, you can can uncover the sometimes surprising linkages between her daily challenges on the farm and in-the-news policy dilemmas like South Africa’s energy crisis and its load-shedding schedule.

Coinciding with the release of this chapter, Global Citizen worked with Zelda to take her story and her words directly to President Ramaphosa himself. Writing an open letter calling on President Ramaphosa to support small-scale farmers by fulfilling South Africa’s CAADP commitments, Zelda demonstrates the essential role farmers’ voices play in guiding food system transformation. More than 30,000 global citizens across the world have joined Zelda in calling upon African leaders to invest in local agriculture.

Sisters are Doin’ It For Themselves [ft. African Climate Summit]

As the African Climate Summit approaches, growing calls from civil society for action are crystalizing into clear demands African leaders must deliver. In a recent news article, Global Citizen’s Mwandwe Chileshe (Director of Food Security, Nutrition, and Agriculture) highlighted the need for adaptation financing to be built around equity, prioritizing communities like rural smallholder farmers, who have been severely impacted by climate change. In the same article, Chilufya Chileshe, the SDG2 Advocacy Hub’s Chief of Staff (and Mwandwe’s sister!) links the issue of climate adaptation as a necessary consideration to be prioritized across all of South Africa’s development strategies, especially as it relates to its energy sector.

Global Citizen is collaborating with partners like Power Shift Africa to galvanize African civil society, policy experts, and the media sphere into a movement demanding clear, strategic asks. At a recent media training session, demands focused on food security and climate adaptation financing were well received and proliferated across regional media outlets.

G20 Leaders Summit in New Delhi

The New Delhi G20 leaders summit is fast approaching. On the 9th September, leaders of 20 of the world's largest economies will meet to discuss global financial issues, climate change and sustainable development. Ahead of that, Global Citizen, alongside partners, have written to G20 leaders asking them to step up into their self-stated role as the ‘premier’ forum for international economic cooperation.

The timing couldn’t be any better, following Africa Climate Week and ahead of the UN General Assembly, this summit must be a moment of action, urgency and inclusion and it will require leadership and ambition to finance our future and save our people and planet. The world will be watching to see what comes out of this geopolitical moment that has the potential to serve common global interests for generations to come. We need them to make tangible progress on unlocking urgently needed finance to build climate, hunger and pandemic resilience in the face of multiple and overlapping global challenges.

Africa Climate Summit

From 2-6 September 2023, the Government of Kenya and the African Union will convene the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi. It is crucial to shift the narrative away from a division between the Global North and the Global South in addressing the climate crisis.

The Africa Climate Summit will call on leaders to make ambitious pledges and commitments. A comprehensive "Pledging and Commitment Framework" will be developed to guide these actions. By embracing ambitious ideas and making bold commitments, we have the opportunity to turn the tide on climate change, not only in Africa but also globally. The conference will feature plenaries, presidential address and the signing of the Kampala Declaration and information on the Nairobi Declaration.

The Africa Climate Summit aims to provide a unique platform opportunity for governments, private and multi-sector partners from across Africa, and around the world, to join together in pledging their contributions to urgent climate action.

EU Budget: MEPs push for additional Development Support

Last week, Global Citizen asked for your help to secure new development assistance funding in the EU budget.

Good news!! The European Parliament Development Committee voted in favour of an opinion asking for more funding for urgent development, humanitarian, and climate needs, whilst ensuring vital commitments to Ukraine are covered by a new and additional “Ukraine Facility”.

Collectively, partners helped secure this crucial support thanks to the advocacy efforts of global citizens, who mobilised asking MEPs not to pit these important priorities against each other, and thanks to our civil society partners – read here a joint position paper.

It’s now up to the Members of the Budget Committee who will be voting on September 20th. Keep your eyes peeled to find out how you can help us make the case with these decision-makers.

What a doctor's death in a lift may tell us about Africa's debt crisis

In Nigeria, the recent tragic death of Dr. Vwaere Diaso highlights the dire state of the country's healthcare infrastructure, marked by crumbling facilities and a lack of funding. A new report by the One Campaign reveals that African nations, including Nigeria, are spending a significant portion of their budgets on servicing debt, leaving limited resources for vital sectors like health and education. The report calls for increased lending from global institutions to address the debt crisis while acknowledging the need to combat corruption. This situation has wider implications, including the inability to tackle climate change and a brain drain of young professionals seeking better opportunities abroad due to poor working conditions. Check out the full article on this here.

Global Citizen Festival - A Unique Viewing Experience

With just three weeks to go until the festival, and this year’s headliners including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Megan Thee Stallion, Stray Kids, and Conan Gray, the team at GC have a limited number of Ultimate VIP tickets available for purchase.

The Ultimate VIP (UVIP) experience includes:

UVIP tent access with a delectable array of food and a wide selection of both non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages.
Front-row stage viewing for an up-close and personal connection with your favorite artists.
Enjoy the convenience of a private entrance and exclusive restroom facilities.
For those who purchase 20 or more tickets, there's an added bonus of access to limited branded lounge areas.

The tax-deductible proceeds of these passes support our 501(c)3 and our campaigns, which to date have impacted the lives of nearly 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty around the world. If you or your company are interested in purchasing these tickets please do so here.

My Weekend Reading List

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