UN High Level Forum on the Culture of Peace, 1 September 2016

September 16, 2016

Multiple conferences take place at UN Headquarters in New York every day. It is truly a house of dialogue. This is not surprising when we consider that the Charter calls on the nations of the world to harmonize their actions for the common good. World Goodwill recently attended one of these conferences:  the High Level Forum on the Culture of Peace. It took place under the gaze of an angelic statue in one of the most visually stunning conference rooms in the HQ complex – the Trusteeship Council Chamber.

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Kofi Annan Describes what Ordinary Citizens Can do to Help Bring About Change

July 13, 2016

Writing in The Guardian, former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, describes with simplicity and clarity how ordinary citizens can help bring about the change we need and encourage our leaders to actually lead on issues from drugs to climate change.

What does the illegal drugs trade have in common with the death toll from the Ebola epidemic? Or our collective failure so far to address climate change (the climate agreement in Paris marks the beginning, not the end, of the road) or the security council’s inability to stop the violence in Syria and Iraq? In each case – as with so many other crises in our world – they have at their heart a lack of political will and a failure of leadership. Narrow, short-term self-interests have overshadowed the understanding of how, in a truly global world, interdependent are our destinies. ...

The expertise, experience and evidence needed to solve ... pressing problems already exists. What holds us back is the lack of leadership that can galvanise the political will needed to deliver solutions. The world is experiencing a crisis of leadership, not a crisis of knowledge.

So how can ordinary citizens help bring about the change we need and encourage our leaders to actually lead? Let me give three clear answers: Vote, make some noise and use your power as a consumer.

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Ban ki-Moon Speaks in Tel Aviv About The Battle for Minds in Today’s World

July 12, 2016

On June 27, soon after the UK referendum vote to leave the EU, UN Secretary-General spoke to students at Tel Aviv University, Israel.

He spoke of a tug of war going on in our world today – a push and pull in societies north and south, east and west. 

Never have we been so able to reach out and engage with the world.  At the same time, never in my years as Secretary-General have I seen such potent forces rising up in societies urging people to retreat.  Preying on insecurity.  Profiting on division.  Promoting fear. 
Turn inward, they say.  Build barriers.  It is our way or no way. 
I think perhaps the biggest war being waged today does not involve guns or tanks or fighter jets. 
The biggest confrontation is the battle for minds.  On the one hand, there are those who want to divide the world into “us and them”.  On the other, stand those who see humanity, in the words of the UN Charter, as “we the peoples”.

This short statement by the Secretary-General who is in the final months of his final term, deserves wide circulation.

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World Humanitarian Summit’s Grand Bargain

June 10, 2016

The Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, May 23 - 24, 2016, was convened amidst an atmosphere described by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as outrage, frustration and deep concern about the state of our humanity.

Nine thousand participants were present in Istanbul for the Summit. They came from 173 countries and included 55 Heads of State along with representatives from 700 NGOs and 250 major international NGOs. There was controversy – Doctors Without Borders pulled out because of concerns that nothing would be done to protect their hospitals and medical centers from being attacked by actors in conflict zones (militias, government forces and police). Owing to disagreements among governments and aid agencies about how to improve global response to humanitarian crises, there was concern – would the Summit be able to achieve anything?

Not much progress was made on the intractable political issues like fostering Respect for the Rules of War (modern conflicts have been characterized by the targeting of civilian populations, and places of refuge such as hospitals, churches and mosques). But beyond this unexpected levels of progress did take place in the organizing and coordinating of humanitarian aid. The Summit revealed that the heart of humanity is sound and is ready to move forward in responding to the desperate needs of people in distress.

The Guardian reported that most members of the humanitarian aid community admitted to being pleasantly surprised by The Grand Bargain – A Shared Commitment to Better Serve People in Need, the major agreement reached between governments and aid agencies ...

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Signposts for the Initiation of Humanity : Recent Developments at the United Nations

May 5, 2016

by Steve Nation, World Goodwill, New York

A talk presented at the University of the Seven Rays Conference, April 13, 2016, Phoenix, AZ, USA.

The testing preceding the initiation of humanity as a species plays itself out in world affairs. In recent decades we are witnessing something of a conclusion of the great battle of the Second World War when, at enormous cost, nations and their peoples took up arms against hatred and separation, inspired by future possibilities for freedom for all everywhere. A significant phase, of that battle concluded with the famous Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration presented an initiatory vision of a world modelled on principles of unity in diversity, of love and goodwill in community and national relationships. It was a sign that a new vision of future possibilities, in line with the dawning vision of oneness, now stood firmly before humanity as a whole. For almost seventy years since the Declaration history has been about confronting all the tests and choices involved in implementing that vision.   

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