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.

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.

Le Sommet Humanitaire Mondial à Istanbul, le 23 et 24 mai 2016, s’est tenu dans une atmosphère décrite, par le Secrétaire Général de l’Onu Ban Ki-moon, comme une indignation, une frustration et une profonde inquiétude au sujet de l’état de notre humanité.

9 000 participants étaient présents à Istanbul pour le Sommet. Ils venaient de 173 pays et incluaient 55 Chefs d’Etat, des représentants de 700 ONG et 250 grandes ONG internationales. Il y eu une controverse – Médecins Sans Frontières se retira à cause de l’inquiétude que rien ne serait fait pour protéger leurs hôpitaux et centres médicaux, étant la cible d’acteurs des zones de conflits (milices, forces gouvernementales et police). Du fait des désaccords entre les gouvernements et les agences d’aide à propos de comment améliorer la réponse globale aux crises humanitaires, on s’est demandé : est-ce que le Sommet serait capable d’atteindre quoi que ce soit ? 

Pas plus de progrès ne fut fait sur des questions politiques difficiles à résoudre comme celle de la promotion du Respect des Règles de Guerre (les conflits modernes ont été caractérisés par l’atteinte ciblée des populations civiles et des lieux de refuge tels que les hôpitaux, églises et mosquées). Mais au-delà de cela, des niveaux de progrès inattendus ont été atteint dans l’organisation et la coopération de l’aide humanitaire. Le Sommet a révélé que le cœur de l’humanité vibre et est prêt à répondre aux besoins désespérés des gens dans la détresse.

Le Guardian a rapporté que la plupart des membres de la communauté d’aide humanitaire ont admis avoir été agréablement surpris par La Grande Affaire – Un engagement partagé pour mieux servir les personnes dans le besoin, l’accord majeur atteint par les gouvernements et les agences d’aide ... 

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.   

by Dominic Dibble, Editor, World Goodwill Newsletter

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

What does it mean to speak of the United Nations as manifesting the vision of the One Humanity? I hope we will get some sense of this by taking a brief look at the way the UN emerged, and how it performs some of its most important work, namely the preparation and implementation of Declarations and Conventions.