Dedicated to building a global system that works for all, UNA-UK has today joined with a network of over 100 experts, practitioners, civil society activists and business leaders from all regions of the world to launch "Together First": a new campaign to transform global governance.
Together First acknowleges that from climate change to nuclear weapons, cybercrime to terrorism, the risks we face cross national borders. Our solutions must be global. We need to renew and strengthen our global system, and we need to make sure that it delivers for all the world's people, not just an elite few.
There have been many attempts at global governance reform and most have stalled, not for a lack of ideas, but because of the political realities of our world order. Together First will address this head-on, by launching the first-ever public, interactive, multi-stakeholder web portal for global governance reform that takes the political realities into consideration. It will feature the most promising ideas to address the big risks facing the world – from climate change to nuclear weapons, extremism to pandemics – and serve as an organising platform to make them a reality. By engaging the public and civil society in the conversation in a way which has never before been attempted, Together First will provide the platform for a conversation between the powerful and the public around how we approach global threats and challenges.
Over the next year we will also set up a number of risk commissions – involving people from the worlds of politics, science, business, civil society, young people, the general public and traditionally excluded voices. These commissions will prioritise an agenda for the international community: determining which ideas for reforming our global system are feasible, which are desirable, and which will help us face the future risks we face.
This weekend, at the Paris Peace Forum, we will officially launch the campaign with our "People's veto" action - calling on the public to cast their veto against bad governance and short-term thinking, and demand better from our world leaders.
Click here to visit the Together First website and cast your veto.
Together First was initiated by a diverse group of participants at the New Shape Forum hosted by the Global Challenges Foundation this May. Since then, it has operated as a loose working group, coordinated by UNA-UK and with ongoing support from the Foundation. Further information on the working group, which is one of five supported by the Foundation, can be found in its most recent Quarterly report.
