UNA-UK launched a new project to strengthen multilateralism at the inaugural Paris Peace Forum on 11-13 November 2018.
The forum, initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron, began with moving speeches by Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UN Secretary-General António Guterres on the centenary of the end of the First World War. It brought together states, international organisations, local governments, NGOs and foundations, companies, experts, journalists, trade unions, religious groups and citizens to discuss global challenges and present solutions. Some 120 projects and initiatives were presented, including Together First.
Together First is a new global movement of organisations and individuals committed to pragmatic steps to improve our global governance system so that it is better able to address the most pressing risks facing the world.
Next year, Together First intends to:
- Launch the first-ever public, interactive, multi-stakeholder web portal for global governance reform. It will feature the most promising ideas to address global risks, and serve as an organising platform to make them a reality
- Set up a number of commissions consisting of policymakers, experts and practitioners from all sectors, as well as those commonly left out of such exercises (e.g. young people) to create a new risk profile for the international community, and to identify the most transformative and feasible 'next steps' to address these risks
- Test these proposed solutions on the basis of the current political environment, the steps (legal, institutional and other) that may be needed to implement them, and the level of existing support amongst key constituencies
- Create tailored campaigns and coalitions to push for their implementation
This work will have produced a credible list of short-, medium- and longer-term actions for the international community in time for the UN's 75th anniversary in 2020.
At the Paris Peace Forum, three members of UNA-UK staff worked with other members of Together First to launch the movement and collect signatures for our first campaign action, which invited people to cast their 'veto' about the state of the world, and demand better from their leaders. The team managed to sign up hundreds of supporters, including three Nobel Peace Prize Winners, and delivered the campaign's message through events, outreach, social media and media interviews. You can see more of our activities in the gallery below.
