UNITAR co-hosts 8th Annual Geneva Institute for Leadership and Public Policy
1 June 2018, Geneva, Switzerland – The 8th Annual Geneva Institute for Leadership and Public Policy (GILPP), held in May and June of 2018, convened 91 public leaders from 23 nations to build capacity for UN Sustainable Development Goal #16, addressing peace, justice, and strong institutions the world over.
UNITAR co-hosted the four-day summit at the Palais des Nations and the Centre International de Conférences Genève (CICG). The aim of GILPP goes to the heart of UNITAR’s core mandate: to build capacity among key stakeholders in all Member States, equipping nations, groups, and individuals with a greater ability to bring the lofty ideals of the UN Charter and the 2030 Agenda firmly into their own communities. This year’s conference tackled issues of peacemaking and reconciliation in a variety of national contexts, challenging delegates to share and build on concrete ideas for how to bring peace and prosperity into their home governments, institutions, and societies.
GILPP was established in 2010 by Global Hope Network International (GHNI), a Geneva-based NGO in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The organization was founded by retired U.S. Senator Harold Jones to “bring help and hope to the hidden and the hurting”, and works to foster sustainable development programmes in communities across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Now in partnership with UNITAR, GILPP trains leaders and policy makers on critical contemporary global issues, equipping them to return to their countries and help fight for positive transformation in the public sphere. The Annual Conference looks towards the creation of improved public policy in nations and locales around the globe: policy driven by compassion and that seeks the wellbeing of those left furthest behind.
The GILPP curriculum revolves around the four strategic areas of leadership, economics, public policy, and culture. The conference is designed to be a non-confrontational forum for leaders from emerging nations to discuss the best methods to guide their countries towards peace and prosperity. The Director of UNITAR’s Division for People and Social Inclusion, Mr. Alexander A. Mejía, welcomed the delegates to the Palais des Nations, and fourteen other speakers took the podium over the course of the conference to discuss policymaking, mediation, ongoing regional crises, and various peacebuilding projects and examples from around the world. His Excellency Tamrat Layne, former Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, delivered a keynote address. GILPP delegates were chosen based on their positions of leadership and personal experiences working to build peace in their countries, and breakout sessions also allowed them to share their valuable insights with each other.
GILPP maintains four core objectives: to empower leaders to return to their nations with transformational ideas for shaping public policy, as well as with more effective strategies for implementing those policies; to foster fruitful relationships amongst leaders; to provide leaders with ongoing access to a virtual community that shares resources on public policy and leadership development; and to offer leaders consulting support from staff and experts introduced during the conference. By convening delegates and speakers from diverse backgrounds, nations, and cultures, the conference provides leaders with a wealth of knowledge, enabling them to serve as catalysts for change in their nations and communities.
Sweeping problems often beg for sweeping solutions. And sometimes, epidemics of violence and poverty can indeed be stopped in their tracks with grand interventions. But fostering a long-term trend of peace and prosperity in the world must also rely on the agonizingly slow drop of changing institutions, one victory at a time, from the ground up. Without this incremental work to affirm and to build capacity, sustainable peace can never be. GILPP continues to be a forum for leaders to grow in the knowledge and skills they need to quicken peace and prosperity in their home nations.
The 9th Annual Geneva Institute for Leadership and Public Policy will be held from 18 to 21 June 2019, and will explore the theme of National Transformation through Poverty Alleviation. Applications for delegates, observers, and students will be accepted beginning in October 2018. For additional information, please email GILPP@ghni.org.
Photo 1: Delegates to the Geneva Institute for Leadership and Public Policy at the Palais des Nations, 30 May 2018
Photo 2: Working session of the 2018 Geneva Institute for Leadership and Public Policy