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ACUNS Annual Meeting & GPD: 23-25 June

Event Summary

Contributed by Global Governance Innovation Network

Posted 2 October 2022

   

As the first fully-hybrid Annual Meeting in ACUNS history, the conference brought together over 700 registrants from 103 countries for 94 sessions! The innovative "Demo Room" offered a platform for 20 international organizations, foundations, and research institutions to showcase research-policy tools/initiatives and research priorities.
 
The 2022 Annual Meeting was co-organized and co-hosted by UN Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, with the generous support of the UN Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the State and Canton of Geneva.
 
The opening high-level plenary at UN Geneva featured a discussion on "Evidence-based solutions for intensifying global challenges” with Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, World Health Organization, and Eva Akerman Borje, Director, Department of Research and Policy, International Organization for Migration, moderated by Imogen Foulkes, BBC News. The John W. Holmes Memorial Lecture, delivered by Lise Grande, President and CEO of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), highlighted the evolution and central importance of civilian protection in conflict and the challenges facing the UN in fostering peace. We thank everyone involved with these two plenary sessions and invite you to complete a short feedback survey to help us prepare for future Annual Meetings.

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE UPCOMING ANNUAL MEETING FOR 2022-23 ON 21-22 JUNE, SEE HERE.

Videos and Recordings

The conference program remains available online. Videos are available for the opening plenary session at UN Geneva and the John W. Holmes Memorial Lecture.

Global Policy Dialogue: Countdown to the 2023 Summit of the Future

As an integral part of the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Academic Council on the UN System (ACUNS), the Global Governance Innovation Network (GGIN) convened with the Club de Madrid, UN University Centre for Policy Research, the Global Challenges Foundation, and the Institute for Economics & Peace, on 24 June 2022 in Geneva, a Global Policy Dialogue (GPD) on“Evidenced Based Solutions and the Road to 2023: Strengthening Human Rights, Humanitarian Action, Sustainable Trade & Disarmament Cooperation.'' 

The ACUNS-Geneva GPD organized “breakthrough group” discussions around human rights, humanitarian action, sustainable trade, and disarmament. In connection with the broader themes tackled by the ACUNS Annual Meeting, the GPD considered ways to strengthen the channels between science/expertise and the UN; to strengthen the UN's early warning and early responses to global catastrophic risks; and to improve how the UN communicates its science-based messages. Scholars and policy practitioners thus contributed to rigorous analysis, creative, evidence-based solutions, and informed debate toward making the global governance system more fit to tackle current and over-the-horizon threats and challenges.

Read the full Global Policy Dialogue output report here!

To find out more about our March Global Policy Dialogue on Beyond UN75 & Our Common Agenda see here.

The following text is archived from before the ACUNS Annual Meeting took place and includes details of agendas, programmes, and concept notes...

This year the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) Annual Meeting takes place in hybrid format from 23-25 June on the theme of "Evidence-Based Solutions for Intensifying Global Challenges." Bringing together academics, researchers, UN practitioners, and civil society, the meeting will include multiple concurrent panel and roundtable discussions, a plenary session and reception at the Palais des Nations (UN Geneva), a Global Policy Dialogue: Countdown to the 2023 Summit of the Future, and much more. A conference program is available here.

Global Policy Dialogue: Countdown to the 2023 Summit of the Future

Building directly on the ACUNS Annual Meeting, the Global Governance Innovation Network (GGIN), a project of ACUNS, Plataforma CIPÓ, Leiden University, and the Stimson Center, will convene along with the Club de Madrid, UN University Centre for Policy Research, and the Global Challenges Foundation, on 24 June 2022 in Geneva, a Global Policy Dialogue-GPD—integral to a four-part series, in 2022 and 2023, that includes associated GPDs in March (1-2) in Washington, D.C. on Global Governance Innovation, in December (1-2) in Recife on the Triple Planetary Crisis, and March 2023 in Abuja on the New Agenda for Peace. Speaking to UN Geneva’s policy strengths, the ACUNS-Geneva GPD will organize breakout discussions around the areas of human rights, humanitarian action, sustainable trade, and disarmament. It will also give special consideration to the Secretary-General’s most consequential Our Common Agenda proposal: a Summit of the Future, timed to coincide with the General Assembly’s high-level week in September 2023. The session timings will be as follows:

Note: All times are in CEST

Friday, 24 June

08:30am-10:00am: Four GPD "Breakthrough Groups"

Four Groups: Human Rights, Humanitarian Action, Sustainable Trade, and Disarmament.

10:00am-10:30am: Tea/Coffee Break

10:30am-12:00pm: One GPD "Plenary Session"

Speakers: 

  • Lise Grande, President and CEO, United States Institute of Peace
  • Dr. Danilo Türk, President of the Club de Madrid, former UN Assistant-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, and member of the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism;
  • Dr. David Malone, Rector of UN University and former Canadian Ambassador to the UN Economic and Social Council;
  • Ambassador Flavio Damico, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the UN Disarmament Convention and Chair of the UN’s Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons.

Facilitators:

  • Dr. Richard Ponzio, Senior Fellow and Director, Global Governance, Justice & Security Program, the Stimson Center
  • Dr. Adriana Abdenur, Co-Founder & Executive-Director, Plataforma CIPO 

10:30am-12:00pm: Vote of thanks and ways to stay involved in the September 2023 Summit of the Future Preparations (through ACUNS-GGIN, the Coalition for the UN and Together First campaigns, and Climate Governance Commission).

The GPD organizers wish to extend a special thanks to the Global Challenges Foundation for its generosity in supporting this gathering in Geneva, as well as continued collaboration and support for the Global Governance Innovation Network.

Spotlight on ACUNS AM Roundtables and Events on Global Governance Innovation

Note: All times are in CEST

Friday, 24 June

1:30-3:00 pm: "Designing a new Global Governance Index and Survey: Methodological and Other Considerations"

Speakers: 

  • Steve Killelea, Founder and Executive Chairman, Institute for Economics & Peace
  • Michael Collins, Executive Director, Americas, Institute for Economics & Peace

Discussants: 

  • Dr. Adriana Abdenur, Co-Founder and Executive-Director, Plataforma CIPO
  • Dr. Vesselin Popovski, Professor and Vice-Dean, Jindal Law Global Law School and Executive-Director, Centre for the Study of the United Nations
  • Prof. Peter Stoett, Dean, Social Sciences and Humanities, Ontario Tech University
  • Moderator and Lead-Off Speaker: Dr. Richard Ponzio, Senior Fellow and Director, Global Governance, Justice & Security Program, the Stimson Center
15:00-16:30 pm: Road to 2023 Panel (for details on our flagship report see here.)

Chair: Dr. Danilo Turk, President of the Club de Madrid, former UN Assistant-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, and member of the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism;

Discussant: Cristina Stefan, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Leeds

Panelists:

  • Dr. Richard Ponzio, Senior Fellow and Director, Global Governance, Justice & Security Program, the Stimson Center
  • Dr. Joris Larik, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs of Leiden University, Senior Advisor and Nonresident Fellow for the Global Governance, Justice & Security Program at Stimson, and Co-Director of the Global Governance Innovation Network
  • Nudhara Yusuf, Global Governance Innovation Network Facilitator, Global Governance, Justice & Security Program, Stimson Center
  • Muznah Siddiqui, Research Consultant, Global Governance, Justice & Security Program, Stimson Center

Saturday, 25 June

10:30 - 12:00 pm: Addressing the Accountability Gap: An International Anti-Corruption Court

Chair: Maja Groff, Esq., Convenor of the Climate Governance Commission

Participants:

  • Dr. Danilo Turk, President of the Club de Madrid, former UN Assistant-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, and member of the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism
  • Richard Goldstone, Former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and III Board Member (virtual)
  • Maria Wilson, Justice of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Trinidad and Tobago, former trial lawyer at the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and former Assistant Director of Public Prosecution in Trinidad and Tobago (in person)
  • Cynthia Gabriel, Founding Director of the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) in Malaysia and former Vice-Chair of the UNCAC Coalition (virtual)
  • Michel Levien, Director of Streiner Anti-Corruption Bureau in Mexico (virtual)
1:00 - 2:30 pm: Our Common Agenda and Global Climate Governance: Stockholm+50 Outcomes, COP-27 and the Summit of the Future

Chair: Fergus Watt, Senior Advisor Coalition for the UN We Need

Speakers:

  • Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Co-Chair of Coalition for the UN We Need and 73rd President of the UN General Assembly
  • Daniel Perell, Co-Chair of the Coalition for the UN We Need and Representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations
  • Salina Sanou, Head of Programmes at the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance
  • Maja Groff, Esq., Convenor of the Climate Governance Commission
5:00 - 6:30 pm: Global Governance Innovation Network Roundtable

Moderator:  Dr. Joris Larik, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs of Leiden University, Senior Advisor and Nonresident Fellow for the Global Governance, Justice & Security Program at Stimson, and Co-Director of the Global Governance Innovation Network

Participants:

  • Dr. Adriana Abdenur, Co-Founder & Executive-Director, Plataforma CIPO 
  • Maiara Folly, Co-Founder & Programme Director, Plataforma CIPO
  • Dr. Vesselin Popovski, Professor and Vice-Dean, Jindal Law Global Law School and Executive-Director, Center for the Study of the United Nations
  • Dr. Edna Ramirez-Robles, Professor of International Trade & Law, University of Guadalajara 
  • Dr. Aisha Al-Ammari, Assistant Dean of Affairs for Student Affairs, College of Law-Qatar University 
  • Peter Hoffman, Assistant Professor of International Affairs, The New School

Discussant: 

  • Roger Coate, Coverdell Professor of Public Policy, Georgia College & University of South Carolina
  • Muznah Siddiqui, Research Consultant, Global Governance, Justice & Security Program, Stimson Center

Sunday, 26 June

9:00am -12:00pm: UN Charter Day Discussion: The UN Charter and the Prevention of Wars and other Existential Threats

Please find the concept note and detailed agenda for this discussion here. Register for the event here.

How to take part

You can register to join virtually or in person here, and do not need to be an ACUNS member to do so. Should you be interested in taking part in our Global policy Dialogue: Countdown to the 2023 Summit of the Future please contact Muznah Siddiqui ([email protected]).

Downloads

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GPD Output Report

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