Co-building our shared futures starts now. The People’s Global Summit, ‘Co-building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind’ begins on the 29th June and will run 24 hours for four days, to the 2nd July.
The summit effectively starts a grass-roots global people’s movement that proudly comprises differing world cultures and values, with a holistic vision that combines sustainability, social justice and ‘we the people’ working together for an eco-social world. It was initiated by IFSW and UNRISD along with 24 global diverse organizations and representing 100s of millions of people with roots in communities throughout the world.
We share the perspective that the lofty pledges made by governments after the second world war – on peace, development and human rights – have not been realized. Inequalities and fractures have grown. Poverty sits alongside extreme wealth. Nature has been stripped, leading to climate warming and environmental destruction. Millions of people have been displaced as a result, adding to the millions more displaced by conflict and violence. The governments that made these commitments have prioritized competition over collaboration, sovereignty over solidarity. They have not yet served the people they represent.
During the Summit people will be able to share their experiences and stories in different ways. These will include presentations from people in communties, live panels, open mic rooms, indigenous-led sessions, story telling, interviews, cultural expression along with workshops, academic presentations, and keynote addresses from political and civil society leaders. All live and pre-recorded video-presentations will have a chat section for your contributions and to interact with the presenters. This process will provide opportunities for co-building a new eco-social world, and generate security, safety and sustainability for this and future generations.
IFSW President, Joachim Mumba, commented “Social workers have the skills to facilitate safe spaces for dialogue for people to listen to each other and understand their journeys. This is essential to start co-building transformational change.”
In the Summit all participants will contribute to The People’s Charter for an Eco-Social World. The process has already started by people and communities submitting their contributions on what values, policies and practices needed to be developed to give everyone and the planet safety and security. During the Summit, the Charter will be developed and drafted from everyone’s contributions. The partners have agreed that the Charter needs to be a living document and will be initially submitted to the world’s leaders as they gather at the 2022 United Nations High-Level Political Forum and General Assembly as an invitation to join us and call to action to work with us for our shared futures.
This is one step on the journey of a continuing process for sustainability, justice, and equality for all. Join here.