Month: August 2023

Digital summit returns on Saturday, September 2, ahead of the G20, convening government leaders, civil society, grassroots advocates, and the private sector, calling for urgent action to address challenges facing humanity and the planet

Speakers to include Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations; Ban Ki-moon, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations; Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda; Gilbert Houngbo, Director General of the International Labor Organization; José Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste; Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Wang-Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister of China; Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia; Battsetseg Banmunkh, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mongolia; Sofia Carson, Singer, Actor and Activist; Sabrina Dhowre Elba, Model, Actor and Activist, with more to be confirmed

Join the global conversation and take action by registering for the Global Town Hall 2023 at www.gth2023.com

JAKARTA and NEW YORK, August 30, 2023 /3BL/ – Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) and Global Citizen, the world’s leading advocacy organization, working in partnership with a worldwide consortium of civil society organizations, think tanks, and universities, today announced its fourth annual virtual Global Town Hall, taking place on Saturday, 2 September (GMT+7). The virtual Global Town Hall will convene government leaders, private sector executives, grassroots advocates, and philanthropic experts to discuss our planet’s most pressing challenges.

Under the theme “This Is Our World Too: A North-South-East-West Dialogue of Civil Societies,” the Global Town Hall will convene sectors for high-caliber discussions and debates on the state of the world involving leading minds worldwide. The virtual summit aims to engage global citizens with different perspectives and ideas on addressing global challenges, facilitating a genuine and high-quality East-West and North-South dialogue at the grassroots level.

The virtual 15-hour marathon discussions will feature speakers including Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations;Ban Ki-moon, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations; Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda; Gilbert Houngbo, Director General of the International Labor Organization; José Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste; Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Wang-Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister of China; Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia; Battsetseg Banmunkh, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mongolia; Sofia Carson, Singer, Actor and Activist; Sabrina Dhowre Elba, Model, Actor and Activist, with more to be confirmed.

Both FPCI and Global Citizen aim to elevate communities and civil societies worldwide whose voices must be considered in global discussions, especially by those informing national and multilateral policies that affect their lives. Whether focused on enabling reforestation initiatives to uplift those living in remote areas, or ensuring a fair transition for resource-dependent regions as they navigate away from fossil fuels, this Town Hall serves as a crucial platform for fostering these discussions.

Taking place ahead of the G20 summit in India and the Global Citizen Festival in New York City, this series of discussions will feature issues including empowering small-scale farmers, defending human rights defenders, promoting youth political participation, empowering girls, supporting indigenous communities and protectors of our forests, while galvanizing much-needed climate action, and much more.

The Global Town Hall has gathered over 12,000 people from more than 140 countries since its inception.

“We are living in volatile times. As the world becomes increasingly divided and distrustful, we need more – not less – dialogue and civil societies must be part of this conversation. Civil societies want their voices to be heard and have a treasure of ideas and goodwill to offer policy-makers. The Global Town Hall aims to bring east-west-north-south communities together to promote better understanding, deeper trust, and mutual respect, without which no global problems can be resolved.” FPCI Founder and Chairman Dr. Dino Patti Djalal stated.

“The Global Town Hall offers a significant platform, not just for amplifying the voices of youth and civil society organisations, but also for ensuring their ideas are heard by those in power,” said Michael Sheldrick, Global Citizen Co-Founder and Chief Policy, Impact, and Government Affairs Officer, “As we approach the 2030 deadline to eliminate hunger and achieve SDG2, we are witnessing the loss of nearly a decade of progress. Against a backdrop of ongoing crises, additional stressors, including Russia’s catastrophic decision to cause the Black Sea Grain Initiative to fail or the UK’s draconian cuts to its Overseas Development Aid, are exacerbating global food prices and directly driving hunger-related mortality and morbidity. While there is agreement that ‘something’ must be done to strengthen global food systems, there remain significant disagreements about what tools are to be leveraged and what such a food system should look like. These urgent issues cannot wait, and we urge governments across the world to act now.”

Registration for Global Town Hall 2023 is now open at www.gth2023.com.

– Ends –

About Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI):

FPCI is the largest foreign policy group in Indonesia, and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia and Indo-Pacific, with over 100,000 people in its network. It is a non-partisan, non-profit, independent foreign policy organization established to bring foreign policy to the grassroots with the mission to shape and promote positive internationalism across Indonesia and the world. For more information, connect with FPCI on social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

About Global Citizen:

Global Citizen is the world’s leading international advocacy organization on a mission to end extreme poverty NOW. Powered by a worldwide community of everyday activists raising their voices and taking action, the movement is amplified by campaigns and events that convene leaders in music, entertainment, public policy, media, philanthropy, and the corporate sector. Over the past 10 years, $43.6 billion in commitments announced on Global Citizen platforms has been deployed, impacting nearly 1.3 billion lives. Established in Australia in 2008, Global Citizen’s team operates from New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin, Melbourne, Toronto, Johannesburg, Lagos, and beyond. Join the movement at globalcitizen.org, download the Global Citizen app, and follow Global Citizen on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Twitter.

For media inquiries: 

Irfan, FPCI Press Secretary – irfan@fpcindonesia.org / +62 878-7650-7488 
Global Citizen Press Team – media@globalcitizen.org

Press Kit

The incredible experience of our corporate volunteers showcase the lasting impact of skills-based volunteering. After participating in one skills-based volunteering event, Alexa Tang was encouraged to continue giving back meaningfully. As a Senior Product Manager at Arity, she utilized her specialized expertise and talent to optimize the operations of mission-driven organizations. By channeling her passion and curiosity into her volunteer work, she became a catalyst for change.

I felt so energized after my first skills-based volunteering event that I signed up for every opportunity after that! It feels great to dedicate a day to working with a nonprofit.

Common Impact was fortunate to have your perspective on a recent skills-based project with the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, a nonprofit on a mission to disrupt gender-based violence within AAPI communities throughout the U.S. and its territories. What was the challenge you collaborated on, and how did you use your professional skills to solve it? 

My most recent experience volunteering with Common Impact was through Allstate Foundation’s Day of Service. My group was assigned to work with the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API-GBV) to improve its internal communications strategy to strengthen ties with other GBV organizations and the AAPI community.

My experiences in both my professional and personal life helped me collaborate on this challenge with my team. Professionally, I’ve developed human-centered design thinking skills at Arity to lead with empathy when facilitating meetings. This helped me listen beyond the words of what our organization described as challenges and probe them deeper for what they wanted to accomplish. It also enabled our team to work together in a virtual environment, using online collaboration tools to chart what we heard and discuss possible solutions. In the past, I’ve also been a member of a performing arts group that’s also a 501c3 nonprofit. My personal experiences with that group helped me understand API-GBV’s challenges in setting up a strategy. I wasn’t expecting to draw from these skills, but they were helpful throughout the day.

From your experience, what sets skills-based volunteering apart from more traditional volunteer experiences? 

What’s unique about skills-based volunteering is that it requires you to bring all of you to the experience. Traditional volunteering primarily requires you to invest time, and it’s usually some task that needs extra hands. What’s cool about volunteering with Common Impact is that it’s helping organizations that need extra hands, minds, and hearts.

What would you say to corporate leaders considering bringing skills-based volunteering to their company or participating in a project for the first time? 

I’d tell someone new to skills-based volunteering that you never know how much you have to offer until you do it. Initially, I felt self-conscious about the skills I’d be able to offer, but I’ve found that every experience you’ve had can translate into a skill. The diversity of experiences we had as a team helped the organizations we were paired with.

How did you become interested in skills-based volunteering, and what motivated you? 

I wasn’t convinced about skills-based volunteering until I heard about it through the Allstate Foundation’s Day of Service. It seemed like a cool way to work with other people across the Allstate Corporation (not just my company), and it would let me contribute to a good cause. I felt energized after my first one and signed up for every opportunity after that. It feels great to dedicate a day to working with a nonprofit, meeting and working with people I don’t usually get to, and seeing how I have more to offer than I thought. The day goes so quickly, and it’s a lot of fun – it feels selfish even to call it volunteering!

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About Common Impact 
Common Impact is a national nonprofit that works to build a society in which individuals and businesses invest their unique talents towards a shared purpose: strengthening the local communities in which we live and work. Founded in 2000, Common Impact has partnered with Fortune 500 companies and hundreds of the country’s leading nonprofit organizations to create transformational change through skills-based volunteering. Learn more about Common Impact’s services, impact, and clients.