FEEEDS Global Issues Update: Concordia's 2021 Summit Report, Women's Health Index, Democracy Regression & Climate Change/COP26

As a follow-up to its recent, and well-respect annual summit, always held on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, Concordia's 2021 event highlighted the state of the world's social and business issues. This year's Concordia Summit, its 11th, had nearly 300 speakers addressing international issues. You can learn more by reading the report on the summit now live, as well as review some of the key factoids around global issues, which were  highlighted at the 4-day event(2021 summit: by the numbers). The Summit was held both virtually, and with limited in-person interaction. 

Ambassador Sanders, as a global advocate on key development issues, is a senior advisor to Concordia. One of the key session for Dr. Sanders, as CEO-FEEEDS, was the data presentation on the Women's Health Index done by Hologic with polling done in partnership by Gallup World Poll on key health concerns for women. The Index focuses on health issues as well as servicing gaps for women world-wide in some 116 countries based on interviews with 120,000 women. Other issues during the Summit which resonated with FEEEDS' advocacy were turn-backs on democracy, COVID'pushing more people into extreme poverty, and  COP26. Below are some highlights on these key FEEEDS's advocacy issues, which were highlighted by various speakers in various ways during the Summit:

-- Turn-backs on Democracy:  Pressures on democracy (what FEEEDS calls "Democracy Regression") continues to increase across every region of the world, through both government and unilateral actions (from Myanmar to Brazil and coups in West Africa) as well as extreme societal and political divides in countries like the United States, France, Germany and India;

-- COVID-19 & Poverty: COVID-19, is not only turning back the clock on previous global efforts to reduce poverty (2000-2015 MDGs & 2015-2030 SDGS underway now), but possibly pushing another 97 million more people into extreme poverty (define as less than $1.90/day). We must step up and make three-times the effort to get back to pre-pandemic levels, which in and of themselves were stark. Pre-pandemic 2019 levels had 635 million people (see chart on 2015-2020) living in extreme poverty, even though great global reductions had been achieved year-on-year over the last decade. COVID-19 not only stopped progress, but turned back the clock on poverty reduction. The most recent extreme global poverty figures by the World Bank has the combined the 2019 pre-pandemic poverty figure (635 miilion), with the COVID-driven additional 97 million -- resulting in a projected 2021 total figure of  711 million people who face extreme poverty today. (NB: U.S., Brazil & India, in that order, had highest COVID deaths);

-- Climate Change & COP26: Bottom line is faster action and larger financial commitments are needed to reduce the affects of climate change by both governments, business, and institutions. Underscoring these two points, numerous Concordia's Summit sessions further stressed that we need to move three times faster in order to reach the net zero goal of reducing carbon emissions by 1.5˚C. In addition, there needs to be more action on helping with climate refugees and climate famine as both are growing at alarming rates.  It was recognized that a lot depended, of course, on what the 26th United Nations' climate change meeting of the Conference of Parties in Glasgow, United Kingdom produced, (better known as COP26). So far here is where we are on a few areas coming out of COP26 (section will be updated as other commitments come in and are clarified):

-- 100 world leaders attended;

-- 450 global businesses promised to climate reduction by 2023, valued at  USD$130 trillion;1

-- Net 0 - United Kingdom announced it would become a "net zero financial center," where firms would publish their climate actions;2 

-- $11 billion pledged by the United States to help developing countries with climate change;3

-- $19 billion committed by 100 countries to address deforestation and forest degradation, including assistance with rebuilding and rejuvenating the world's forest over the  next 8 years. Included in this pledge was $1.7billion to assist and support indigenous peoples in the world's key rain forest area. (NB: Of note, rain forest areas as large as the United Kingdom were lost last year due to climate change; 85 percent of the world's forest are in Brazil, Congo Basin & Indonesia. Dr. Sanders has been to all three);4

-- 100 countries signed on to the U.S. & UK led push for reductions in methane gas, another contributor to climate change CO2 emissions;  (NB: Top U.S. CO2  emissions in this order are fossil fuels (transportation, industry, electricity, homes & businesses); agriculture (methane gas); unmanaged land and forestry use.5

 -- 40 countries also pledged to shift away from coal/fossil fuel. However, there is a lot of leeway in what this might mean from new investments to financing and production.  Varying dates for ending total use were conveyed. Biggest polluters -- China, U.S., Australia, India and Japan -- did not sign onto this pledge.6

-- $105 billion committed to help spur green energy projects in developing nations was also pledged.7

resource notes:

1. World News Live, CGTN 11/4/21

2. World News Live & BBC news 11/3/21

3. World News Live, CGTN, BBC news & NPR 11/2/21

4. World News Live, CGTN & BBC news 11/3/21

5.  COP26 11/2/21

6. BBC & Reuters 11/4/21

7. NYTimes online 11/4/21

A FEEEDS Series Blogspot
 

Ambassador Sanders, CEO-FEEEDS, Appointed Concordia's Senior Advisor, Prestigious Leading Global Organization Fostering Collaboration on Global Issues

Below follows Concordia's announcement of its new Senior Advisors, who will help the organization further its mission to "create a global community where challenges are solved collaboratively and inclusively by actively fostering, elevating, and sustaining cross-sector partnerships for social impact." Ambassador Sanders will be participating in Concordia's upcoming annual summit of world political, business, and social impact leaders held during this year's United Nations session. Dr. Sanders will also advise and lend insights for its international and domestic events and meetings throughout 2021-2022.

We’re thrilled to announce the appointment of 60 Advisors and Senior Advisors to the Concordia community for 2021-22.  Selected from a pool of over 125 nominees, this impressive group of individuals, representing a multitude of sectors, industries, and geographies, will play an instrumental role in guiding the direction, development, and growth of Concordia over the next 12 months. From lending their insight into policy developments to sharing their expertise on innovations in their respective industries, Concordia’s Advisors and Senior Advisors are carefully selected by Concordia’s executive leadership, Leadership Council, Board of Directors, and staff, and serve for a one-year term.

A FEEEDS Series Blogspot

Western Union (WU) President & CEO Hikmet Ersek Visits Nigeria along Dr. Sanders as Western Union Advisor & WU Regional VP Diarra

   

   Western Union (WU) President & CEO Hikmet Ersek, Dr. Robin Renee Sanders -WU Advisor on Africa SME Initiatives, WU Regional VP for North&Central Africa Aida Diarra @ Press Conference on WU's focus on Nigeria, Lagos Nigeria

Western Union^® President and CEO says Nigeria is key to Africa expansion

 Lagos, Nigeria, June 18 2013 - The Western Union^® Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in global payments services, today said that Nigeria is at the forefront of the company’s expansion plans in Africa – facilitating reliable cross-border payments with a growing retail agent network and expansion into new channels with mobile payments and account-based money transfers.

With more than half a million locations¹ in 200 countries and territories, Western Union has been present in Africa since 1995 and has more than 27,000 Agent locations spanning 50 countries across the continent. In Nigeria alone, Western Union has more than 4,800 locations represented by a majority of Nigeria’s banks.

On a two-day visit to Nigeria, Western Union’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Hikmet Ersek, said, “Western Union’s vision is to become the world’s premier financial services provider for people around the globe who have unmet financial needs. To achieve this, we are pursuing a multi-product, multi-channel strategy to enable consumers to manage their finances any way and any time they want. Nigeria is at the forefront of leading our commitment in Africa.”

“Speeding financial inclusion, giving more people access to basic financial services, is at the heart of Western Union’s investment and commitment to work with partners in other industries to offer new products and services,” he said. “We are already demonstrating this in Nigeria with remittances into retail, direct-to-bank and through mobile.”

“For our consumers, this means the ability to move money for personal growth, empowerment and personal achievement. For all of these reasons, and more, I am delighted to be here in Nigeria – the world’s fifth largest² remittance receiver – to see Western Union’s multiple channel traction taking shape, in association with multiple collaborators,” he said.

“As a leading global payments services company, we are also committed to continuing to bring best practices in the areas of consumer protection, fraud prevention and anti-money laundering,” he added.

Aida Diarra, Regional Vice President, North Central Africa, Western Union, said, “When Western Union commenced its services in Nigeria, the company moved money from 69 countries into Nigeria; in 2012, we moved money from 196 countries. This is testimony to the fact that an integral part of inclusive financial services is a robust and regulated multiple channel network, globally and locally.”

“The possibilities for the future here in Nigeria are strong. We believe that, as we continue to cooperate with other companies and regulators, we can make good use of our network in Nigeria to introduce new channels and a broader range of services that provide basic financial services and promote financial inclusion among millions of people,” she said.

The company’s first bank agent in Nigeria, First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), inked an additional five-year agreement with the company this month.

Account Based Money Transfer (ABMT), a service that allows the receipt of funds transferred through Western Union directly to bank accounts, is currently available with GTBank and Stanbic IBTC. ABMT will also be launched with Eco-Bank.

More recently, Mobile Money Transfer (MMT) was introduced, offering Nigerian consumers the choice to receive transferred funds into their mobile wallets. It is currently available on Virtual Terminal Network (VTN) with access to 500,000 m-wallets.  It will be further expanded with a launch with eTranzact in the coming months. These products form the base of Western Union’s innovative digital product strategy.

Western Union also plays a key role in financial inclusion in Nigeria, which goes beyond enabling consumers to receive money. The company and the Western Union Foundation have partnered with the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the Bank of Industry (BOI) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to support entrepreneurship and help create growth for small- and medium-sized business enterprises in Nigeria and across Africa. Through the unique opportunity, provided by the African Diaspora Marketplace and related programs, Nigerian businesses have been empowered with - development grants, business training and access to pitch to investors and bankers for equity and loan financing.


Note: Dr. Sanders is serving as Western Union's Advisor on its Africa SME Initiative

Security Sector Reform: Dr. Sanders Highlights Key Issues at NDU's African Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS)

Speaking to a group of Security Professional in Washington D.C. at the National Defense University's ACSS Center, Ambassador Sanders highlighted the following key points as regards to strategic issues that need to be viewed as part of a new framework on security sector reform (SSR):

• Today's security landscape is very different from 10 years ago, and we as security sector professionals need to look at the issues differently and be more innovative;

• Key human cultural elements need to be thought through when addressing/reforming current the SSR framework;

• There are an array of possible demographics (gender, regional and  world view differences) that are playing a role in how we respond and should address any new SSR Framework;

• Expand and include other non-traditional players/actors  in the SSR discussion and SSR framework (e.g.judiciary, media, local NGOs, national assemblies, private sector).

• Don't try to define SSR, be more open as to what the elements of SSR might be as adhering soley to a definition might cause you to miss a strategic change or nuance. Stay away from the "cookie cutter" approach as each country is different.

• New elements of SSR operations should include more specialized components to address the new framework of SSR such as: small specialized flexable forces that an adapt to rapid on-ground changes; separate communications components looking at both implicit & explicit communications issues; and, expand the network of sectors included in SSR as noted above.

• The success of any SSR should be measured differently than in the past (i.e. what will be the new performance indicators, past goal=professionalizing military, para-military & police/participate in joint exercises, democratic leadership of military) but what are new performance indicators today)? How should we be measuring the success of any new SSR Framework?

Sanders Makes "New Global Landscape" Speech @ Westminster College

As Woodrow Wilson Visiting Scholar - Sanders makes key National Security Speech

Westminster College invited Woodrow Wilson Visiting Scholar
Dr. Robin Sanders, the former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, for an intensive week-long visit. Ambassador Sanders conducted classes, seminars, workshops, and lectures and  met with students and faculty members informally throughout the week to share her practical knowledge in the areas of foreign policy, human rights, and living in a global community.





Sanders speaking with Westminster College President after delivering "New Global Landscape" keynote speech

“Dr. Robin Sanders was a perfect fit for Westminster College. Our students had a chance to meet a world-class leader with a deep knowledge of foreign affairs, helping to create better understanding and new connections between the academic and nonacademic worlds,” said Jorden Sanders, Student Government Association President. "We were delighted that Ambassador Robin Sanders had time to get to know our campus and to explore in depth how the classroom and campus relate to the broader society.”
Wesminster College President Forsythe added that his students benefitted greatly from Sanders extensive experience as a global leaders and her indepth lectures on a range of national security issues.

Click below to read Dr. Sanders public speech on the "New Global Landscape" given at the Westminster Historic Church of St. Mary.
www.http://blogitrrs.blogspot.com/2013/03/new-global-landscapeyour-role-as-global.html