Friends for Leadership: What’s your best practice for UN75?
Leadership, in times of crisis, means turning losses into opportunities — for all.
Now more than ever, leaders are called to build systems and infrastructures that simply cannot leave anybody behind.
As Under-Secretary-General Fabrizio Hochschild Drummond, UN75 Special Adviser said, “…if multilateralism is to survive, it has to grow more inclusive.” To lead in the new normal requires not only acquiring new knowledge, but a glocal culture of exchanging ideas, in a world that is ever more interconnected than before. Indeed, the next generation of social innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders, carries the imperative of the #FutureWeWant.
Launched at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2018, Friends for Leadership (FFL) is a horizontal platform for young leaders in each and every field, to synergize working solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals, in hopes of scaling them from the local to international level, when and where they are needed.
In commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, Friends for Leadership has partnered with Join UN75, Roscongress Foundation, BRICS TV, and the UN Information Centre Moscow, to launch the #FriendsforSDGs Online Contest, calling for best practices around the globe to present at the FFL Online Summit on 22 December, and a joint guidebook across all 17 SDG tracks. Selected projects may receive grants for implementation and replication of methodologies through partnerships and media coverage.
The @JoinUN75 findings have shown that: “When it comes to hopes and fears for the future, our findings show remarkable unity across all ages, regions, and social groups.”
As there is “no one size that fits all,” global actors need to focus on real action on the ground. That is why FFL first launched Friends of Cities, in coordination with UN-Habitat. From urban planners to urban gardeners, the localization discourse has had an ageless call for a local, bottom-up approach. For example, in the Philippines, “barangay” is the smallest unit of local governance, where each sector has elected representatives. Smart cities in Serbia, start-up incubation in Singapore, vertical farming in Bulgaria, urban art and culture in Kyrgyzstan, Uruguay and Nigeria, are other scalable practices that have been contributing to SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities.
As the pandemic itself is rooted in an imbalance of biodiversity and their habitats, planetary health is ever more urgent, from environmental targets, with Friends of Climate, Friends for Oceans, Friends for Nature, to ecological utilisation of resources, with Friends for Water, Friends for Food, and Friends for Energy. Online content creators in Indonesia and Latvia, physical think tanks in South Africa and Ghana, and more, have been asking the questions: What is an eco-friendly lifestyle? How do we sustain our food systems amidst the rural-urban divide? What about access to clean and safe drinking water? Are alternative sources of energy from the Global North, scalable to the South?
As both public and private sectors are stakeholders in this sustainability project, the project spheres of Friends for Innovation, Friends for Sustainability and Friends for Work aim to elevate the prosperity goals. In Mongolia, the New Normal has increased demand in digital re-skilling and up-skilling of the New Workforce. In India, the future of clean technology is embedded in rethinking waste management during and after quarantines.
Meanwhile in North America and Europe, the pandemic has taken a toll in health systems, which demand better public healthcare policies. The Global South continues to stress basic services as a prime concern, with special attention towards peace processes in the Middle East. Needless to say, people empowerment has always been a cross-cutting goal, and it sits at the centre of the humanitarian-development coalition through Friends for Solidarity, Friends for Education and Friends for Health.
Finally, all these lead to the holistic Sustaining Peace agenda, with Friends for Peace, driven by UN Security Council Resolutions 2250 (Youth, Peace and Security) and 1325 (Women, Peace and Security) that stress participation, alongside Friends for Equality, and Friends for Inclusion. Inspiringly so, children, youth, women, and all genders, ethnicities, social classes, so on have already been claiming spaces — there is the youth centre in Malaysia, a civil diplomacy institute in Brazil, women in business in Botswana, eco-schools in Nepal. Sustained by partnerships for the goals, breaking the silos and horizontal leadership are actualised in Friends for Partnerships, and the role of Centres of International Promotion, in counties such as Russia and beyond.
It does not matter who you are, what you do, where you are from, or how old you are. The task of leaving nobody behind is far from over. This is the time to step up, and do something outside the box, for one’s friends, family, community, industry, and hopefully, the shared humanity.
More than 550 applications from 93 countries have been received in the #FriendsForSDGs #UN75 Online Contest by @friendsforleadership and 100 projects from 61 countries have been shortlisted:
1. Abhirami Suresh (The United Arab Emirates)
2. Abifarin Babatunde (Nigeria)
3. Achuo Resco Fang (Cameroon)
4. Adriana Bianco (Italy)
5. Adugna Haile Wako (Ethiopia)
6. Agita Pasaribu (Indonesia)
7. Darin Malikova, Aidai Burkutova (Kyrgyzstan)
8. Aleksandr Konstantinov (Russia)
9. Alvian Wardhana (Indonesia)
10. Amr Galal Sakr (Egypt)
11. Anastasis Stamatis (Greece)
12. Andrew Prince Johnson (Uganda)
13. Ariela Valverde (Costa Rica)
14. Atta ul Haq (Pakistan)
15. Augusto Facundo Diaz (Argentina)
16. Bubacarr Singhateh (The Gambia)
17. Camilo José Herrera Díaz (Colombia)
18. Carl Joshua Ncube (Zimbabwe)
19. Catalina Henao (Colombia)
20. Chiamaka Jibuaku (Nigeria)
21. Chiara Cocchiara (Italy)
22. Cyril France (Ghana)
23. David Lara (Ecuador)
24. Dhandara Lucymilla Conceição da Silva (Brazil)
25. Diana Carolina Quintero (Colombia)
26. Dimas Rahadian Aji Muhammad (Indonesia)
27. Doris Saba (Lebanon)
28. Edith Esinam Asamani-Wasie (Ghana)
29. Emmanuel Damian (The Philippines)
30. Fatimazahra Bahjawi (Morocco)
31. Fatoumatta L Kassama (The Gambia)
32. Fernando Salerno (Venezuela)
33. Florencio Vente (Brazil)
34. Francis Koroma (Sierra Leone)
35. Gauri Mirashi (India)
36. Giulia Marzetti (Belgium)
37. Idris Ola (Nigeria)
38. Illac Diaz (The Philippines)
39. Ismail Kone (Côte d’Ivoire)
40. Jaimin Parikh (India)
41. Jenny Chinchilla (El Salvador)
42. John Jairo (Kenya)
43. John Kakandelwa (Zambia)
44. José Armando Gastelo-Roque (Peru)
45. JT Solis (The Philippines)
46. Julia Sergeeva (Russia)
47. Kalvince Otieno (Kenya)
48. Karanvir Singh (India)
49. Kasha Sequoia Slavner (Canada)
50. Kehinde Kenku (Nigeria)
51. Khairul Annuar Bin Mansor (Malaysia)
52. Laurence Lloyd Lumagbas (The Philippines)
53. Liliane Vicente dos Santos (Brazil)
54. Liz Andrade Varela (Brazil)
55. Louise Kanza (South Africa)
56. Luis Fernando Martinez Herrera (Guatemala)
57. Maiya Suyunchaliyeva (Kazakhstan)
58. Manuel Rojas (Colombia)
59. Marat Valeev (Russia)
60. Martin Masiya (Malawi)
61. Meth Monthary (Cambodia)
62. Mhd Bassel Al-Madani (Syria)
63. Michelle Blanchet (The United States)
64. Mitrasree Deb (Bangladesh)
65. Mohammed Alnaqeeb (Iraq)
66. Monzur Hussain Chowdhury (Bangladesh)
67. Navid Hameedi (Afghanistan)
68. Neha Ahmed (The United Kingdom)
69. Nguyễn Thị Diệu Hoa (Vietnam)
70. Obed Asamoah Kissi (Ghana)
71. Oluwafunmilayo Ayobami Oni (Nigeria)
72. Omar Elfata (Italy)
73. Pablo Marín Escobar (Mexico)
74. Patricia Ahanda (France)
75. Patrick Laby (Madagascar)
76. Pavel Ruzyak (The Czech Republic)
77. Rahul Kumar (India)
78. Ralitsa Dikanska (Bulgaria)
79. Ran Dai (China)
80. Raymond Owusu-Achiaw (Ghana)
81. Saad Uakkas (Morocco)
82. Sayed Ahmad Fahim Masoumi (Afghanistan)
83. Shamsuddeen Yusuf Ma’aruf (Nigeria)
84. Shaona Sen (India)
85. Shokanov Bauyrzhan (Kazakhstan)
86. Stephanie Laulhe Shaelou (Cyprus)
87. Sudesh Pokhrel (Bhutan)
88. Sunday Kolawole Sholanke (Nigeria)
89. Tatiana Chestina (Russia)
90. Thein Manimekalai Sowrirajan (India)
91. Topo Aime Dobo (Côte d’Ivoire)
92. Varan Pathmanathan (Denmark)
93. Veronica Almedom (Switzerland)
94. Véronique Bulaya (The Democratic Republic of Congo)
95. Wilfried Adingra (Côte d’Ivoire)
96. Willie Y. Mcgill (Liberia)
97. Win Nandar Thet Myanmar)
98. Yew Aun Quek (Malaysia)
99. Zarifa Zulfugarova (Azerbaijan)
100. Zein Twal (Jordan)
Stay tuned for the updates to e-meet all the shortlisted projects during the next weeks! 📌
