People's Working Group on Multistakeholderism (Corporate Accountability (CA), FIAN International, Focus on the Global South, Friends of the Earth International (FOEI), Geneva Global Health Hub (G2H2), Global Campaign for Education, IT for Change, People’s Health Movement (PHM), Public Services International (PSI), Society for International Development (SID), Transnational Institute (TNI).
The Round Table, Our Future at Stake: The Corporate Capture of Multilateralism aims not only to address the Davos agenda of multistakeholderism but to initiate a dynamic exchange and contribute to building a dialogue between concerned social movements, affected sectors and governments.
About the event
The publication in September 2021 by the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) of the Report “Our Common Future” was a further strong indication of how fast the “multistkeholderization” and corporate capture of the global multilateral system is accelerating. This trend which IT for Change and other members of the People’s Working Group on Multistakeholderism* have been tracking and analyzing since 2018 has become systemic in key UN Institutions with dire impacts on people’s lives - in terms of inequality and injustice as well as a devastated planet. This is a trend, while emerging over several years, has become more visible since the Strategic Partnership between the UN and World Economic Forum (WEF) was signed in 2019.
This trend as it has taken root in five key policy areas, Health, Education, Food and Agriculture, Internet and Environment has been mapped in the book The Great Takeover: Mapping of Multistakeholderism in Global Governance, published by the PWGM. This publication, combined with the implications of the UNSG’s proposals in “Our Common Future” add urgency to the need for a strong engagement addressing the challenges raised.
It is in this context the roundtable, Our Future at Stake: The Corporate Capture of Multilateralism was organized on January 19, 2022, aimed not only to address the Davos agenda of multistakeholderism but to initiate a dynamic exchange and contribute to building a dialogue between concerned social movements, affected sectors and governments.
The Round Table contested the vision and trajectory of the multistakeholder approach as the only way to address the multiple inter-related crises. It also explored the challenges to be faced in exposing the Takeover of our common future by the actors of global corporate power and what is to be done about it.
Panelists:
Rosa Pavanelli - Secretary General, Public Services International (PSI)
Barbara Figueroa – Trade Union Confederation of the Americas, CSA-TUCA, former President, CUT, Chile
Jeremy Corbyn - Member of the House of Commons, UK
Harris Gleckman - Senior Fellow, Center for Global Governance and Sustainability, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA
Facilitation: Sofia Monsalve (FIAN) and Sulakshana Nandi (PHM)
Wrap up and conclusions: Brid Brennan, TNI
This is followed by the launch of the book The Great Takeover: Mapping of Multistakeholderism in Global Governance, published by the People's Working Group on Multistakeholderism.