2023 needs to be the year of future generations.
This past year has brought many intersecting crises to the forefront. To address them head-on, we will need fresh approaches and a new way forward that centres young people and future generations.
Hey friends,
It’s been a while since I last wrote to you.
In fact, it’s been over nine months. That is certainly an indication of what a busy year it has been - especially on the work front for me.
To catch up on lost time, please indulge me as I write a longer post this time.
A Year in Review
2022 has not been short of challenges. At the beginning of the year, as a global community, we were experiencing the 3Cs.
This included the knock-on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic - with multiple waves and variants to keep us busy and playing catch-up. It pushed our health care systems to the brink and created shortfalls of all kinds. Closer to home, in Canada, this included endangering continued access to our emergency rooms and producing a troubling shortage of essential children’s medications.
This was also one of the most catastrophic years for climate disasters in recent memory. As a global community, we are experiencing more frequent and severe extreme weather events. From flooding in Nigeria and Pakistan to droughts and threats of famine in East Africa to heat waves in Europe and hurricanes in North America, climate change is on our doorstep. Winter storms like the deadly ‘bomb cyclone’ one we experienced the last few days in Canada and US will happen more often.
This is all happening against the backdrop of escalating conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, risking the loss of life and liberty for millions. It has also spelled disaster for economies in the Global South reliant on this breadbasket for sustenance. Supply chains were impacted, and grain prices skyrocketed. It also created several knock-on effects and fomented a global debt, fuel, and fertilizer crisis.
All of this has culminated in an unprecedented global hunger crisis that the world has never seen before. Many nations, such as Haiti and Somalia, have the threat of famine looming large and are bracing for impact as we head into 2023. Right now, 828 million people are going to bed hungry every night, and the number is growing every day. The World Food Programme is reporting that 49 million people in 49 countries are ‘teetering on the edge of famine’.
We are living in perilous times. The stakes are especially dire for equity-seeking communities like women, girls, and youth. Young people and future generations are the least responsible for many of the crises we face but will experience disproportionate impacts now and in the future.
Finding hope seems more and more difficult, but it’s there. Despite the unnerving challenges of this year, we have also taken remarkable steps to move the needle and advance our aspirations for a more just and fair world.
A banner year for financing action on global health and climate change
Two moments, in particular, exemplify the significant progress we have made as a global community this past year.
Countries around the world expressed their global solidarity. They contributed to one of the most successful mechanisms to fight AIDS, Malaria, and TB - which has already saved over 50 million lives in its 20-year history. This year’s 7th Replenishment represented the largest amount ever raised by a multilateral fund - the Global Fund raised a total of $15.7 billion this cycle.
As the only Canadian agency involved in implementing the Global Fund, Plan International Canada was actively involved in the Replenishment Campaign this year. My team and I devoted considerable time and energy to do our part to advance global health equity through advocacy, coalition building, and policy-influencing efforts.
I’m proud to share - our collective advocacy worked!
I have to say, as a Canadian, one of my proudest moments this year was to see our nation contribute its fair share to the Global Fund. The Government of Canada contributed a total of $1.2 billion, representing a 30% increase in its commitment compared to the 6th replenishment.
Another promising moment was the breakthrough consensus achieved in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt at COP27, the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
After close to three decades of advocacy, advocates were successful in achieving the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund, a financing mechanism to support countries most vulnerable to climate change to recover and rebuild in the aftermath of climate disasters. More details need to be finalized, like who will pay for it and how much, and how countries will tap into it. The operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund will be one of the topics of interest at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates next year.
Notwithstanding the impressive fundraising to resource action on global health and global consensus building on creating a fund for climate reparations, we are entering a very challenging financial climate.
Since the Ukraine crisis in February, we’ve seen multiple reports of reduced development finance due to capital flight, diverted aid, and shrinking fiscal space resulting in several donor governments tightening expenditures, including reducing Official Development Assistance (ODA) - either through dramatic cuts or slowly transitioning.
Other forces may also be driving reductions in ODA that are yet to be fully understood. On the Canadian front, there is recent reporting in The Globe and Mail highlighting the Government of Canada may start to shift its development financing priorities from humanitarian action to infrastructure investments.
Finding hope
The current threat of several intersecting crises is simply mind-boggling. It is what many are starting to call ‘polycrisis’ - where many disparate shocks interact in such a way that they are much more than the sum of their parts. As a global community, we are entering perhaps the most complex socio-economic, political context we have in decades, if ever.
In this precarious context, there are still many things giving me hope. In the next 12 months, we will have many global forums to unleash our collective creativity and harness opportunities to meet the moment.
This coming year represents an important milestone in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - 2023 is the halfway point. As such, this year will mark several upcoming reviews to measure our progress against global targets on several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This includes the UN SDG Summit coming up in September 2023 as well as preparations for the 2024 Summit of the Future, characterized as a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate global action, recommit to fundamental principles and further develop the frameworks of multilateralism, so they are fit for the future,’ a culmination of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ Our Common Agenda initiative.
Additional opportunities this year to ensure we do not have a rollback on our progress on the Sustainable Development Goals agenda include multilateral forums such as the G7 hosted by Japan and the G20 hosted by India. Other moments I will also be monitoring include upcoming replenishments for Education Cannot Wait, the UN’s Global Fund for Education in Emergencies in February 2023, and the September 2023 replenishment for the world’s largest climate fund, the Green Climate Fund.
Finally, advocates and activists on the frontlines of multiple crises continue to inspire me - especially ones committed to advocating for the needs of today’s youth and future generations.
This year, through my work leading Team PLAY (Policy, Leadership, Advocacy, and Youth) at Plan International Canada and my participation as a mentor through programs by Fora Network for Change and the Tamil Youth Fellowship, I had the privilege of connecting with remarkable youth advocates across Canada and around the globe. From action on climate change to menstrual equity to refugee education to more effective and youth-informed diplomatic corps, many youth-led initiatives and advocacy campaigns have made an impact in Canada and globally to realize a brighter future for young people and future generations. They include groups like the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition, Toronto Youth Cabinet, Refugee Education Council, and Young Diplomats of Canada, among many, many others.
Their relentless advocacy and leadership of thriving social movements truly instill in me a belief that a better world is indeed possible. I’m confident more to come, and I’m excited to do my part to amplify, support, and strengthen youth-led organizing, nationally and globally.
To close, a quote by Indian author Arundhati Roy captures what I am feeling is on the horizon:
“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
In the year ahead, I hope we will have opportunities to collaborate on shared priorities, especially youth leadership programming and policy advocacy campaigns to advance children’s rights and equality for girls and young women.
As always, please do reach out and connect with me at anjumsultana.mph@gmail.com.
I would love to know - what are your priorities for 2023 and what is giving you hope this coming year?
Till we speak again, take good care.
Sincerely,
Anjum
PS: If you or your friends want to sign up for the newsletter, you can do so here:
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Opportunities to stretch + grow
Board Director | Canadian Association for Global Health | Deadline December 31, 2022
Fellows Next Generation Program | Mosaic Institute | Deadline December 31, 2022
Human Rights College Planning Committee | Amnesty International Canadian Section (English Speaking) | Deadline January 2, 2023
Board Director | CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals | Deadline January 3, 2023
CSW67 Delegate | Ontario Council for International Cooperation | Deadline January 4, 2023
Call for Presentation Proposals for International Summer Course on the Rights of the Child | University of Moncton | January 15, 2023
Argyle Community Day - Pro-Bono Communications Training | Argyle | Deadline January 17, 2023
Institute for Corporate Directors (ICD) - Rotman Governance Essentials Programs - Scholarship | January 19, 2023
International Youth Fellow | Aga Khan Foundation Canada | Deadline February 1, 2023
25+ jobs in policy, communications & public affairs:
Communications Manager | Canadian Feed The Children | Deadline December 31, 2022
Executive Assistant (Parental Leave Replacement) | Cooperation Canada | Deadline January 2, 2023
Program Officer | Plan International Canada | Deadline January 3, 2023
Communications Manager | Health Systems Global | Deadline January 3, 2023
Head of Global Media and Public Relations | Plan International | Deadline January 5, 2023
Bilingual Communications Manager | Canadian Race Relations Foundation | Deadline January 6, 2023
Public Policy Manager | Canadian Race Relations Foundation | Deadline January 6, 2023
Director of Advocacy and Government Relations | Crohn’s and Colitis Canada | Deadline January 6, 2023
Digital Specialist, Mobilization & Engagement | David Suzuki Foundation | Deadline January 7, 2023
Senior Manager, Knowledge Translation | Plan International Canada | Deadline January 8, 2023
Policy and Campaign Manager | Nature Canada | Deadline January 8, 2023
Strategy Lead | Plan International Canada | Deadline January 8, 2023
Advocacy and Partnership Manager | Nobel Women’s Initiative | Deadline January 9, 2023
Communications Specialist | People for Education | Deadline January 9, 2023
Manager of Communications | Oxfam Canada | Deadline January 12, 2023
Gender Equality Officer (Bilingual) | CanWaCH | Deadline January 15, 2023
Policy & Government Relations Officer | CanWaCH | Deadline January 15, 2023
Regional Advocacy Manager - Africa | Malala Fund | Deadline January 15, 2023
Communications Manager | Toronto Environmental Alliance | Deadline January 15, 2023
Director of Government Relations | YMCA of Greater Vancouver | Deadline January 15, 2023
Senior Advocacy and Campaigns Advisor | Canadian Association of Public Employees | Deadline January 15, 2023
Senior Communications Specialist | Canadian Climate Institute | Deadline January 16, 2023
Co-Executive Director of Programs, Policy and Government Relations | Canadian Council for Refugees | Deadline January 17, 2023
Senior Government Relations Officer | Council of Ontario Universities | Deadline January 20, 2023
Associate Director, Policy and Advocacy | Global Alliance for Tobacco Control | Deadline January 22, 2023
Director of Communications | Rainbow Railroad | Deadline January 23, 2023
Policy Roles | Ontario Public Service | Deadline January 31, 2023
Business Development Manager | Plan International Mali | Deadline January 31, 2023