UN – United Nations

This World Refugee Day, I’m thinking about Nyanwour Deng, a mother of four whom I met at the Kakuma camp for refugees in Kenya. She and her young children fled violence in South Sudan and walked three days to get to the safety of the camp. Around the world, the forces of conflict, climate change, environmental degradation, instability, and disrespect for human rights are leaving millions of people vulnerable and threatening to undo our gains against global […]

Right now, approximately 65 million people have been forced from their homes because of conflict and disaster – the highest level since World War II. Refugees are more than a label – they are entrepreneurs, community leaders, professionals, parents, and so much more. The value refugees bring to communities rarely makes the news, but as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said, “Refugees are famously devoted to education and self reliance. These are brave, resilient, and forward-looking people

This week, I witnessed something extraordinary: A group of “the greats” in the public relations and communications world came together to challenge each other to produce award-winning work for an important client – the future. On any other day, they might be described as competitors. But what I saw them display was something even more ambitious. They were collaborators. As part of the meetings at the Cannes Lions Festival, these executives talked about ways to make the

Last month, from May 23-27, hundreds of leaders gathered at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya for the second UN Environment Assembly (the first was held in 2014). The goal was “Delivering on the 2030 Environmental Agenda.” The assembly provides environment ministers, stakeholders, and experts from around the world an opportunity to come together to discuss environmental challenges and work on resolutions to advance action. Achim Steiner, the outgoing Executive Director of

As we close out another month and approach the midway day of 2016, it is a great time to take a breather and reflect on the progress of those working in the social good space have been making. These stories give us hope that, despite the challenges we face, we are making strides in the right directions to make the world a more environmentally friendly, healthy, and culturally acceptant place. Here are three good news stories that

I am honored to be named as a “Global Advocate for Youth” for the United Nations Foundation with a mission to help engage young people in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals and a world of opportunity for all. I am immensely proud of this distinction for many reasons, but today I want to focus on just one. In my life, I have had the opportunity to be many things: I am a professional soccer player, an entrepreneur,

By Kaysie Brown and Dinah McLeod United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been known to say, “We need to marry the private sector’s greatest strengths with the public sector’s greatest challenges.” At first blush, it may seem odd – the notion of international development and business communities working together. After all, as the story goes, a business’ bottom line is to generate profit, while development is the responsibility of policymakers or NGOs. But we are in a

The 69th World Health Assembly, held last month in Switzerland, highlighted some of the world’s most pressing global health issues, including climate change – an issue that doesn’t always appear in global health conversations, but is directly linked to the health of people everywhere. Christiana Figueres, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary, addressed the assembly, devoting her discussion to the nexus between climate change and global health. Figueres began her

“We are resolved to free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and want and to heal and secure our planet. We are determined to take the bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world on to a sustainable and resilient path. As we embark on this collective journey, we pledge that no one will be left behind.” These words are in the preamble of the Sustainable Development Goals, a global to-do