Each year, the Global Hope Coalition convenes world leaders, heroes and activists, academics, NGOs, philanthropists, multinational corporations and others during the U.N. General Assembly opening week in New York City. This annual event, a platform to recognize the critical importance of ending violent extremism, provides an opportunity to hear from Everyday Heroes and to review and appraise the programs supported around the world.
Gala Dinner: Tribute to the Heroes of the Global Campaign Against Extremism and Intolerance
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Gala Dinner, New York Public Library
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New York Public Library
September 18, 2017
The Global Hope Coalition was launched a star-studded special ceremony bringing together 550 government and business leaders, cultural icons, philanthropists, and human rights activists with the avowed aim of “taking the fight against extremism and intolerance to the next level.” At the event, ten men and women from around the world who are taking great risks to oppose extremists, wherever they spread lies, bigotry, and hatred, were honored as Everyday Heroes.
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova chaired the event, which took place in the presence of President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan, President Rumen Radev of Bulgaria, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali, President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca of Malta, and His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco. Iraqi President Dr. Fuad Masum sent as his special envoy Dr. Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, the country’s Foreign Minister. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara was represented by cabinet minister Ally Coulibaly.
Former President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair, former First Lady of the United States Laura Bush, and the First Ladies of Bulgaria, Ghana and Mali were among the high-level dignitaries, as were the Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Mali, Morocco, and Nigeria; Priti Patel, United Kingdom Secretary of State for International Development; United Nations Undersecretary-General Ana María Menéndez and Undersecretary-General Vladimir Voronkov; and David Drake, the Canadian Foreign Ministry’s Director General for International Security and Intelligence.
World Jewish Congress President Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder presented the A Hero for Humanity Award posthumously to Samuel Pisar and Judith Pisar accepted the award in the name of her late husband.
Other notable guests included former World Bank President James Wolfensohn; American actor, producer, and director Forest Whitaker; former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Gillian Sorensen; President of Yong Xin Hua Yun Cultural Industry Group Li Yongjun; former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay; Tunisia’s Nobel Peace Laureate Wided Bouchamaoui; Middle East Institute President Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin; Smithsonian Institution’s Ambassador at Large Richard Kurin; Harvard Women’s Francine LeFrak; Goldman Sachs Executive Vice-President John Rogers; President emerita of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Emily Rafferty; Chairman of the Antiquities Coalition Deborah Lehr; and Juan Zarate, Chairman and cofounder of the Financial Integrity Network, and Deputy National Security Advisor to former President George W. Bush.
CNN Anchor Brooke Baldwin served as the master of ceremonies for the event.
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Leadership Luncheon: The Battle to Save the Cultural Heritage of Humanity: Who’s Winning?
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Luncheon, New York Public Library
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New York Public Library
September 18, 2017
The Global Hope Coalition held an exclusive luncheon hosted by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, and the foundation’s Leadership Board.
Chair: Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder
Guest of Honor: His Excellency Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, President of Mali
A panel discussion was moderated by Juan Zarate, Chairman and Co-founder of the Financial Integrity Network, former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor, and member of the Experts Committee of the Global Hope Coalition:
- Richard Kurin, Ambassador at Large, the Smithsonian Institution
- Ilber Ortayli, President emeritus of Topkapi Museum, Turkey
- Emily Rafferty, President emerita of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- N’Diaye Ramatoulaye Diallo, Minister of Culture, Mali
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Joint Action Meeting: Women, Children and the Trauma of Extremism
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Joint Action Meeting, New York Public Library
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New York Public Library
September 18, 2017
The Global Hope Coalition, in cooperation with UNESCO and the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), brought together a group of first ladies and other invested leaders to address the effects of terrorism and violent extremism on women and children.
Joint action meeting participants issued a statement urging the international community to take concrete and urgent measures to deal with a crisis that could lead to a lost generation across the Middle East and Africa, with catastrophic consequences.
Speakers at the event included Jeanette Kagame, First Lady of Rwanda; Keïta Aminata Maiga, First Lady of Mali; Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO; Wided Bouchamaoui, President of the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts and 2013 Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Gillian Sorensen, a former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations; and May Makhzoumi, President of the Makhzoumi Foundation in Lebanon. UNESCO’s director for gender equality, Saniye Gulser Corat, moderated the meeting.
A panel of experts, chaired by Professor Phyllis Magrab, Director of the Georgetown University Center for Human and Child Development, presented a broad picture of the current state of affairs, and the policies and actions needed to address the growing crisis. The experts included Alexandra Chen, mental health and psychosocial advisor to UN agencies on the Syria crisis; Farah Pandith of the Council on Foreign Relations, the first-ever State Department Special Representative to Muslim Communities; and Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini, Co-founder and Executive Director of ICAN.
Hafsat Mohammed, a community organizer working against Boko Haram in northern Nigeria, and Dr. Waheed Arian, who has founded a “teleheal” system to help local physicians treat patients and victims in war zones, spoke about the situation in Nigeria and in Afghanistan.
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