2023 needs to be the year of future generations.

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?[email protected].

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