A diverse group of leaders and personalities will represent Club de Madrid at the UN General Assembly

For another year, Club de Madrid, the largest forum of democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers, will be represented in New York UNGA 79 by a large and diverse delegation between the 19th and 28th of September, participating in several of the most important activities like Summit of the Future Action Days and organising others of its own. 

The Members and Advisors of Club de Madrid, and the participants of WYDE Network of Young Decision-makers, a group of exceptional young leaders under 36 years old who are active in politics and in decision-making bodies, will travel to the city to promote the multilateral agenda and participate in several of the events for which this week is a key point. 

On 27 September, an Action Lab will be held in preparation for our Annual Policy Dialogue, which this time focuses on ‘Financing for Development’. The meeting will take place at the Baha’i International Community headquarters and will be attended, in addition to our Members, by representatives of UN Member States, UN Senior Officials, the private sector and civil society.

The meeting will be crucial to present the preliminary findings and policy recommendations of the Working Groups that have been established for the Policy Dialogue. It will provide the momentum for a preliminary exchange to refine these initial ideas into concrete actions for inclusion in the Concluding Document that we will issue at our Annual Policy Dialogue.

Beyond this Policy Lab, our delegation’s agenda is full of events: Club de Madrid is co-organiser of an official Summit of the Future Action Days plenary on 20 September. Our participants from the WYDE Network of Young Decision-makers will participate on ‘#YouthLead for the Future: Governance for human rights, peace and security and political processes’, a discussion on governance for human rights, peace and security and political processes.

During these days will also take place the Summit of the Future, in which Club de Madrid will have a very important role as co-led by the ImPACT Coalition on International Financial Architecture Reform and Financing for Development (IFA-FfD), which will organise the Side Event ‘Pact for the Future and Beyond: Towards the 4th International Conference of Financing for Development’ to be held on 21 September. 

The session is co-convened by Member States such as the Government of Spain and South Africa and international organisations such as UN DESA, UNCTAD, ECLAC and UN-HABITAT. The objective of the side event is to create a platform for dialogue and reflection on the progress made under the Compact for the Future, in particular in the areas of reform of the International Financial Architecture (IFA) and financing for development.

As part of our work with the Global Democracy Coalition we will organise a session on ‘Economic Injustice, Social Unrest, and the Erosion of Democracy’ together with Human Rights Watch with the participation of several of our Members to be held at their headquarter in the Empire State Building on Wednesday 25 September.

During this UNGA we will also continue the work already started with projects such as ‘Leadership for Net Zero’ or in strengthening transatlantic relations efforts.

These are the Club de Madrid Members, Advisors and participants of WYDE Network of Young Decision-makers available for interviews during UNGA week in New York City:

 

Members

  • Carlos Alvarado, President of Costa Rica and Member of Club de Madrid
  • Joyce Banda, President of Malawi (2012-2014) and Member of Club de Madrid
  • Alain Berset, President of Switzerland (2018; 2023) and Member of Club de Madrid
  • Kjell Magne Bondevik, Prime Minister of Norway (1997-2000; 2001-2005)
  • Laura Chinchilla, President of Costa Rica (2010-2014)
  • Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1999-2008)
  • José Manuel Durão Barroso, Prime Minister of Portugal (2002-2004) 
  • Tarja Halonen, President of Finland (2000-2012) and Member of Club de Madrid
  • Han Seung-soo, Prime Minister of South Korea (2008-2009) and Member of Club de Madrid
  • Yves Leterme, Prime Minister of Belgium (2008, 2009-2011) and Member of Club de Madrid
  • Moussa Mara, Prime Minister of Mali (2014-2015) and Member of Club de Madrid
  • Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden (2014-2021) and Member of Club de Madrid
  • George Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece (2009-2011) and Member of Club de Madrid
  • Alexander Stubb, President of Finland (current), Prime Minister of Finland (2014-2015) and Member of Club de Madrid
  • Aminata Touré, Prime Minister of Senegal (2013-2014), High Representative of the President of the Republic of Senegal (current), and Member of Club de Madrid
  • Danilo Türk, President of Slovenia (2007-2012) and President of Club de Madrid

 

WYDE Network of Young Decision-makers

  • Nicolás Albertoni, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay and WYDE Network of Young Decision-makers
  • Emma Theofelus, Minister of Information, Communication, and Technology in Namibia and WYDE Network of Young Decision-makers
  • Temirlan Sultanbekov, Vice President of the Socialist International; Chairman of Social Democrats (Kyrgyzstan) and WYDE Network of Young Decision-makers

 

Advisors

  • María Fernanda Espinosa, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, 73rd President of the United Nations General Assembly, and Advisor of Club de Madrid
  • Jerry Jones, Executive Vice-President, Ethics and Legal Officer at LiveRamp, and Advisor of Club de Madrid
  • Susana Malcorra, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship of the Republic of Argentina and Advisor of Club de Madrid
  • José Antonio Ocampo, Former Minister of Finance of Colombia and Advisor of Club de Madrid
  • Ted Piccone, Chief Engagement Officer at World Justice Project & Senior Non-resident Fellow at Brookings Foreign Policy and Advisor of Club de Madrid
  • Timothy Philips, Co-Chair and Co-Founder of The Project for Justice in Times of Transition and Advisor of Club de Madrid