As every year, since Club de Madrid participates in the Imperial Springs International Forum (ISIF), a selected group of Members from Club de Madrid, international and Chinese experts joined the Expert’s Meeting to pave the way for ISIF.
Chinese and experts from the rest of the world shared their views on the challenges posed by COVID-19 and agreed on some lessons that can help us face future crises.
The health and economic crisis spurred by COVID-19 centred much of this year’s discussions; more specifically experts analyzed how global cooperation can help us deal with the pandemic internationally and why it could help us solve future crises more effectively.
Throughout the Expert’s Meeting, there was a common understanding of the need to uphold multilateralism and global cooperation as a response to the current challenges, recommendations much in line with a pillar in our programmatic strategy.
Strengthening international solidarity is also crucial in today’s world. Virtually all countries need to strike a balance between guaranteeing citizens’ health and preserving economies and social stability. This is even more important in those countries that are suffering the most under the virus. The recovery from the pandemic is an opportunity to build back better using the 2030 Agenda as a global guiding framework for all our efforts.
ISIF 2020 will explore different approaches to multilateralism, ones that allow us to tackle these challenges through global cooperation. The Forum will help inspire and ignite a bold, new way of thinking: new ideas and principles that reshape existing global governance structures, so they may better respond to global challenges and ensure that the wisdom of cooperation is reinvigorated.
Danilo Türk, President of World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid and a participant at the Expert’s Meeting, gives an overview of its discussions below:
