Felipe Calderón, Honorary Chairman of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, and former President of Mexico; and Jim Yong Kim, MD, PhD, former President of the World Bank Group, will headline inspiring dialogues and debates at the upcoming 11th annual International Government Communication Forum (IGCF) taking place on September 28 – 29 in Expo Centre Sharjah.

These distinguished global figures will delve into the importance of employing the art of communication and persuasion to achieve consensus and success in matters related to green economy at the two-day international event themed ‘Challenges and Solutions’ being organised by the International Government Communication Centre (IGCC) – an initiative of the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB) under the slogan.

The forum’s discussions will also analyse optimal frameworks within which to strategise and implement governmental and social plans to attain balanced goals in education, health, human capital building, and climate change.

Green decisions

In his inspirational talk titled ‘Green Growth… Mechanisms for Making Decisions’, Filipe Calderón will discuss how environmentally conscious decision making while planning and executing economic policies will protect the public interest. He will also highlight the main challenges that stand in the way of green growth decisions and share key tips on ways to analyse ground realities and foresee the future during the application of environmental economic decisions.

Calderón’s talk will shine light on the need for new communication channels on climate issues to reduce risks to humanity and successfully persuade the public to accept decision makers’ strategies that will be adopted in the coming years. In addition, he will also elucidate positive impact of environmental policies on the economy and how to make decisions to avoid negative effects.

Struggles for change

In a discussion titled ‘Struggles for Change…How to Be?’, Jim Yong Kim will respond to key questions on developing governmental and social change engineering and turn it into a culture to achieve success. He will also discuss to what extent governments have been able to make a difference in the prosperity of humankind using this methodology.

In the session moderated by Lubna Bouza, Head of Business News, Sky News Arabia, Kim will talk about how issues of poverty, climate change and disease are still major obstacles in the path of ushering change and share his view on the future of communication between governments and people in dealing with global changes.

IGCF 2022 will feature 7 main discussion sessions, 10 inspiring speeches, 6 workshops, 13 interactive platforms and 40 side activities. The forum’s programme will be led by 160 senior public officials, thought leaders and experts who will highlight the role of government communication in overcoming local and global governance challenges, and social and economic crises while highlighting opportunities arising from them.