The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) third Summit on the Global Agenda has opened, with over 600 of the foremost global experts from business, government, academia and civil society working together to address the key issues on the global, regional and industry agendas. PAHO Director, Dr. Mirta Roses is the chair of the Global Agenda Council (GAC) on Chronic Diseases and Wellbeing for 2010-2011.

World’s largest brainstorming session identifies major challenges in 2011 

Summit on the Global Agenda 2010

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 29 November - 1 December 2010

Global power shifts, an uncertain economic recovery, population growth, inequality and resource shortages loom as the leading issues facing the world over the next 12-18 months, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Summit.

These trends were revealed by a survey of almost 600 global experts comprising 72 Global Agenda Councils, including leaders from business, academia, civil society, government and other walks-of-life.

The Councils are gathering in Dubai for the world’s largest brainstorming session over the next three days. The participants are engaging in interactive workshops and sessions to set priorities for the most compelling ideas to improve the state of the world and identify the latest trends, risks and innovative solutions to address the world’s challenges.

The Global Agenda Council (GAC) on Chronic Diseases and Wellbeing chaired by PAHO Director, Dr Mirta Roses will discuss how the GAC on Chronic Diseases and Wellbeing can support the preparations for the 2011 UN Summit on Chronic Diseases and will link with the other Councils of World Economic Forum (WEF) to address the issue.

In the opening plenary session with the presence of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, the Members of the Forum’s Network of Global Agenda Councils were encouraged to develop innovative solutions to the many challenges the world faces.

The world is now living in “a new reality”, Klaus Schwab, the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, told participants in his opening remarks. “What we want to do is to look at the world in the context of this new reality.” He added: “What we are doing here is trying to reduce the risk exposure of the world by cooperating, by thinking more proactively and in more strategic and comprehensive ways.”

For the 2010-2011 term, the Forum, through its health-related GACs, will focus on two issues:

1. Chronic Diseases and Well-being
The focus of the GAC will be on the incentives for health and well-being, with specific objectives on:  Framing well-being/mental health in the UN summit agenda for NCDs, Identifying how to reframe the issue of chronic diseases so it is better taken up, Brainstorming innovative ideas for change so we can have an innovative shopping list of potential actions for incentives for change, and Collaborating with other Councils of relevance, closely linked by topic, building interactions for future joint action.

2. Global Agenda Council on Health
The focus of this GAC will be on building on the findings of the Global Redesign Initiative (GRI) Health Proposal (whose overall objective was to look at how the architecture of global cooperation could be redesigned not only to accommodate the world’s deeper interdependence but also to capitalize on it) and focus on the most pressing issues impacting global health and looking at ways to overcome them through a new paradigm that considers the role of government along with a multi-stakeholder and industry approach to health.

This an important event for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) that is actively collaborating in the preparation of the UN Summit on Chronic Diseases and Well-being.  The World Health Organization (WHO) is leading the work for the UN Summit and coordinating a series of consultations with NGOs and the private sector this coming month and will be followed by the  first Global Ministerial Conference on NCDs that will take place in the Russian Federation in April 2011.

Non-governmental organizations, such as the newly created NCD Alliance (which includes International Union Against Cancer, World Heart Federation, International Diabetes Federation), are strengthening advocacy for the issue and coordinating a joint NGO response.
 

More information:

• Summit on the Global Agenda 2010.

• The Network of Global Agenda Councils. 

• Global Agenda Council on Chronic Diseases and Well-being.

Global Agenda Councils (GAC)

The World Economic Forum is convening a Network of Global Agenda Councils (GACs), whose members are collaboratively addressing some of the world’s key issues to lay out solutions to pressing challenges. Council members are among the world’s leading and most influential thinkers.

Members are engaged in GACs on a yearly basis, from July to June. Every year, the World Economic Forum reassesses, based on a number of criteria, the membership of each of the GACs, as well as the issues covered by them.

For more information, contact Office of the Director, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO)