Interactive Online Program

ACUNS is excited to publish the preliminary interactive online conference program for the 2022 Annual Meeting. You can now search sessions by topic, type (panel, roundtable, etc.), or format (hybrid, virtual, in-person), and find speakers using the search function. You can also easily promote your sessions on social media.

For speakers on the program, don't forget to:

• URGENT: Upload a headshot photo. Please name the file your full name. We need these to promote your sessions.
   
• Review your individual details on the program and email annualmeeting@acuns.org for small adjustments.
   
• Ensure your fellow panelists review their details and submit their headshots so that your session can be promoted.
   
• If you would like your paper or policy brief to appear in the interactive online program, upload it as well, naming the file your full name.

• If you plan to attend the high-level plenary at UN Geneva on Thursday, June 23, at 17:00, you must register on the United Nations Indico platform by Sunday, June 19. When registering, all participants must have an Indico account and select the Representation Type “ACADEMIA.” All UN access badges must be collected before 16:45 on June 23 for access to the Palais des Nations. Places are limited to 300.
   
• UN Geneva has kindly organized two, 20-minute guided tours of their beautiful Library & Archives for Annual Meeting participants on Thursday, June 23, at 16:00 and 16:30 Geneva time. To participate, register here with ACUNS in addition to your above registration on the United Nations Indico platform.

Registration

Registration is open for the 2022 Annual Meeting! Scholars, students, practitioners, and UN staff and delegates whose work focuses on the conference theme are invited to participate. Thanks to the generous contributions of conference sponsors, there are no registration fees for participation and the conference is open to all! For questions, email annualmeeting@acuns.org.

Support Global South Scholars

Thanks to the generous support of sponsors, ACUNS is delighted to subsidize the travel of some Global South scholars to Geneva. The number of applicants for subsidized travel is far higher than anticipated, and we are therefore seeking donations so that we can support all Global South scholars appearing on the conference program. Even small donations will help. Contributions will be matched by sponsors dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000 USD. All donations will be formally acknowledged by ACUNS for tax reporting purposes. For questions, email annualmeeting@acuns.org.

Policy Actor Engagement

To encourage strong policy actor engagement at the conference, the UN Information Service sent an invitation to Permanent Missions and Permanent Observer Offices to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, and the UN Geneva Director-General sent an invitation to all heads of UN entities and partner organizations in Geneva, inviting them to: 

1. List their organization's current research needs and priorities; 
2. List research findings, initiatives, indexes, digital platforms, data or other tools recently published;
3. Indicate if one of their representatives would be willing to discuss the above at the June conference; and 
4. indicate if one of their representatives would serve as a discussant on a panel at the June conference.

About the Annual Meeting

Co-hosted by UN Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, the Annual Meeting this year will take place from June 23-25 and will be centered on the theme: Evidence-Based Solutions for Intensifying Global Challenges. ACUNS is looking forward to welcoming members and non-members alike to its flagship event. To learn more about the conference please visit the ACUNS website here: 2022 Annual Meeting.

Global Virtual Meeting for All ACUNS Members

Date: Thursday, 23 June 2022
Time: 10:30-11:30 Geneva
Location: Virtual Only

Description: In advance of the 2022 Annual Meeting, the ACUNS Board of Directors invites all ACUNS member to join them to discuss the activities of the organization and its programming. Winners of the biennial Book Award and annual Dissertation Award will be announced and new Board members will be introduced. (See Board nomination and voting information below.) An open discussion will follow. Click here to provide your email and receive the meeting Zoom link. 

Board Nominations

The ACUNS Board of Directors is pleased to submit for the consideration of all ACUNS members recommendations for three open Board seats for four-year terms of 2022-2026. Following a general call, the Board received many strong nominations. Using evaluation criteria to ensure diversity and high standards, the ACUNS Nominations Committee and full Board of Directors unanimously recommend that Dr. Adriana Abdenur, Dr. Alice Atieno Odingo, and Dr. Inken von Borzyskowski be approved by the membership. Biographies of the nominees can be viewed on the ACUNS website. Kindly vote by 12:00 CET (Geneva time), Saturday, 18 June 2021. To vote you must have an active membership and be logged into your account on the ACUNS website.

Global Governance Journal Editorial Host

Global Governance is the acclaimed, peer-reviewed journal of ACUNS. Traditionally, universities have hosted the journal, providing institutional support and editorial services, for five-year terms. ACUNS is currently searching for a new editor/editorial team and host institution for the journal for the period 2023-2028. Individuals or institutions should submit a letter of interest to ACUNS by 30 June 2022. Based on the letters received, ACUNS will ask institutions to submit more detailed proposals by 30 September 2022. For more information click here: ACUNS Global Governance Journal Host.

Letter of Interest Deadline: Thursday, 30 June 2022

Renew ACUNS Membership

Thank you to all members and institutions who have renewed their memberships or joined ACUNS for the first time. As part of its transition into an independent nonprofit organization, ACUNS launched a new website and logo in February 2021. As a result, all past and new members must complete a registration form and create a new (private) profile. The (public) Expert Directory will be transferred to the new website soon. For more information on membership and to (re)join the organization click here: ACUNS Membership.

Submit to Global Governance

Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations is the official, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal of ACUNS. It is published quarterly by Brill and showcases the expertise of leading scholars and practitioners. The journal editorial team is currently accepting manuscript submissions for original research articles, as well as shorter, op-ed style commentaries from leading figures for the journal's "Global Forum." For more information click here: Global Governance.

Road to 2023: Our Common Agenda and the Pact for the Future

Fears of rising conflict, new COVID-19 variants, irreversible climate change, and eroding collaboration in the global economy threaten to undermine the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other efforts to advance human progress. Yet, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to review and dramatically improve global tools for managing such enormous challenges, a Summit of the Future, is under serious consideration for September 2023 by the United Nations’ 193 Member States. Informed by research and policy dialogues—initially undertaken for the Albright-Gambari Commission and its follow-through, and most recently to help flesh out key proposals in the Secretary-General’s seminal report, Our Common Agenda—this report’s twenty main innovations are intended to encourage more ambitious, forward-looking thinking and deliberation on global governance renewal and innovation in the run-up to next year’s Summit. Click here to access the report.

Global Policy Dialogue: Countdown to the 2023 Summit of the Future at the ACUNS Annual Meeting

Integrated directly within this month's ACUNS Annual Meeting, the Global Governance Innovation Network will convene along with the Club de Madrid, UN University Centre for Policy Research, and the Global Challenges Foundation, on 24 June 2022 in Geneva, a Global Policy Dialogue (GPD), integral to a four-part series, in 2022 and 2023, that includes associated GPDs in March (1-2) in Washington, D.C. on Global Governance Innovation, in December (1-2) in Recife on the Triple Planetary Crisis, and March 2023 in Abuja on the New Agenda for Peace. Speaking to UN Geneva’s policy strengths, the ACUNS-Geneva GPD will organize breakout discussions around the areas of human rights, humanitarian action, sustainable trade, and disarmament. It will also give special consideration to the Secretary-General’s most consequential Our Common Agenda proposal: a Summit of the Future, timed to coincide with the General Assembly’s high-level week in September 2023. For further details and to register, click here (note: you must also be registered for the ACUNS Annual Meeting). 

UN Charter Day Hybrid Discussion: The UN Charter and the Prevention of Wars and other Existential Threats

Date: Sunday, 26 June 2022
Time: 9:00-12:00 Geneva
Location: In-person and virtual - Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID)

Description: Is the current UN Charter fit to serve its stated main purposes? This fundamental question arises out of repeated failures to save human lives in Syria, Myanmar, Yemen, Gaza and elsewhere, to take just the last decade. The UN Security Council also remains hamstrung over statements or leadership on existential planetary climate/ecological threats. This Global Governance Innovation Network co-sponsored event will deliberate on four possible scenarios on reforming the veto power of the permanent five members of the UN Security Council, and more broadly the UN's ability to respond to existential threats, assess their feasibility, desirability, potential to deliver intended results, while considering further approaches. For the concept note and detailed agenda, click here. To register for the event, click here.

Connect with the GGIN

ACUNS, the Stimson Center, Plataforma CIPÓ, and Leiden University launched the Global Governance Innovation Network (GGIN) at the June 2021 ACUNS Annual Meeting. The GGIN brings world-class scholarship together with international policy-making to address fundamental global governance challenges, threats, and opportunities. Its mission is to develop institutional, policy, legal, and normative improvements in the international global governance architecture. To watch a video recording or read a summary of the event launching the GGIN click here. To visit the GGIN website click here. 

Recent Publications

Lise M Howard. "UN peacekeeping in Africa is working better than you might think." The Conversation. For more information click here.

María Fernanda Espinosa  and  Danilo Turk. "Making the Most of the 2023 UN Summit of the Future." Pass Blue. For more information click here.

Global Peace Index 2022 Launch

Date: Thursday, 16 June 2022
Time: 10:30 New York
Location: In-person and virtual - Baha’i International Community Center, 866 United Nations Plaza, New York

Description: The Institute for Economics and Peace and the Baha’i International Community New York Office are delighted to invite you to the 2022 hybrid launch of the Global Peace Index (GPI). Produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the GPI is the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness and presents the most comprehensive data-driven analysis to-date on trends in peace, its economic value, and how to develop peaceful societies. The GPI uses 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, and measures the state of peace across three domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security; the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict; and the degree of Militarisation. For more information and to register to attend click here.

GENIDA Webinar: Reframing Challenges of Internal Displacement in the Sahel

Date: Monday, 20 June 2022
Time: 18:00 Geneva
Location: Virtual only

Description: Complex and interlinking crises of instability and forced displacement in the Sahel region have shaped national, regional and international responses to humanitarian emergencies over the last decade. Sahelian states, humanitarian and military actors struggle to develop sustainable solutions to multiple challenges with dramatic consequences for local populations forced to flee. While Mali currently registers 350,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), there are around 1.7 million IDPs in Burkina Faso. This Global Engagement Network on Internal Displacement in Africa (GENIDA) webinar reframes internal displacement challenges in the Sahel region and encourages debate on possible policy responses. To register to attend click here. For more information click here.

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