The Paris Peace Forum is a French non-profit organisation created in March 2018. The organisation hosts an annual gathering of world leaders and heads of international organisations, as well as leaders from

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.private sectors The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

and thousands of individuals from around the globe, on creating forms of

collective action Collective action refers to action taken together by a group of people whose goal is to enhance their condition and achieve a common objective. It is a term that has formulations and theories in many areas of the social sciences including psych ...

. The Paris Peace Forum completes the existing world agenda of multilateral gatherings by creating a specific event for

global governance Global governance refers to institutions that coordinate the behavior of transnational actors, facilitate cooperation, resolve disputes, and alleviate collective action problems. Global governance broadly entails making, monitoring, and enfor ...

issues, as economic and financial issues are dealt at the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...

, and security issues at the

Munich Security Conference The Munich Security Conference (MSC; german: Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz) is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963. Former names are ''Wehrkundetagung'' and ''Münchner ...

. The Forum's DNA is to be inclusive and solution-oriented. With this in mind, the forum showcases projects each year, coming from all around the world, which display concrete and efficient solutions to governance challenges. Focused on concrete initiatives, the annual event has been used as a platform for the launch of important, multi-actor initiatives, such as the B4IG coalition or the Paris Call for Trust and Security in the Cyberspace. In a world requiring more collective action, the Paris Peace Forum is a platform open to all seeking to develop coordination, rules, and capacities that answer global problems. Its three primary pillars of activity include year-round policy initiatives and project support activities coupled by an annual event in November: # Convening the world: Every year, the Paris Peace Forum convenes heads of state, leaders of international organizations and companies, and civil society organizations from around the world at its annual event to improve global governance. # Boosting projects: At its annual event and throughout the year, the Paris Peace Forum showcases and accelerates emerging solutions through customized support by connecting project leaders with decision-makers, practitioners, and funders. Since 2018, over 400 projects have been featured, of which 10 annually receive one year of customized support via the Forum’s Scale-up program. # Incubating initiatives: The Paris Peace Forum leverages its community of members and partners, as well as its privileged access to expertise and diplomatic networks, to launch and accelerate multi-actor initiatives providing responses to global challenges. The Paris Peace Forum was founded in 2018 by

Justin Vaïsse Justin Vaïsse (born 26 June 1973) is a French historian and intellectual. Since March 2019, he is the Director General of the Paris Peace Forum organization, an independent NGO he founded in 2018 under the impetus of French President Emmanuel Ma ...

, as he was director for Policy Planning at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, to tackle global problems and strengthen multilateral cooperation. Soon after the first edition,

Pascal Lamy Pascal Lamy (born 8 April 1947) is a French political consultant and businessman. He was the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 1 September 2005 to 1 September 2013 for 8 years. In April 2009, WTO members reappointed Lamy ...

was appointed President of the Paris Peace Forum, and

became its director general. The first edition was hosted in November 2018 at the

Grande halle de la Villette The Grande halle de la Villette (originally: Grande Halle aux Boeufs; translation: "Great Hall of Cattle"), formerly a slaughterhouse and now a cultural center, is located in Paris, France. It is situated on Place de la Fontaine aux Lions within ...

, during commemorations of the

Armistice Day centenary The Armistice Day centenary, signifying one hundred years since the Armistice that ended World War I on the Western Front, was marked on 11 November 2018. Commemorative events were organised in the weeks leading up to the centenary itself, inc ...

. The upcoming fifth edition of the Paris Peace Forum will be held on 11-12 November 2022 at the

Palais Brongniart The Palais Brongniart ( en, Brongniart Palace) housed the historical Paris stock exchange (french: Bourse de Paris). It is located at the Place de la Bourse, in the II arrondissement, Paris. Early history Historically, stock trading took place ...

and will focus on preserving global cooperation in times of war.

History

The Paris Peace Forum was born out of the principle that “a badly governed world would quickly become a world at war”, as explained by Justin Vaïsse, then president of the Forum. At the Meeting of

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

s on 29 August 2017, French President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

spoke of the fact that peace is not something to be taken for granted, mentioning the Syrian crisis and the Ukrainian crisis as examples. In light of such developments, he called for the need to take concrete steps to strengthen multilateralism and preserve peace. Macron then announced the creation of the Paris Peace Forum on 4 January 2018.

Philosophy

The purpose of the forum is to commemorate

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I a ...

, as well as to “reflect together, propose concrete initiatives, reinvent multilateralism and all forms of contemporary cooperation”. President Macron and then-president Justin Vaïsse aimed at bringing together global governance actors, in an international and open space, in order to interact, discuss and generate concrete solutions. An important aspect of the Forum is the showcasing of projects from around the world. Each of these projects proposes an innovative solution to a specific issue. During the Forum, ten projects are selected as Scale-up projects to receive mentorship and support from the Paris Peace Forum for a one-year period. Although initiated by the French president, the forum remains independent in its scope and funding. The event is financed by non-governmental partners, each of which cannot cover more than 10% of the costs.

Organisation

The Paris Peace Forum is made up of three distinct governance bodies: * The Executive Committee oversees and decides on the overall activities of the Forum. The Executive Committee is composed of representatives from the ten Founding Members, as well as persons elected by the General Assembly among the members of the Association: the

French Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs () is the ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to the National Assembly. The term Qu ...

, the Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri), the

Institut Montaigne Institut Montaigne is a think tank based in Paris, France, founded in 2000. Institut Montaigne's makes public policy recommendations to advance its agenda, which broadly reflects that of the large French companies that fund it. It contracts expert ...

, the

Körber Foundation The Körber Foundation (German: ''Körber-Stiftung'') is a nonprofit organization, established in 1959 by German businessman Kurt A. Körber. It provides a platform to discuss present political topics and develops operational projects on social an ...

, México Evalúa, the

Mo Ibrahim Foundation The Mo Ibrahim Foundation was established in 2006. It was founded by Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese billionaire businessman and philanthropist, who founded the telecommunications company Celtel International in 1998. Ibrahim is the chairman. Other board ...

, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS),

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...

, the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI),

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a Grant (money), grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the wo ...

(OSF), and the

Aga Khan Development Network The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a network of private, non-denominational (de jure) development agencies founded by the Aga Khan that work primarily in the poorest parts of Asia and Africa. Aga Khan IV succeeded to the office of the 49t ...

(AKDP). Pascal Lamy, board member of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, leads the executive committee as president of the Paris Peace Forum. In June 2022, it was announced that José Ángel Gurría, former Secretary-General of the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

, will succeed Pascal Lamy as President of the Paris Peace Forum, starting March 2023. *The General Assembly is composed of representatives from: the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the

Institut français des relations internationales The Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri; English ''French Institute of International Relations'') is a think tank dedicated to international affairs, based in Paris, France. Overview Ifri was established in 1979 by Thierry de ...

(Ifri), the

, the

, México Evalúa, the

, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS),

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...

, the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI),

(OSF), and the

(AKDP). * The Steering Committee determines the strategy of the Forum, and is made up of international experts with specialization in various aspects of global governance, with balanced gender and geographical representation. The president of the Steering Committee is

Trisha Shetty Trisha Shetty (born 16 September 1990) is an Indian activist for gender equality and the founder of SheSays. She is known for human rights advocacy, especially advocating for gender-sensitive policies and law, quality education, youth and gende ...

, and the vice president is Igor Yurgens. The other members of the Steering Committee are: **

Celso Amorim Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim (born 3 June 1942) is a Brazilian diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 20 July 1993 to 31 December 1994 under President Itamar Franco and again from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2010 under President Lu ...

, Diplomat and Former Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Federative Republic of Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...

Gabriela Hearst Gabriela Hearst (née Perezutti) born in Paysandú Department, Uruguay, (November 3, 1976) is a women's luxury ready-to-wear and accessories designer. In addition to designing her namesake collection, she runs and operates her family's ranch in Ur ...

, Creative Director,

Chloé Chloé () is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion. During the next year of 1953 Aghion joined forces with Jacques Lenoir, formally managing the business side of the brand, allowing Aghion to purely pursue the creativ ...

Mahamadou Issoufou Mahamadou Issoufou (born 1 January 1952) is a Nigerien politician who served as the President of Niger from 7 April 2011 to 2 April 2021. Issoufou was the prime minister of Niger from 1993 to 1994, president of the National Assembly from 1995 t ...

, Former President,

Republic of Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesYusra Mardini Yusra Mardini OLY ( ar, يسرى مارديني; born 5 March 1998) is a Syrian former competition swimmer and refugee of the Syrian civil war. She was a member of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team (ROT) that competed under the Olympic flag ...

, Olympic athlete and

Goodwill Ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a public ...

for the

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

Mari Pangestu Mari Elka Pangestu (; born 23 October 1956), is an Indonesian economist who has been managing director of Development Policy and Partnerships in the World Bank since 2020. The President of the World Bank, David Malpass, announced her appointmen ...

, Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships,

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

** Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

** Huiyao (Henry) Wang, Founder and President of the

Center for China and Globalization The Center for China and Globalization (CCG) is a Chinese think tank based in Beijing. It was founded in 2008 by a committee of the Western Returned Scholars Association, an organization under the United Front Work Department. CCG is a member of a ...

*The Circle of Partners which is made up of private actors who support the Forum. These are the benefactors, the institutional partners and the media partners. The activities of the Forum are also carried out by: * The Permanent Secretariat, based in Paris, carries out all operations related to the execution of the event. It is led by Justin Vaïsse as

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

, and Fabienne Hara as secretary-general. * The Selection Committee is responsible for selecting the projects that are to present at the Forum in November. They select the projects based on their relevance to the issue they are aiming to resolve, how innovative they are, the potential to scale up etc. * The Scale-up Committee is responsible for accompanying the selected Scale-up projects for the full year until the next Forum. Each member of the Scale-up Committee is an expert in a particular field of global governance and thus serves as a point of reference for one of the ten projects.

First edition: 2018

The first edition of the Paris Peace Forum took place from 11 to 13 November 2018 as part of the

commemorations. It showcased 120 global governance projects and welcomed around 6,000 individuals over the 3-day period. German Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

, United Nations Secretary-General

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...

and President

gave speeches at the opening of the Forum. UN Secretary-General Guterres drew parallels between the political atmosphere then and the pre-

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

period and the ‘30s

Interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

. Merkel made similar remarks, noting that

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

and

populism Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

were threatening European peace.

The Armistice centenary

Angela Merkel & Vladimir Putin - November 2018

The commemoration of the 1918 Armistice was a recurring theme throughout the Forum. President Macron aimed for the Forum to bring about concrete proposals for multilateralism so that an outcome akin to WWI would not reoccur again. It was noted multiple times that the importance of remembering the Armistice stood in the comparisons that could be drawn between the 1930s and today. Similarly to statements made by UN Secretary General Guterres, Justin Vaïsse also highlighted the similarities, including: an

economic crisis An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the p ...

, closing of borders, commercial wars,

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

and

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s, and a resurgence of populist and nationalist movements.

Themes and format

The three day event presented a variety of formats, including

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

s, panels, round tables, masterclasses,

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

s, project pitches, as well as a

hackathon A hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest, datathon or codefest; a portmanteau of hacking and marathon) is an event where people engage in rapid and collaborative engineering over a relatively short period of time such as 24 or 48 hours. Th ...

during which developers worked on financial data transparency programs. BrainDates from C2 Montreal was also present at the Forum to provide peer-to-peer learning sessions and small discussion groups for the attendees and the project leaders. At the center of the Grande Halle de la Villette was the Peace Library, a tree-shaped shelf structure on which heads of state and government each placed a book from their country that for them symbolized peace and international cooperation. The overarching theme of the event was multilateralism: its importance as well as its shortcomings. The President of

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesMahamadou Issoufou Mahamadou Issoufou (born 1 January 1952) is a Nigerien politician who served as the President of Niger from 7 April 2011 to 2 April 2021. Issoufou was the prime minister of Niger from 1993 to 1994, president of the National Assembly from 1995 t ...

, denounced the

double standard A double standard is the application of different sets of principles for situations that are, in principle, the same. It is often used to describe treatment whereby one group is given more latitude than another. A double standard arises when two ...

s of multilateralism, pointing out that African leaders do not have as strong a voice in the international scene despite multilateral decisions concerning

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

occupying a significant space in the agendas of international institutions. Among the other themes that were tackled were

social inequality Social inequality occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories of persons. It posses and creates gender c ...

, with speakers such as Guy Rider, Lise Kingo and

Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey David Sachs () (born 5 November 1954) is an American economist, academic, public policy analyst, and former director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, where he holds the title of University Professor. He is known for his work ...

; the role of cities in the fight against

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, with experts like

Laurence Tubiana Laurence Tubiana (born 1951) is a French economist, academic and diplomat. She served as France's Climate Change Ambassador and Special Representative for the 2015 COP21 Climate Change Conference in Paris, and is recognised as a key architect of ...

and Ariel Toh Shu Xian, who mentioned the critical role of science education, and

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is a Chadian environmental activist and geographer. She is the Coordinator of the Association of Peul Women and Autochthonous Peoples of Chad (AFPAT) and served as the co-director of the pavilion of the World Indigenous Peo ...

who spoke of its effects in the

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

and more. The Forum also hosted the Declaration on Information and Democracy by

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

, with the presence of the representatives of Burkina Faso, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Norway, Senegal, Switzerland and Tunisia.

The Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace

51 countries, 130 companies and 90 universities and non-governmental groups signed the "Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace", a non-binding declaration initiated by President Macron, calling for protection from

cyberattack A cyberattack is any offensive maneuver that targets computer information systems, computer networks, infrastructures, or personal computer devices. An attacker is a person or process that attempts to access data, functions, or other restricted ...

s. It aims to protect civilians, to keep external actors from interfering with elections, and to preserve

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

, and has been likened to a digital version of the

Geneva Convention upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...

Brad Smith Brad or Bradley Smith may refer to: Sportspeople * Bradley Smith (cricketer) (born 1969), English former cricketer * Brad Smith (footballer, born 1948), Australian rules footballer and premiership coach of East Fremantle * Brad Smith (ice hockey) ...

, president of

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

noted for the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, “Most of the world’s democracies are rallying around the need to protect all democracies from cyberattacks.“ The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

was one of the few Western nations that refused to sign the declaration.

Selected projects

120 projects advancing concrete solutions were presented during the three-day event in one of the following categories: environment, peace and security, development, new technologies and inclusive economy. Out of them, ten were selected by the jury to receive support for a one-year period.

Attendees

2018 WWI Centenary - Forum de Paris sur la paix

117 foreign delegates attended the Forum, including 54 heads of state and government, 16 diplomats accredited to France, and 15 representatives of international and supranational organisations. What was also noted was US President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's absence at the Forum, despite having attended a commemoration ceremony at the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

on the morning of 11 November. Other attendants included French Minister of Foreign Affairs

Jean-Yves Le Drian Jean-Yves Le Drian (; born 30 June 1947) is a French politician who served as Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs in the First Philippe government, governments of Prime Ministers Édouard Philippe and ...

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

laureates

Nadia Murad Nadia Murad Basee Taha (; ar, نادية مراد باسي طه; born 10 March 1993) is an Iraqi Yazidis, Yazidi Human rights activists, human rights activist who lives in Germany. In 2014, she was kidnapped from her hometown Kocho, Iraq, Koch ...

and

Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi ( fa, شيرين عبادى, Širin Ebādi; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian political activist, lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi wa ...

, and Reporters Without Borders secretary-general

Christophe Deloire Christophe Deloire (; born May 22, 1971) is a French NGO leader, author, and publisher. He was the director of the Centre de formation des journalistes de Paris from May 2008 to July 2012, and secretary general of Reporters Without Borders Rep ...

. ;Africa *

Ahmed Ouyahia Ahmed Ouyahia ( ar, rtl=yes, أحمد أويحيى, Aḥmad ʾŪyaḥyā; 2 July 1952) is an Algerian politician who was Prime Minister of Algeria four times (1995–98, 2004–2006, 2008–2012, 2017–2019). A career diplomat, he also served as ...

, Prime Minister of Algeria * Aurélien Agbénonci, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Benin * Alpha Barry, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso *

Faustin-Archange Touadéra Faustin-Archange Touadéra (; born 21 April 1957) is a Central African politician and academic who has been President of the Central African Republic since March 2016. He previously was Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from Janua ...

, President of the Central African Republic *

Idriss Déby Idriss Déby Itno ' (18 June 1952 – 20 April 2021) was a Chadian politician and military officer who was the president of Chad from 1990 until his death in 2021. Déby was a member of the Bidayat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. A high-ranki ...

, President of Chad ** , Ambassador of Chad to France *

Denis Sassou-Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso (born 23 November 1943) is a Congolese politician and former military officer. He became president of the Republic of the Congo in 1997. He served a previous term as president from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as p ...

, President of the Republic of the Congo *

Alassane Ouattara Alassane Dramane Ouattara (; ; born 1 January 1942) is an Ivorian politician who has been President of Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) since 2010. An economist by profession, Ouattara worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF)Ismaïl Omar Guelleh Ismaïl Omar Guelleh ( so, Ismaaciil Cumar Geelle ar, إسماعيل عمر جليه) (born 27 November 1947) is the current President of Djibouti. He has been in office since 1999, making him one of the longest-serving rulers in Africa. He is ...

, President of Djibouti *

Sherif Ismail Sherif Ismail ( ar, شريف إسماعيل ; born 6 July 1955) is an Egyptian engineer who served as prime minister between 2015 and 2018. He was minister of petroleum and mineral resources from 2013 to 2015. Career Ismail studied mechan ...

, advisor to the President of Egypt * Mohamed Ali Suleiman, Ambassador of Ethiopia to France * Régis Immongault Tatangani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Gabon *

Alpha Condé Alpha Condé (N'Ko: ; born 4 March 1938) is a Guinean politician who served as the fourth president of Guinea from 2010 to 2021. Condé spent decades in opposition to a succession of regimes in Guinea, unsuccessfully running against President La ...

, President of Guinea **

Mamadi Touré Mamadi Touré (born 11 December 1952) is a Guinean politician. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in ...

, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guinea *

Uhuru Kenyatta Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. Kenyatta was chosen by Daniel Arap Moi as his preferred successor, but Kenyatta was defeated by opposition le ...

, President of Kenya *

George Weah George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (; born 1 October 1966) is a Liberian politician and former professional footballer who is the incumbent president of Liberia, in office since 2018. Prior to his election to the presidency, Weah served a ...

, President of Liberia *

Fayez al-Sarraj Fayez Mustafa al-Sarraj ( ar, فائز السراج or ; born 20 February 1960) is a Libyan politician who served as the Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya and Head of Government of the Government of National Accord from 2016 to 2021, ...

, Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya * Eloi Alphonse Maxime Dovo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Madagascar *

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita Ibrahim ( ar, إبراهيم, links=no ') is the Arabic name for Abraham, a Biblical patriarch and prophet in Islam. For the Islamic view of Ibrahim, see Abraham in Islam. Ibrahim may also refer to: * Ibrahim (name), a name (and list of people w ...

, President of Mali *

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz ( ar, محمد ولد عبد العزيز ''Muḥammad Wald 'Abd al-'Azīz''; born 20 December 1956) is a former Mauritanian politician who was the 8th List of heads of state of Mauritania, President of Mauritania, in of ...

, President of Mauritania *

Nasser Bourita Nasser Bourita ( ar, ناصر بوريطة; born ) is a Moroccan diplomat serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates since 5 April 2017. Education Bourita was born in Taounate, Morocco. In 1991, B ...

, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Morocco *

, President of Niger *

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

, President of Nigeria *

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame (; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who is the 4th and current president of Rwanda since 2000. He previously served as a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Uganda-based rebel ...

, President of Rwanda *

Macky Sall Macky Sall (, wo, Maki Sàll, fuc, 𞤃𞤢𞤳𞤭 𞤅𞤢𞤤‎, italic=no, Maki Sal; born 11 December 1961) is a Senegalese politician who has been President of Senegal since April 2012. He was re-elected President in the first round voti ...

, President of Senegal *

Danny Faure Danny Faure (born 8 May 1962) is a Seychellois politician who was President of Seychelles from 16 October 2016 until 26 October 2020. Previously, he served as Vice President of Seychelles from 2010 to 2016. Faure is a member of the United Seychel ...

, President of Seychelles *

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula Nosiviwe Noluthando Mapisa-Nqakula (born 13 November 1956) is a South African politician who currently serves as the Speaker of the National Assembly as of 19 August 2021. She has previously held the office of Minister of Defence and Military ...

, Minister of Defence of South Africa * Beji Caid Essebsi, President of Tunisia ;Americas * , Ambassador of Argentina to France * Paulo César de Oliveira Campos, Ambassador of Brazil to France *

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

, Prime Minister of Canada * Camila Marquez, ''chargée d'affaires a.i.'' of Chile *

Iván Duque Márquez Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

, President of Colombia *

Carlos Alvarado Quesada Carlos Andrés Alvarado Quesada (; born 14 January 1980) is a Costa Rican politician, writer, journalist and political scientist who served as the 48th president of Costa Rica from 8 May 2018 to 8 May 2022. A member of the Citizens' Action P ...

, President of Costa Rica *

Martha Delgado Peralta Martha Delgado Peralta (born 26 April 1969) is an environmentalist and the Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Delgado Peralta was elected to local congress in 2003. From 2006-20 ...

, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico ;Asia *

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan ( hy, Նիկոլ Վովայի Փաշինյան, ; born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician serving as the prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in 1 ...

, Prime Minister of Armenia *

Elmar Mammadyarov Elmar Maharram oghlu Mammadyarov ( az, Elmar Məhərrəm oğlu Məmmədyarov), born July 2, 1960) is an Azerbaijani diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan between 7 April 2004 and 16 July 2020. Mammadyarov speaks Russia ...

, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan *

Tarique Ahmed Siddique Tarique Ahmed Siddique, rcds, psc is a retired major general of Bangladesh Army and the Defence and Security adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina. Personal life Major General Tarique Ahmed Siddique is the younger broth ...

, security advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh * Chea Sophara, Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia *

Ji Bingxuan Ji Bingxuan (; born November 1951) is a Chinese politician. Since 2013, he has served as one of the Vice Chairmen of the 12th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. From 2008 to 2013, he held the highest post in Heilongjiang provin ...

, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China *

Giorgi Margvelashvili Giorgi Margvelashvili ( ka, გიორგი მარგველაშვილი; born 4 September 1969) is a Georgian academic and politician who was the fourth President of Georgia, in office from 17 November 2013 to 16 December 2018. ...

, President of Georgia *

Venkaiah Naidu Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu (born 1 July 1949) is an Indian politician who served as the 13th vice president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first Indian vice president born in independent India. He has also served as the minister of Housi ...

, Vice President of India * , Ambassador of Indonesia to France * Kazuhiko Nakamura, Minister-Councilor at the Embassy of Japan *

Bisher Al-Khasawneh Bisher Al-Khasawneh ( ar, بشر الخصاونة; born 27 January 1969) is a Jordanian politician and diplomat who is serving as the 43rd Prime Minister of Jordan and Minister of Defence since 12 October 2020. Al-Khasawneh was an ambassador of ...

, Ambassador of Jordan to France * , Ambassador of Kazakhstan to France * Choi Jong-moon, Ambassador of South Korea to France *

Dastan Jumabekov Dastan Jumabekov (Kyrgyz: Дастан Жумабеков; born 2 November 1976) is a Kyrgyz politician who has served as Speaker of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan, the country’s parliament In modern politics, and history, a parl ...

, Speaker of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan *

Saad Hariri Saad El-Din Rafik Al-Hariri ( ar, سعد الدين رفيق الحريري, translit=Saʿd ad-Dīn Rafīq al-Ḥarīrī; born 18 April 1970) is a Lebanese-Saudi politician who served as the prime minister of Lebanon from 2009 to 2011 and 2016 ...

, Prime Minister of Lebanon * Mona al Baiti, Ambassador of Oman to France * Moin ul Haq, Ambassador of Pakistan to France *

Rami Hamdallah Rami Hamdallah ( ar, رامي الحمد الله, Rāmī al-Ḥamd al-Lāh; born 10 August 1958) is a Palestinian politician and academic. He is the former prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority and president of An-Najah Nationa ...

, Prime Minister of Palestine * Sheikh

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani ( ar, تميم بن حمد بن خليفة آل ثاني; born 3 June 1980, Doha, Qatar) is the Emir of Qatar who succeeded his father, Sheikh Hamad, after Hamad abdicated in his favour. Tamim is the fourth son ...

, Emir of Qatar * , Chairman of the Assembly of Representatives of Tajikistan *

Prayut Chan-o-cha Prayut Chan-o-cha (sometimes spelled Prayuth Chan-ocha; th, ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา, ; born 21 March 1954) is a Thai politician and retired Royal Thai Army, army officer who has served as the Prime Minister of T ...

, Prime Minister of Thailand * Çary Nyýazow, Ambassador of Turkmenistan to France * Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister for Tolerance of the United Arab Emirates *

Nigmatilla Yuldashev Nigmatilla Tulkinovich Yuldashev (, born 5 November 1962)Biography of Minister
Ministry of Justice ...

, Chairman of the Senate of Uzbekistan * Nguyen Thiêp, Ambassador of Vietnam to France ;Europe *

Ilir Meta Ilir Rexhep Meta (; born 24 March 1969) is an Albanian politician. He served as President of Albania from 24 July 2017 to 24 July 2022. Previously Meta served as Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 and he was Speaker of the Parliament of Albania f ...

, President of Albania *

Alexander Van der Bellen Alexander Van der Bellen (; born 18 January 1944) is the current president of Austria. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University of Vienna, and after joining politics, as the spokesman of the Austrian Green Party. ...

, President of Austria *

Mikhail Myasnikovich Mikhail Vladimirovich Myasnikovich, tr. ''Michail Uladzimiravič Miasnikovič'', ; russian: Михаи́л Влади́мирович Мяснико́вич; born 6 May 1950) is a Belarusian politician who was Prime Minister of Belarus from 2 ...

, Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus * Vincent Mertens de Wilmars, Ambassador of Belgium to France *

Bakir Izetbegović Bakir Izetbegović (; born 28 June 1956) is a Bosnian politician who served as the 6th Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2010 to 2018. He is the current president of the Party of Democratic Action and member of the ...

, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * Rumen Radev, President of Bulgaria *

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (; born 29 April 1968) is a Croatian politician and diplomat who served as President of Croatia from 2015 to 2020. She was the first woman to be elected to the office since the first multi-party elections in 1990 and ...

, President of Croatia * Andrej Babiš, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic *

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as the 25th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was the lead ...

, Prime Minister of Denmark *

Kersti Kaljulaid Kersti Kaljulaid (; born 30 December 1969) is an Estonian politician who served as the fifth president of Estonia between 2016 and 2021. She was also the first and only female head of state of Estonia since the country declared independence in ...

, President of Estonia *

Sauli Niinistö Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (; born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who has served as president of Finland since March 2012, the 12th person to hold that office. A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Part ...

, President of Finland *

, Chancellor of Germany * Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of Greece *

Pietro Parolin Pietro Parolin OMRI (, ; born 17 January 1955) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal since February 2014, he has served as the Vatican's Secretary of State since October 2013 and a member of the Council of Cardinal Advisers sin ...

, Cardinal Secretary of State of the Holy See * Márta Mátrai, First Officer of the National Assembly of Hungary * Gudni Johannesson, President of Iceland * Patricia O'Brien, Ambassador of Ireland to France *

Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician, jurist, academic and lawyer who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. A Christian leftist politician, Mattarella was a leading member of the Christian Democracy par ...

, President of Italy *

Hashim Thaçi Hashim Thaçi (; born 24 April 1968) is a Kosovar Albanian politician who was the president of Kosovo from April 2016 until his resignation on 5 November 2020 to face a war crimes tribunal. He was the first prime minister of Kosovo and the For ...

, President of the Kosovo *

Raimonds Vējonis Raimonds Vējonis (born 15 June 1966) is a Latvian politician who served as the 9th President of Latvia from 2015 to 2019 and the president of the Latvian Basketball Association since 2020. He is a member of the Latvian Green Party, part of the ...

, President of Latvia *

Martine Schommer Martine Schommer (born 13 July 1961) is a Luxembourg diplomat who has served as Ambassador to the People's Republic of China and to the Federal Republic of Germany. She has also represented Luxembourg as Permanent Representative to the European Unio ...

, Ambassador of Luxembourg to France *

Gjorge Ivanov Gjorge Ivanov ( mk, Ѓорге Иванов, ; born 2 May 1960) is a Macedonian politician, who served as the 4th President of North Macedonia from 2009 to 2019. Early and personal life Born at Valandovo, Ivanov finished primary and secondary sch ...

, President of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia *

Carmelo Abela Carmelo Abela (born 10 February 1972) is a Maltese politician and is serving as an incumbent Labour MP and was the Minister for Home Affairs and National Security. He also served as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion. and as Deput ...

, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta *

Igor Dodon Igor Dodon (; born 18 February 1975) is a Moldovan politician who previously served as the president of Moldova from 23 December 2016 to 24 December 2020. He currently serves as the leader of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova. H ...

, President of Monaco *

Prince Albert II Albert II – Website of the Palace of Monaco (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958) is Prince of Monaco, since 2005. Albert was born at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, and he is the second child and only son of Prince Rai ...

of Monaco *

Milo Đukanović Milo Đukanović ( cnr, Мило Ђукановић, ; born 15 February 1962) is a Montenegrin politician serving as the President of Montenegro since 2018, previously serving in the role from 1998 to 2003. He also served as the Prime Minister o ...

, President of Montenegro *

Stef Blok Stephanus Abraham "Stef" Blok (born 10 December 1964) is a Dutch politician serving as Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy in the Third Rutte cabinet from 25 May 2021 till 10 January 2022. He is a member of the People's Party for Fr ...

, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands *

Erna Solberg Erna Solberg (; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and the current Leader of the Opposition. She served as the 35th prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been Leader of the Conservative Party since May 2004. Solberg w ...

, Prime Minister of Norway * Jacek Czaputowicz, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland *

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (; born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic. He is the List of presidents of Portugal, 20th and current president of Portugal, since 9 March 2016. He is a member of the Social Democrati ...

, President of Portugal *

Klaus Iohannis Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; also spelled Johannis; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist and former teacher who has been serving as the president of Romania since 2014. He became leader of the National Liberal Party (Romania), Na ...

, President of Romania *

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

, President of Russia *

Andrej Kiska Andrej Kiska (; born 2 February 1963) is a Slovak politician, entrepreneur, writer and philanthropist who served as the fourth president of Slovakia from 2014 to 2019. He ran as an independent candidate in the 2014 presidential election in whic ...

, President of Slovakia *

Borut Pahor Borut Pahor (; born 2 November 1963) is a Slovenian politician who served as President of Slovenia from 2012 to 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from November 2008 to February 2012. A longtime member and former presid ...

, President of Slovenia *

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having pr ...

, Prime Minister of Spain *

Stefan Löfven Kjell Stefan Löfven (; officially ''Löfvén''; born 21 July 1957) is a Swedish politician who serves as the Party of European Socialists, President of European Socialists since October 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Sweden fro ...

, Prime Minister of Sweden *

Alain Berset Alain Berset (; born 9 April 1972) is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2012. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), he has headed the Federal Department of Home Affairs since he took offi ...

, President of the Swiss Confederation *

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko ser ...

, President of Ukraine *

David Lidington Sir David Roy Lidington (born 30 June 1956) is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aylesbury from 1992 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister fo ...

, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office ** The Lord Bates, Minister of State for International Development ;Oceania * Sir

Peter Cosgrove General Sir Peter John Cosgrove, (born 28 July 1947) is a retired senior Australian Army officer who served as the 26th governor-general of Australia, in office from 2014 to 2019. A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Cosgrove fo ...

, Governor-General of Australia *

Epeli Nailatikau Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, (born 5 July 1941) (often referred to as ''Na Turaga Mai Naisogolaca'') is a Fijian chief who was President of Fiji from 2009 to 2015. He has had a long career in the Military, diplomatic service, and go ...

, former President of Fiji *

Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020 ...

, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand *

Tallis Obed Moses Tallis Obed Moses (born 24 October 1954) is a Vanuatuan politician and pastor who served as the president of Vanuatu from 6 July 2017 to 6 July 2022. Biography Moses was originally from Port Vato, West Ambrym. He attended Primary School from 196 ...

, President of Vanuatu ;International organisations *

Moussa Faki Moussa Faki Mahamat ( ar, موسى فكي محمد ', born 21 June 1960) is a Chadian politician and diplomat who has been the elected Chairperson of the African Union Commission since 14 March 2017. Previously he was Prime Minister of Chad from 2 ...

, Chairperson of the African Union Commission *

, Chairperson of the African Union *

Thorbjørn Jagland Thorbjørn Jagland (born Thorbjørn Johansen; , 5 November 1950) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He served as the secretary general of the Council of Europe from 2009 to 2019. He served as the 32nd prime minister of Norway from ...

, Secretary General of the Council of Europe *

Pierre Moscovici Pierre Moscovici (, ; born 16 September 1957) is a French politician who served as the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as Minister of Finance from 2012 to 2 ...

, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs * Antonio Tajani, President of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Guy Ryder Guy Bernard Ryder (born 3 January 1956) is a British international civil servant who currently serves as Under-Secretary-General for Policy at the United Nations. He was previously Director-General of the International Labour Organization fro ...

, Director-General of the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

Christine Lagarde Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (; née Lallouette, ; born 1 January 1956) is a French politician and lawyer who has been serving as President of the European Central Bank since 2019. She previously served as the 11th managing director of the ...

, chair and managing director of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to ...

, Secretary-General of NATO * José Ángel Gurría, Secretary-General of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development *

Audrey Azoulay Audrey Azoulay (; born 4 August 1972) is a French civil servant and politician who has been serving as the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 2017, becoming the second female le ...

, Director-General of UNESCO * Paolo Artini, Representative of the

UNHRC The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...

in France *

, Secretary-General of the United Nations * María Fernanda Espinosa Garces, President of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

Roberto Azevêdo Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo (; born 3 October 1957) is a Brazilian career diplomat who served as Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 2013 until 2020. Since 2020, he has been Executive Vice President and Director of Corpo ...

, Director-General of the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

Jim Yong Kim Jim Yong Kim (; born December 8, 1959), also known as Kim Yong (/金墉), is an American physician and anthropologist who served as the 12th president of the World Bank from 2012 to 2019. A global health leader, Kim was formerly the chair of ...

, President of the

Criticisms

The Paris Peace Forum faced criticism for having extended an invitation to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, in light of the murder of journalist

Jamal Khashoggi Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi (; ar, جمال أحمد خاشقجي, Jamāl ʾAḥmad Ḵāšuqjī, ; 13 October 1958 – 2 October 2018) was a Saudi journalist, dissident, author, columnist for ''Middle East Eye'' and ''The Washington Post'', and a ge ...

and the continuing war in Yemen. Due to similar contradictions, such as France's involvement in weapons sales, and nuclear armament, questions were raised as to the extent to which the peace summit was truly substantial or just an instrument of communication. Criticism was also drawn to the event's funding, with contributions made, among others, by tech giants such as

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

and Microsoft. Some also argued that the Forum was homogeneous in its discussion, reserved for the elites who agreed with each other rather than including those who disagreed with multilateralism.

Second edition: 2019

The second edition of the Paris Peace Forum took place on 11–13 November at la

Grande Halle de La Villette The Grande halle de la Villette (originally: Grande Halle aux Boeufs; translation: "Great Hall of Cattle"), formerly a slaughterhouse and now a cultural center, is located in Paris, France. It is situated on Place de la Fontaine aux Lions within ...

, under the presidency of

, who was previously President of the Steering Committee, and with

as the Forum's Director General. The Paris Peace Forum 2019 was attended by 7,000 participants, representing 164 nationalities. 33 heads of state and government were present, with official delegations from 140 countries. 318 project leaders representing 114 governance solutions from around the world gathered in the Forum's Space for Solutions. The United Nations Secretary-General,

, the Mayor of Paris,

Anne Hidalgo Ana María "Anne" Hidalgo Aleu (, ; born 1959) is a Spanish-French politician who has served as Mayor of Paris since 2014, the first woman to hold the office. She is a member of the Socialist Party. Hidalgo served as First Deputy Mayor of Paris ...

, and the President of the Paris Peace Forum, Pascal Lamy, spoke during the event's soft opening on 11 November. Guterres referred to the main global challenges of our times, by distinguishing five global risks: an economic and geostrategic polarization, a crack of the social contract caused by rising inequalities and protests, the loss of solidarity between communities and the rise of hate as a political tool, environmental degradation and the

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term describing global warming and climate change, and their impacts. The term and the alternative term ''climate emergency'' have been used to describe the threat of global warming to humanity (and their planet), and to u ...

, and finally, the risk of unchecked technology. The official opening ceremony took place on 12 November. Opening remarks were made by the French President Emmanuel Macron, the President-elect of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 an ...

, President of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Félix Tshisekedi Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo (; born 13 June 1963) is a Congolese politician who has been the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 24 January 2019. He is the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) ...

, and the vice-president of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Wang Qishan Wang Qishan (; ; born 19 July 1948) is a Chinese politician, and the current Vice President of the People's Republic of China. Wang is one of the leading figures behind China's foreign affairs, along with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Ke ...

Format and themes

The second edition of the Paris Peace Forum saw a number of new activities and formats, such as the Peace Game, organized by

Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

and Körber Stiftung. A Peace Game brings together participants with the purpose of working out a crisis scenario through concrete solutions. Among the other formats participants were invited to attend, the '20 Questions to the World', and Braindates by e180, were particularly successful. For this second edition, last year's Peace Library, which gathered books gifted by high-level participants, took the form of a Peace Globe, where world leaders were given the opportunity to leave objects symbolizing peace.

Key initiatives

Nine initiatives were launched and developed at the second edition of the Paris Peace Forum. These included B4IG, which started out at the G7 Leaders' Summit in Biarritz, and which is driven by

, the

and

Danone Danone S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock market index. Some of t ...

in order to unite companies for inclusive growth. The "Alliance for Multilateralism", launched in April 2019 by the French and German foreign ministers, held a session on the governance of the digital sphere, which was moderated by the French Minister of Europe & Foreign Affairs,

. Other initiatives included the inauguration of the

Forum on Information and Democracy, and the launch of the Indian Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, driven by Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

Third edition: 2020

The third edition, hosted virtually from 11 to 13 November 2020, was chiefly devoted to the multi-actor response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, with the conviction that all relevant actors can collectively overcome the enormous challenges faced by the international community and use the crisis as an opportunity to rebuild a more sustainable world. Macron hosted Senegalese President Macky Sall, IMF Managing Director

Kristalina Georgieva Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva-Kinova ( bg, Кристалина Иванова Георгиева-Кинова; ; born 13 August 1953) is a Bulgarian economist serving as managing director of the International Monetary Fund since 2019. She was t ...

, and European Council President

Charles Michel Charles Michel (; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician serving as the president of the European Council since 2019. He previously served as the prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019. Michel became the minister of Developm ...

at the

Élysée Palace The Élysée Palace (french: Palais de l'Élysée; ) is the official residence of the President of the French Republic. Completed in 1722, it was built for nobleman and army officer Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, who had been appointed Gover ...

, while over 50 world leaders and heads of international organizations contributed video messages during the event, including New Zealand Prime Minister

Jacinda Ardern Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...

, Italian Prime Minister

Giuseppe Conte Giuseppe Conte (; born 8 August 1964) is an Italian jurist, academic, and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy, prime minister of Italy from June 2018 to February 2021. He has been the president of the Five Star Movement (M5S) sin ...

and Chinese President

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

. In 2020 on a specially developed digital event platform, the virtual edition of the Paris Peace Forum counted 12,000 online participants representing 151 countries, over 50 heads of state and government, 117 hours of live broadcasting, 178 debate sessions and project pitches, and 100 concrete projects from around the globe.

Key achievements

The third edition included three major achievements: # The Finance in Common Summit, gathering 450 public development banks, whose funds represent over 10% of global investment. This first-of-its-kind summit led to a signed declaration to align their investments with the SDGs and climate objectives. # A coalition of states, international organizations and foundations (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, France, Spain, the EU commission, and other actors) announced a contribution of $500M for ACT-A, the accelerator for Covid-19 vaccines, tests and therapies. # Leaders of the UN, IMF, Germany, France, Senegal and the European Union started a global conversation on the principles which shall guide the world recovery after the Covid-19 crisis. This political discussion has set up the stage for a new international consensus towards a fairer and more resilient paradigm to define the principles of the post-Covid19 world: the “Paris Consensus”.

Fourth edition: 2021

The fourth edition of the Paris Peace Forum was dedicated to bridging global governance gaps. The second consecutive edition devoted to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was hosted in a hybrid format from 11 to 13 November 2021, promoting global coordination in times of COVID-19. The official ceremony on 11 November convened heads of state and government as well as NGO leaders and CEOs of global companies, headed by French President Emmanuel Macron, and including Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The United States was also represented at the forum for the first time, via Vice President

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

. In 2021, the fourth edition counted 15,000 online participants and a thousand present in Paris, whereas 45 heads of state and government and leaders of international organizations were among experts taking part in 74 debate sessions, and the Space for Solutions counted 80 projects from around the world.

Key achievements

The "Net Zero Space" initiative

On the occasion of the 2021 Paris Peace Forum, actors from all over the world concerned by the long-term sustainability of outer space launched the "Net Zero Space" initiative. This new initiative calls for achieving sustainable use of outer space for the benefit of all humankind by 2030 by taking concrete actions to tackle the pressing challenge of reducing debris orbiting Earth.

International Call to stand up for children’s rights in the digital environment

The Paris Peace Forum hosted the launch of an international Call to stand up for children’s rights in the digital environment. French President

and

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

, along with seven other states, a dozen non-governmental organizations, and most of the major digital platforms (including

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Meta Meta (from the Greek μετά, '' meta'', meaning "after" or "beyond") is a prefix meaning "more comprehensive" or "transcending". In modern nomenclature, ''meta''- can also serve as a prefix meaning self-referential, as a field of study or ende ...

Dailymotion Dailymotion is a French video-sharing technology platform owned by Vivendi. North American launch partners included Vice Media, Bloomberg and Hearst Digital Media. It is among the earliest known platforms to support HD (720p) resolution video. ...

Qwant Qwant () is a French search engine, launched in February 2013 and operated from Paris. It is one of the few EU-based search engines. It claims that it does not employ user tracking or personalize search results in order to avoid trapping user ...

, Snap, and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

) signed this Call and committed to enabling children to use digital tools safely and benefit from their full potential without being exposed to abuse through a series of actions.

US and EU join the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace

The Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace, launched on 12 November 2018 at the Paris Peace Forum, is a call to come together to face the new threats endangering citizens and infrastructure. It is based on nine common principles to secure cyberspace, which provide areas for discussion and action. The Paris Call invites all cyberspace actors to work together and encourage states to cooperate with private sector partners, academia, and civil society. The 1,200 supporters of the Paris Call (80 states, more than 700 companies, 350 civil society organizations) commit to working together to adopt responsible behavior and implement within cyberspace the fundamental principles which apply in the physical world. As part of their participation in the 2021 Paris Peace Forum, Vice President

and President

announced the

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

’s historic decision to support the Paris Call.

A new International Fund for Public Interest Media to enable the development, sustainability, and independence of public interest media

The International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM), launched at the 2021 Paris Peace Forum, is an initiative to create the step change needed to enable the development, sustainability, and independence of public interest media, especially in resource-poor and fragile settings. The Fund is co-chaired by

Maria Ressa Maria Angelita Ressa (, born Maria Angelita Delfin Aycardo on October 2, 1963) is a Filipino and American journalist. She is the co-founder and CEO of Rappler. She previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in S ...

, 2021

laureate, and former

President and CEO Mark Thompson.

Armed forces of 22 countries pledge to reduce climate impact

The Paris Peace Forum brought together 22 defense ministers to discuss the "Climate Change and the Armed Forces" initiative. This roadmap, the foundation for a growing coalition, aims to reduce emissions from armed forces, mitigate damage, and strengthen cooperation between states in the process of adapting armed forces to the impact of climate change.

Fifth edition: 2022

The fifth edition of the Paris Peace Forum will be held through 11-12 November 2022; attendants will include President of Argentina

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor, serving as president of Argentina since 2019. Born in Buenos Aires, Fernández attended the University of Buenos Aires, where he earned his law ...

, President of Colombia

Gustavo Petro Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (; born 19 April 1960) is a Colombian economist, politician, and former guerrilla fighter who is the current president of Colombia since 2022. After taking office, Petro was considered by analysts as Colombia' ...

, OECD Secretary-General

Mathias Cormann Mathias Hubert Paul Cormann (; ; born 20 September 1970) is a Belgian-born Australian politician and diplomat who currently serves as Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), having assumed the off ...

and President of the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

Mirjana Spoljaric Egger Mirjana Spoljaric Egger is a Swiss diplomat. Since October 2022, she has served as the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Life and work Egger studied philosophy, economics and international law at the University of Basel ...

References

External links

* {{Emmanuel Macron 2018 establishments in France Peace conferences Diplomatic conferences in France Organizations based in Paris 21st-century diplomatic conferences Emmanuel Macron