On 9 November 2023, UNU will host “Global Crises and United Nations Response and Innovations: Lessons Learned, Challenges and Prospects”, a conversation with Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria from 2020 to 2023, and former Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations. This event will start at 18:00 in the 2F Reception Hall at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo.
Over recent decades the United Nations has often coordinated the response to global challenges and crises through initiatives including the Agenda for Sustainable Development and, in 2023, the New Agenda for Peace. Challenges in coordinating the responses of Member States have resulted in many lessons learned, innovations and calls for reform of the UN system.
Prof. Ibrahim Gambari will join the Director of UNU-IAS, Prof. Shinobu Yume Yamaguchi, for a conversation exploring the substantial contributions the United Nations has made to resolving global challenges. What can be learned from the UN response to previous crises? Can the United Nations continue to play an important role in resolving the many crises that we face today? What reforms are necessary to improve the effectiveness of the UN system in dealing with such challenges?
The UNU Conversation Series aims to foster audience participation; you are encouraged to engage with the speakers during the conversation and at the reception that will follow, where all event attendees are invited to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and drinks while exchanging ideas and making new contacts.
Please note that this event will be in English. Advance registration (by 8 November) is required. Please click on the REGISTER button above to access the online registration page.
Please be prepared to present identification at check-in.
About the speaker
Prof. Ibrahim A. Gambari is a scholar and diplomat, who served as the Chief of Staff to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari from 2020 to 2023. He is the Founder/Chairman of the Board of Directors of Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development, a non-governmental think-tank on research, policy studies, advocacy, and training on the nexus between conflict prevention and resolution, democratization and development in Africa.
Prof. Gambari’s career has spanned over four decades in academia, government, and international diplomacy, culminating with his appointment as the first United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Africa (1999–2005). He was the Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid (1990–1994) and on Peace-Keeping Operations (1990-1999). He was Minister of External Affairs (1984–1985) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and subsequently Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations (1990–1999).
On 3 November 2023, the Government of Japan announced Professor Gambari as a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, in recognition of his contributions to strengthening bilateral relations between Japan and Nigeria.
Prof. Gambari received his BSc (Economics) degree from the London School of Economics (1968) and his MA and PhD in Political Science/International Relations (1970, 1974) from Columbia University.
