Where there is an absence of international political leadership, civil society should step in to fill the gap, providing the energy and vision needed to move the world in a new and better direction.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
So is civil society prepared for the future? Probably not. Most organisations have to live hand to mouth, juggling short-term funding and perpetual minor crises. Even the bigger ones rarely get much time to stand back and look at the bigger picture. Many are on a treadmill chasing after contracts and new funding.
We need a mobilized and active civil society using its purchasing power to demand sustainable products and practices. It is also essential that governments commit to the future, creating fiscal and regulatory conditions for sustainable policies to thrive.
As leaders, we need to rise above petty politics and lead, rather than follow, the various interests and pressure groups in our respective countries.
Business, labor and civil society organizations have skills and resources that are vital in helping to build a more robust global community.
Our policies should be to help develop civil society and increase contacts with people.
One thing you have got to do politically is to identify the ties that bind society together and try to strengthen them.
The world needs new leadership, but the new leadership is about working together.
Society has arisen out of the works of peace; the essence of society is peacemaking.
It is time for the world, the hemisphere and the region to make sure that relevant institutions of civil society and relevant laws are embedded in the mechanisms of governance.
You have to believe that it's through politics that societies can lead social and economic and political change.