Recently, the G20 summit kicked off on October 30, 2021, where leaders of 19 countries and the European Union met in Rome to address global issues. The G20 summit was founded in 1999 and has assembled at least once every year involving high-rank officials from their respective countries. The goal of this meeting is to foster global economic cooperation and diplomatic activity. Besides the United States, the rest of the countries are Australia, Argentina, Britain, Brazil, China, France, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Russia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, South Africa, and Turkey.
The two-day gathering will hopefully produce a joint statement from the countries where they touch on global issues and how they can best address these issues going forward. Some of the issues being discussed during the summit include access to vaccines, climate change, economic relief to developing countries, and more. President Biden, who was present at the summit, met with the leaders of France, Britain, and Germany to discuss ways to better address the pandemic and the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran. In 2015, Iran and six nations (including the United States) reached an accord to limit Iran’s nuclear power in exchange for lifting oil and financial sanctions. The deal, under President Obama, was a huge diplomatic achievement as it created a new relationship between the two countries. However, in 2018, President Trump pulled out of the accord, causing Iran to violate certain elements of the pact. At the 2021 summit, Biden and several leaders hope to get the 2015 nuclear accord back on track. A big topic at the summit was the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to science analytics company Airfinity, G20 countries are receiving 15 times more doses per capita than countries in Africa. Including the United States, several G20 countries offered to donate vaccine doses to the area. Several notable absences at the summit include Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping who decided not to attend due to the risk of Covid infection. On the second day of the G20 summit, the leaders came up with an agreement on climate change committing each present nation to stop financing coal by the start of 2022 and to help contain global warming. The summit is a great step in the right direction to solving global issues but more direct action is needed. Time will tell if the agreement and the meeting overall will yield results on issues such as climate change and the Covid-19 vaccine. https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/g20-rome-sunday-session/index.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/15/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-deal-is-reached-after-long-negotiations.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/business/oecd-global-minimum-tax.html https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/01/g20-what-did-world-leaders-agree-at-the-summit-in-rome
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Khin-Sandi Lwin, who formerly worked with Unicef, visited Polytechnic virtually and gave an amazing talk where she explored her work with refugees, the current situation in Myanmar, and her campaign to end female infanticide. Khin-Sandi left Myanmar at age after the 1962 military coup. She spent time in different countries, honing her global work and developing different skills. After working with UNICEF and the United Nations, Khin-Sandi led female leadership programs in Myanmar. After successful programs abroad, Khin-Sandi started educating men on the female dynamics in the workplace and how men should better use their power. Later, she gave a TedTalk where she explained her leadership programs to men and how her work with women have impacted the rest of their lives. Something that stood out to me during the presentation was the impact of Gen Z during the Myanmar crisis. Even when many voices were being silenced by the government, many young people in Myanmar voiced their concern with the militant government by attending rallies and protesting. It was interesting to hear the story of a young female beauty pageant winner who joined the army in order to fight back against the military faction who started the coup. It was intriguing to hear Khin-Sandi's thoughts on the Rohingya people have been unfairly treated throughout history. The minority group has been expelled from Myanmar countless time and have dealt with horrific disasters. Khin-Sandi touched upon the issue while explaining Suu Kyi's controversial thoughts on the topic. I hope to explore this topic in future global endeavors so I can better understand how they have been treated and how to best remedy the situation. Overall, I really enjoyed the GIP event because Khin-Sandi enlightened the audience with her inspiring work in empowering females and spreading the word on the Myanmar crisis. She stressed the importance of a global mindset and writing skills for young students. She encourages young students to spread the word about the Myanmar crisis on social media sinHer story is very powerful and motivates me to make a difference in the world while local or abroad. |