Global Town Hall is an annual virtual marathon of global dialogue that brings together world leaders and leading minds to discuss major global issues. It provides an open, inclusive platform where decision-makers, thinkers, civil society leaders, and the broader public can engage in timely, solution-driven conversations. The event connects local concerns with global discussions and elevates diverse perspectives.

 

Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) convenes Global Town Hall in collaboration with a consortium of respected think tanks, universities, civil society organizations, and international institutions. Since its launch in 2020, it has evolved into one of the most inclusive international policy forums of its kind. Previous editions have drawn over 50,000 participants from more than 160 countries, including heads of state, foreign ministers, UN officials, civil society leaders, academics, and youth representatives.

 

The theme of this year’s Global Town Hall is “Calling for a Global U-Turn: Recentering Development, Reclaiming Humanity, Restoring Justice in a Crazi(er) World,” which reflects our growing concern that the international system is drifting away from the principles that have long underpinned global peace and cooperation. Today, we are witnessing the erosion of the rules-based international order, the increasing use of force to resolve disputes, the multiplication of armed conflicts, the weakening of respect for international humanitarian law, widening geopolitical fragmentation, and the loss of momentum toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

 

Amid these worrying trends, we are seeing few signs that things will improve in the near future.

Yet, we do believe that civil societies across the world will now play an increasingly important role in helping to turn the tide towards a global u-turn in world affairs, one that recommits to the principles of the U.N. Charter, and recenters development, justice, and humanity at the heart of international affairs.