Election campaigns in many countries show a distrust of political leaders and a disconnect with citizens. Four organizations, including three from International Geneva, have launched a coalition for better politicians.
ATS
This “Excellence in Political Leadership” (LEiP) initiative brings together the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP), the Kofi Annan Foundation and NexusVesting. But also the “Apolitical Foundation”, established in London.
From May, around twenty young emerging political actors from around the world, including a Swiss woman, will come to Geneva to be mentored, these different entities told Keystone-ATS on Thursday. The objective is also to invest in research on political leadership facing the challenges of the 21st century, as is already the case for the private sector.
“Compared to other branches, little is done to identify, prepare, support and evaluate political leaders,” says the GCSP manager in charge of the system, Peter Cunningham. While speeches are increasingly “toxic” about politics, according to him, public campaigns will also try to bring political leaders and citizens closer together.
A political leadership week will be organized each year in Geneva. Surveys will be conducted among citizens in different countries. A dialogue will be held with parties to consider “their challenges, their needs and their expectations”.
“Political leadership today is tough. Perhaps harder than ever,” notes the executive director of the Kofi Annan Foundation, Corinne Momal-Vanian. Faced with the questions they must answer, leaders must be armed with values and tools. “We have to support them. This is what this initiative aims to do,” says the executive director.
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