2 minute read
Message from the Director
by GCSP
More than a year after COVID-19 affected us globally in a way that hadn’t been seen since the Spanish Flu pandemic of a hundred years ago, I am proud to share with you the results achieved by the GCSP in this momentous, but challenging year.
2020 will be remembered as a period of extraordinary disturbance and vulnerability, but also as an opportunity to prove that what we at the GCSP do is both relevant and useful. Over a weekend in March 2020 the GCSP became a fully virtual Centre. The staff quickly went remote and continued to deliver the courses as scheduled, welcoming participants from every corner of the world despite the restrictions imposed on travel. We transferred all our activities online to create a multitude of digital experiences, including webinars, world cafés, virtual video sessions and more. The virtual format has allowed us to expand our global reach, particularly to regions in crisis and conflict. Since a couple of years, and among other relevant topics, we have been offering courses in strategic anticipation, crisis management, leadership, and global risk and resilience, all of which teach skills and knowledge that were crucial to the need to adapt to the new reality created by the pandemic.
Twenty-five years ago, in 1995, the Centre began its journey to advance peace and security around the world. Today we are continuing to transform the world one class at a time, one dialogue at a time, and one project at a time. More than 5,000 course participants have been introduced to the GCSP Way since we entered the Maison de la Paix in 2014. Our 25th Anniversary celebrations in November 2020 comprised 25 events and 2,500 registrants, while 119 countries were represented and 73 speakers joined us. This was an opportunity to look back at our achievements, but also to look towards the future – a future in which the GCSP will continue to be one of the most innovative global platforms for advancing peace and security – an organisation that is always forward-looking, deeply engaging and capable of adapting continuously; one that provides relevant, timely and actionable skills, tools and knowledge.
As the world is confronted with yet another major challenge, the GCSP Community has the ability and the privilege to look to one another to identify sustainable solutions and to rebuild better. How? By using the power of our global reach, our collective knowledge and our wide experience, and by thinking and acting together!
I invite you to continue to play your part as we expand the strength of the GCSP network and the influence of its community on peace and security worldwide.
#OnlyTogether can we create a safer world!
