UPCOMING EVENTS BY BY SINAZO MKOKO
July is all about
changing the w 14
16
Nelson Mandela Month
G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting, Bali
World Population Day
While Nelson Mandela’s birthday is actually on the 18th of July, South Africans at large celebrate the hero throughout the whole month. This gives every South African a chance to heed the call-to-action for people to recognise their individual power to make an imprint and change the world around them for the better. This year’s theme is: ”Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Honourable Dr Naledi Pandor, attended a two-day G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting (G20 FMM). The theme: “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”. The aim of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was to discuss current geopolitical tensions across the world, their humanitarian and socioeconomic impacts and the role and contribution of the G20 in strengthening multilateralism. This visit to Bali follows her visit to Singapore on 5-6 July 2022 at the invitation of Honourable Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
58 | Public Sector Leaders | July 2022
Established in 1989, by the then Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme, the day aims to shift focus and attention on the urgency and importance of population issues. It was first marked on 11 July 1990 in more than 90 countries. According to the United Nations, the global population reached the 7 billion mark in 2011, it stood at almost 7.9 billion in 2021. Weighing in on the milestone, UN SecretaryGeneral, António Guterres, stated: ”Reaching a global population of eight billion is a numerical landmark, but our focus must always be on people. In the world we strive to build, 8 billion people means 8 billion opportunities to live dignified and fulfilled lives.”
