In April, the Starling Institute co-hosted a retreat with Southern Voice and CEPEI in Bogotá, Colombia. The retreat aimed to address the challenges facing global cooperation and explore strategies for rebuilding trust in international institutions, particularly from the perspective of the Global South. The agenda included sessions focused on the values and reforms needed for effective 21st-century governance, highlighting the critical role of the upcoming UN Summit of the Future in ushering in a new era of global governance. United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and Under Secretary-General Guy Ryder  joined part of the meeting by video. 

The retreat helped coalesce participants around the notion that the Summit of the Future represented an important opportunity to initiate positive global shifts and better rebalance international architecture to reflect Global South needs and aspirations. It was also acknowledged that the evolving global governance and norms remains a heavy lift, and will require concerted action on everything from addressing growing pessimism among the youth (particularly on issues such as climate change) and Multilateral Development Bank reforms to expand lending, enhance capacity, and leverage private investments.