State of the World Forum | Annual Conferences

"I would like to make bold to say that the next century will face a process of the reformation of governance driven by the pull of two seemingly contending forces at either end of a magnet – the one being the globalization of governance and the other, the devolution of power to the citizen.”

Thabo Mbeki
President,
Republic of South Africa

Conversations that Matter: The Forum’s Gatherings

The mantra of the State of the World Forum is “transforming conversations that matter into actions that make a difference.” The Forum accentuates innovative ideas and creates an enabling environment for deep discussions of global concern. Annual Forum gatherings for the first five years were convened in San Francisco at the historic Fairmont Hotel, where in 1945 the UN Charter was negotiated. In 2000, a special Forum 2000 was convened in New York, coinciding with the UN Millennium Summit of Heads of State.