Date & Time
2:00pm, 12 March 2026 - 3:30pm, 12 March 2026Location
About the event
Multilateralism is under severe strain.
Amidst a rebalancing of global power and influence, rising nationalism, geopolitical tensions, and economic volatility, international cooperation no longer looks the same.
Join our upcoming Critical Conversation to unpack the shape of global collaboration in this new era.
For the Commonwealth, this moment is critical.
Navigating the shared challenges of climate change, health crises, conflict, and economic instability demands new routes forward for international cooperation.
What role can the Commonwealth play in charting forward a model of collective problem-solving that is meaningful and robust? How can states reaffirm the merits of dialogue, partnership and collaboration grounded in shared values? How can civil society and governments work together to strengthen collective action?
We’re bringing together civil society leaders, government representatives, and thinkers to explore how the Commonwealth can support collective action, strengthen global norms, and foster trust.
Register now to join this vital dialogue on the future of the Commonwealth and the world.
Guests
Razmi Farook is Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation. Ms Farook started her tenure on 1 September 2025, after her appointment was approved by the Foundation’s Member States earlier that year.
Ms Farook brings exceptional leadership experience from senior roles in civil society and intergovernmental organisations. Her career has focused on supporting marginalised and war-affected communities, advocating for equity, inclusion, and active civil society participation in governance and decision-making processes.
Dr Samir Puri was appointed Director of Chatham House’s ‘Centre for Global Governance and Security’ in 2025. He is also a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London and Associate at the Imperial War Museum.
Dr Puri is the author of five well received books, the latest being Westlessness: The Great Global Rebalancing, which Rana Mitter writing in the Times Literary Supplement called “detailed, engaging and well-supported.”
Dr Puri’s career combines academia, think tanks, and public service. His most recent previous position was Senior Fellow at IISS-Asia based in Singapore (2020-22). In 2020 he advised Downing Street’s Race Commission on how imperial legacies influence Britain. In 2018-19 he was Assistant Head of Research at the Ministry of Defence’s think tank DCDC. In 2017 he was seconded to the Commonwealth Secretariat to author its strategy on countering violent extremism.
Dr Puri holds a PhD from Cambridge University, an MA in War Studies from King’s and a BA in History and Politics from Warwick University.
Heba Aly is the Director of Article 109, a coalition advocation for the activation of Article 109 of the UN Charter to initiate comprehensive reform of the United Nations.
An Egyptian-Canadian journalist, entrepreneur and thought leader, Heba is the former CEO of the world’s leading source of independent journalism about humanitarian crises, The New Humanitarian. During her tenure as CEO, she transformed TNH from a little known UN project – formerly IRIN News – to a thriving international media outlet respected on the world stage. Heba was also host of the Rethinking Humanitarianism podcast, considered a “must-listen” in the aid sector.
Earlier in her career, Heba spent one decade reporting from conflict zones in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. Her TEDx Talk – “Stop Eating Junk News” – drives home the importance of responsible journalism from crisis zones.
In 2018, she was named by New African Magazine one of the 100 Most Influential Africans and by the World Economic Forum one of 100 Young Global Leaders under 40. In 2023, she and The New Humanitarian were awarded the Weintz Humanitarian Award by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, which honours a visionary public figure who has demonstrated superior leadership in a time of humanitarian crisis.
Fatou Bom Bensouda is a Gambian lawyer and former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), who has served as the Gambian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom since 3 August 2022.
During her tenure at the ICC (2012-2021), she played a pivotal role in pursuing accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. She is the first woman and first African to have served as the Prosecutor of the ICC. She has also served as a legal adviser to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Tanzania and as Minister of Justice and Attorney-General in her native country of The Gambia.
Prestigious awards have honoured Ms Bensouda’s unwavering commitment to justice, including the 2011 World Peace Through Law Award and the 2009 International Commission of Jurists International Jurists Award. Also, she has been recognised as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people worldwide, as well as the fourth most influential person in Africa by Jeune Afrique magazine. In 2015, as part of its prestigious list of 100 Women, her influence and impact on a global scale were recognised by the BBC.
Satara Uthayakumaran is a National Youth Advisor for Amnesty International and sits on the Youth Advisory Council of the United States Embassy in Canberra. Satara has been a Youth Ambassador for Anti-Slavery Australia and was co-founder of the ANU Women in Law Association. She is the youngest person to have ever served on the board of the Domestic Violence Crisis Service (ACT) and has worked with the ACT Human Rights Commission. Satara has appeared on ABC’s The Drum and ABC Radio, speaking on legal reform, disability discrimination and the cost of living. Satara regularly writes for the ABC, SBS, Sydney Morning Herald, Age and Canberra Times. She worked as a Policy Advisor at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, whilst undertaking a Bachelor of Arts/Law. In 2024 she was named a Young Woman to Watch in International Affairs.
Discussion
Date & Time
2:00pm, 12 March 2026 - 3:30pm, 12 March 2026 GMT
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