Global Forum on Coalitions for Reforms

The global issues we face today are more complex and interconnected than ever, ranging from poverty and inequality to the severe impacts of climate disasters, conflicts, pandemics, and fragility. Financing and investments alone are insufficient to tackle these issues amid rising debt and limited resources globally.

Action to address today’s global challenges requires partnerships and coalitions at international, national and local level as no single institution, nation or group can achieve these on their own. In addition to technical expertise and use of breakthroughs in technologies, non-technical efforts — the tools of persuasion and inspiration — are indispensable to the outcome of ending poverty on a livable planet.

Center of governments, delivery units, and results teams will have to organize to prioritize, keep the pace of reform implementation and mobilize large groups to adopt new behaviors. High level officials and CSOs’ executive staff often lack the tools to make these coordination mechanisms effective.

The Global Forum on Coalitions for Reforms aims at sharing knowledge and practices on collective action to address the global challenges and to strengthen participants’ capacity in mobilizing key actors, developing a discipline of implementation and communicating for results.

The World Bank’s Institutions Global Department will be hosting the Global Forum on Coalitions for Reforms on September 16 and 17, 2025. The event is organized by the Coalitions for Reforms Global Program and co-hosted by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Global Executive Leadership Initiative, GIZ, Sciences Po, The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, The Asia Foundation, and UNESCO.

The Forum will feature a keynote by James Robinson, Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy and Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago and 2024 Nobel Laureate in Economics.

Sessions at the Global Forum will highlight the progress made by governments, partners, and the World Bank on using collective action to address complex development challenges and implement successful reforms. Participants will learn, share, and connect on the cutting-edge of coalition-building, leadership, strategic communications and change management for reforms and policy implementation with global leaders, academics, and practitioners.

Many stakeholders will attend the Global Forum, ranging from senior representatives from country institutions, senior civil servants, political leaders, multilateral and bilateral partners, academia, civil society, media, WBG management, and staff. The event will have knowledge sessions led by leading researchers and thought leaders presenting research and methodological tools, as well as practical sessions where government officials and development partners will present their experiences.

We will be updating this page regularly with news about the agenda, speakers and sessions.

Stay tuned and save the dates!