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Global Forum on Coalitions for Reforms

The World Bank’s Institutions Global Department will be hosting the Global Forum on Coalitions for Reforms on September 16 and 17, 2025.

Add to Calendar 16-09-2025 09:00 17-09-2025 17:00 America/New_York Global Forum on Coalitions for Reforms Hello,\n\nThis is a reminder to join us virtually on World Bank: Global Forum on Coalitions for Reforms \n\nAbout the event: The World Bank’s Institutions Global Department will be hosting the Global Forum on Coalitions for Reforms on September 16 and 17, 2025. \n\nGo to event page: https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2025/06/04/global-forum-on-coalitions-for-reforms \n\nWe look forward to seeing you! \n\n WORLD BANK - https://www.worldbank.org \nDevelopment Events Brought to You Live Online
Global Forum on Coalitions for Reform

This event will be streamed here in

Date & Time

September 16 - 17, 2025 ET

Location

World Bank Headquarters, Washington, DC

Hybrid

Please RSVP your participation by clicking here. You can save the date on your calendar by clicking the button above. 

On September 16 and 17, 2025, the World Bank will be hosting the Global Forum on Coalitions for Reforms. 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 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.

The Global Forum will involve many stakeholders ranging from senior representatives from country institutions, senior civil servants, political leaders, multilateral and bilateral partners, academia, civil society, media and WBG management and staff. The event will combine knowledge sessions by leading researchers and thought leaders presenting research and methodological tools, with practical sessions where government officials and development partners will present their experience.

Participants will convene to: 

  • Take stock of global experiences on the collective action challenges to achieve development goals across the world, such as the World Bank’s Global Challenges and the Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Learn new skills and sharpen practical skills on change management and coalition-building to support the implementation of critical reforms and complex policies.
  • Grow the momentum around countries’ institutional and policy efforts by embedding collective action through World Bank operations and government programs.
  • Build community of practices around critical agendas and strengthen partnerships. 

WHY A 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.

In 2023, the World Bank introduced a new vision and strategy to deliver the level of ambition needed to address the crisis facing development and support countries in achieving sustainable and inclusive growth. The organization called for urgent action on eight global challenges with an agreement to develop six Global Challenge Programs (GCPs): Water Security and Climate Adaptation; Energy Transition, Efficiency, and Access; Enhanced Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness, and Response; Accelerating Digitalization; Food and Nutrition Security; Forests for Development, Climate, and Biodiversity.

Operationalizing these programs will require building 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 —these tools of persuasion and inspiration—are indispensable to the outcome of ending poverty in a livable planet. They are just as indispensable in achieving the SDGs, perhaps even more so.

Center of governments, delivery units, results teams will have to organize to prioritize, keep the pace of reform implementation and mobilize a larger group 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 the participants’ capacity in mobilizing key actors, developing a discipline of implementation and communicating for results.

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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.

 

 

9/16/25 DAY 1          
7:45-8:30 Breakfast & Registration          

8:30-9:00

Welcome and Orientation (Preston Auditorium):

  • Hirut Johnson, Governance Specialist, Institutions, World Bank
  • Robin Van Kippersluis, Senior Public Sector Specialist, Institutions, World Bank

 

 

 

 

 
9:00-9:30

Opening Remarks (Preston Auditorium):

Introduction by Coalitions for Reform team and World Bank Senior Management

          

9:30-10:30

Keynote Session (Preston Auditorium):

Challenges of Doing Reforms and Implementing Policies

In this session, Professor James A. Robinson will discuss how politics is not a barrier to the technical design of policies, but a fundamental component of it. As such, it can be as much a solution to reformers’ problems as a cause for them.  Professor Robinson will illustrate how politics can be productive and can drive change and economic transformation. He will also present conclusions from his research on the types of political strategies that have proved most productive.

Speaker: Professor James Robinson, University of Chicago

Moderator: Arturo Herrera Gutierrez, Global Director, Institutions, World Bank

 

 

 

 

 

10:30-10:45

 Moving to Breakout Rooms | Coffee Break

 

 

 

 

 

10:45-12:00

Breakout Session 1 – Coalitions for Reforms in Sectors

Participants will select one of the following parallel sessions, which will be a panel discussion about delivering reforms in a specific sector.

  • Public Administration Reforms (Preston Auditorium)
  • Energy Subsidy Reforms (MC C2-350)
  • Emerging Technologies for Citizen Engagement (MC 2-800)
  • Modernization of Statistics Office and Systems (MC 4-800)

 

 

 

 

 
12:00-13:00 Lunch          

13:00-14:15

Plenary Session 1:

Leading Through Complex Reforms

This high-level panel will bring together current and former government leaders to share their experience navigating complex environments to deliver important reforms during their time in office. 

Speakers

  • Besnik Tahiri, Former Deputy Prime Minister Kosovo
  • Sandra Petovello, Human Development Minister of Argentina
  • Jaime Saavedra, Director at the World Bank and Former Minister of Education of Peru

Moderator: Roby Senderowitsch, Practice Manager, Institutions, World Bank

 

 

 

 

 
14:15-14:30 Moving to Breakout Rooms | Coffee Break          
14:30-15:45

Breakout Session 2 – Coalition for Reforms in Sectors

Participants will select one of the following parallel sessions, which will be a panel discussion about delivering reforms in a specific sector.

  • Public Finance Transformation (Preston Auditorium)
  • Coordinating and Communication for Social Protection (MC C2-350)
  • Data & Indicators to Measure Collective Action (MC 2-800)
  • Media and Development (MC 4-800)
          
15:45-16:00 Return to Preston Auditorium          
16:00-17:30

Delivery Labs with Coalitions for Reforms Partners (Preston Auditorium)

Changemakers often face challenges in indentifying the right solutions that could help them implement the transformation they are aiming for.

To address this, the Coalitions for Reforms team has invited all its implementing partners and collaborators to showcase the solutions they offer. Participants are welcome to visit different tables to know about a range of potential solutions relevant to their needs.

          
17:30-18:00 Closing of Day 1 and Orientation for Day 2 (Preston Auditorium)
  • Hirut Johnson
  • Robin Van Kippersluis
          
18:00-20:00 Welcome Reception/Cocktail          
                 

 

 

9/17/25

 Day 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
7:45-8:30 Breakfast and Registration          
8:30-9:00 Opening and Recap of Day 1 (Preston Auditorium)
  • Hirut Johnson
  • Robin Van Kippersluis
          
9:00-10:15

Plenary Session 2:

The Art and Science of Changemaking (Preston Auditorium)

In this plenary session, participants will hear from thought leaders experienced in guiding and training change makers. The session will be aimed at discussing guidance and tools to drive impactful reforms in complex environments. Participants will explore adaptive leadership techniques to manage uncertainty, strategic communication methods to build trust and shape narratives, and coalition-building strategies to align diverse stakeholders.

Speakers:

  • Ilana Ron-Levey, Managing Director, Public Sector, Gallup - Research, Strategic Communications and Consulting Business Leader
  • Jana Nelson, Senior Director for Latin America, Tony Blair Institute
  • Rakesh Rajani, President, JustSystems

Moderator: Gallina Andronova Vincelette, Vice President for Operations Policy and Country Services (OPCS), World Bank

          
10:15-10:30 Moving to Breakout Rooms, and Coffee Break          
10:30-11:45

Breakout Session 3 – Coalitions for Reforms in Sectors

Participants will select one of the following parallel sessions, which will be a panel discussion about delivering reforms in a specific sector.

  • Leadership to Improve Public Water Service Delivery (Preston)
  • Coalitions for Education Reforms (MC C2-350)
  • Climate Policy Reforms (MC 2-800)
  • Coordination and Shared Vision Through Delivery Platforms (MC 4-800)
  • Anticorruption reforms (MC C2-125)
          
11:45-12:45 Lunch          
12:45-13:45

Plenary Session 3: Delivering Impact on the Ground (Preston Auditorium)

During this plenary session, Vice Presidents from World Bank verticals will be invited to share challenges and opportunities for delivering impact in the work of their teams. 

Speakers:

  • Antonella Bassani, VP, ECA Region, World Bank
  • Junaid Kamal Ahmad, VP, Operations, World Bank
  • Mamta Murthi, VP, People,  World Bank

Moderator: Roby Senderowitsch, Practice Manager, Institutions, World Bank

          
13:45-15:00

Breakout Session 4 – Coalitions for Reforms in Sectors

Participants will select one of the following parallel sessions, which will be a panel discussion about delivering reforms in a specific sector.

  • Collective Action and Gender-Transformative Leadership (Preston)
  • Strengthening Client Capacity for Impact with OPCS (MC C2-350)
  • Driving Digital Public Infrastructure (MC 2-800)
  • Political Economy and Adaptive Management for Results (MC 4-800)
          
15:00-15:15  Return to Preston Auditorium, and Coffee Break          
15:15-16:15

Plenary Session 4: Building Coalitions for More Inclusive Societies and Renewing Social Contracts (Preston Auditorium)

In this final plenary, panelists will discuss the role of key actors and channels that can enhance dialogue between groups and with governments to address contemporary challenges such as plummeting institutional trust, rising polarization, and closing down of the civic space. They will also discuss new avenues to build a shared vision of development.

Speakers:

  • Lena Slachmuijlder, Chair, Council on Tech and Social Cohesion
  • Shanta Devarajan, Professor of the practice of international development at Georgetown University
  • Mark Nelson, Global Expert on Media in Development

Moderator: Mathieu Cloutier (Program Manager of Coaltions for Reforms,  Institutions, World Bank

          
16:15-17:00

Next Steps for the Coalition for Reforms Partnership and Closing Remarks (Preston Auditorium)

Roby Senderowitsch, Practice Manager, Institutions, World Bank

          

 

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