A Time for Understanding

The festive season is a great time for recollection. It gives us a chance to reflect on the past year, celebrate with those close to us and embrace the wealth of diversity which makes our society what it is.

At Kruger Cowne, 2018 has been a year of inclusion, bringing a wider spotlight to different cultures, important humanitarian work and a greater focus on positive contributions which help make the world a better place. As we near the end of the year, throwing ourselves firmly into the festive season, we thought we’d take the opportunity to highlight some of the great work some of our humanitarian speakers have accomplished this year.

Highlights from 2018

One of the main highlights of 2018 – as it is every year – was the One Young World summit, which took place in The Hague, Netherlands between October 17th-20th. As fervent supporters of this event, Kruger Cowne arranged for some of the very best humanitarian speakers to appear, delivering powerful speeches and making key announcements to help drive a positive change for the future.

Two names in particular – Sir Bob Geldof and Fatima Bhutto – are fine examples of the inspiring humanitarian work being done across the world. Sir Bob Geldof appeared twice at the summit, first delivering a touching tribute to one of the summit’s closest friends, Kofi Annan, and then offering a captivating talk on ‘Leadership in Challenging Times’.

Fatima Bhutto

2018 was a particularly fruitful year for Fatima Bhutto – one of the world’s most powerful humanitarian and women’s empowerment speakers. Her support of the ‘Young Leaders Against Sexual Violence’ initiative – launched at the One Young World Summit – follows her prolific publishing history throughout the year.

Not only has she been a featured contributor to the Guardian – writing numerous, insightful opinion pieces on global politics – but she also published her latest novel The Runaways, in Pakistan and India – with a UK release following in March 2019.

Akala

One of the most vibrant and exciting voices to make a splash this year is rapper, activist, poet and author, Akala. Following his myriad appearances on BBC, including a stirring showing on Question Time, Akala published his much anticipated book, Natives. Released to critical acclaim, the ‘memoir-polemic’ is both a personal account of the intrinsic relationship between class and race, as well as a wider political dissection of the UK’s historical, entrenched approach to race in society.

Listening to other voices

Traditionally,the festive season celebrates peace; listening to other voices and building a sense of community and togetherness no matter your ideals, backgrounds or circumstance. We strongly believe that, through the power of humanitarian work, and sharing experiences through speeches, books, discussions and more, we can help to make the world a better place all year round – not just for the final few weeks of the year.

By supporting talent from all walks of life, helping them find a platform to share experiences, opinions and outlooks that extend past our own, we can help to build a healthy discussion around important issues. Through these discussions, and by building this relationship and the subsequent awareness, our understanding of everyone around us can grow.

We’d like to finish off 2018 by wishing everyone we’ve worked with over the past 12 months a warm festive greeting, and extend our sincerest wishes for a happy, healthy and productive 2019.