As the world reels from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the pandemic, climate shocks, and other crises, strategic future planning is more important than ever. In April’s most-read article, Steven Gale points to a source of hope in the suite of inclusive, “future-forward” initiatives that are unfolding under UN leadership, from risk reporting to impact assessments and youth engagement. These activities, encompassed by the UN’s Our Common Agenda, represent a global collaborative effort to map future risks and identify policy options in service of long-term well-being for people and the planet.

Yusuf Jameel and Aiyana Bodi shed light on another set of innovative projects in the second top post for April. Amidst the urgency of the climate crisis, solutions that tackle multiple challenges at once warrant greater attention, write the authors. Investments in clean cooking and clean electricity, for example, can both reduce emissions and help make societies more equitable, healthy, and climate-resilient.

The third top post of the month showcases the Wilson Center’s recent policy brief, “Converging Risks: Demographic Trends, Gender Inequity, and Security Challenges in the Sahel.” From widespread food insecurity to conflict and displacement, the challenges facing the Sahel reinforce one another. But this landscape of interrelated risk also means that interventions in one area can have beneficial ripple effects. In their new brief, ECSP and MHI highlight two investments that promise to yield dividends for security, gender equality, and governance: broadening access to voluntary family planning and strengthening girls’ education. 

Gender also featured prominently in April’s fourth top post by Victoria Pardini, who shares key insights from a recent Wilson Center panel on women’s leadership in anti-war efforts across Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus. Even as the war deepens the divide between Russia and Belarus on one side and Ukraine on the other, women in the three countries are working together to oppose a conflict that has exacted a high toll on women.

In the fifth top post from April, Rachel Locke, Twila Albrecht, and Julia Canney share how negative narratives about migration have increased hostility towards migrants. But city-level examples from around the world tell another story—positive narratives and policies that enable the economic and social integration of migrants into cities can offer opportunities to build a more equitable and resilient future.

1. United Nations Advances Strategic Foresight: Breakdown or Breakthrough Scenarios? by Steven Gale
2. The Climate Solutions That Play Double-Duty by Yusuf Jameel and Aiyana Bodi
3. New Security Brief | Converging Risks: Demographic Trends, Gender Inequity, and Security Challenges in the Sahel by Wilson Center Staff
4. Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Russian Women and the Anti-War Movement, by Victoria Pardini
5. Harnessing the Power of ‘Other’: Cities Where Human Mobility is not a Threat, by Rachel Locke, Twila Albrecht, and Julia Canney